Puzzles

I’m interested in designing and solving mechanical puzzles. I’m particularly interested in difficulty; how difficult puzzles are, and in what ways they can be made difficult other than by combinatorial complexity or obfuscation. I own rather a lot of examples; if you are interested I have a few favourites in my office.

Some of my designs are on Thingiverse.

Together with Michael Dowle, I helped Robert Reid publish some of his geometric designs in a book: The Gentle Art of Filling Space. They are fascinating patterns, especially since they were originally designed in Robert’s head, not in a CAD package. Robert died in 2016.

Hiking, etc.

I enjoy exploring mountains. I run frequently. I climb occasionally.