PuzzleMaster

Transposer Puzzles

Posted on Jan 17, 2012 by Gabriel | 0 comments
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(Click to Enlarge)

The Transposer Puzzles are a series of plastic (polypropylene) puzzles manufactured by Toysmith. The ones I have here today for review are the Transposer 6 and the Transposer Genesis.

These Pattern Puzzles consist of a certain number of layers and the goal is to stack them in a correct order and orientation so that they show a unique color on one of the sides or as a harder challenge, on both sides. Each layer has a cell color arrangement that can vary from one color up to four and some of the cells are cut out to allow cells of lower layers to be seen through.

First, the Transposer Genesis. I got this one from PuzzleMaster:

(Click to Enlarge)

The Transposer Genesis is shaped like a 6-point star and has seven layers. Each layer has a combination of colors or cut out cells, except for two layers, which only have one solid color on each side, used as the first to solve a particular color.

There are eight different challenges you can attempt. Four of them are to make just one color on one side: red, yellow, green and blue. These first challenges are easy enough to understand how the layers can be stacked on top of each other. When you solve those ones, the other four challenges are a little harder, as you have to solve them to show one single color on both sides at the same time: the first one is to make one side solid yellow and the other side red; the second is a combination of green and blue on both sides; the third is red and green and finally, the last one is a combination of blue and yellow.

(Click to Enlarge) - Yellow and Red Combo

Even though the harder challenges take a little more time to solve, the overall difficulty of the puzzle isn't that tough. PuzzleMaster rates this as a 7/10 (challenging) and and I agree, because every solution is accomplished with just a bit of patience and the good old trial and error. With a careful analysis, though,  you can also eliminate many possibilities, thus making it much easier.

... And next we have the Transposer 6:

(Click to Enlarge)

As the name suggests, this one has only six layers instead of seven, like the Genesis puzzle and it's triangular shaped. The use of one less layer does make it easier than the previous puzzle, but it can also be challenging.

The object of the Transposer 6 is very similar to the Genesis. You have four colors and you need to solve each particular one to show on either side of the puzzle or both sides at the same time. The colors are the same except orange is used instead of red. The harder four challenges are: green/orange; blue/yellow;  yellow/green and orange/blue.

(Click to Enlarge) - Blue and Yellow Combo

The packaging for the Transposer 6 says that the Transposer 7 is also available, but I'm yet to see one at a store.

Closing Comments:

The Transposer puzzles are a very affordable choice for a nice puzzle. Currently, PuzzleMaster only sells the Transposer Genesis for about $6 CAD, so you can't go wrong with that. The use of plastic ensures that it will last long and the concept is interesting enough to try it.

Links:

Jaap's Puzzle Page - Info and solutions for the Transposer puzzles by Jaap Scherphuis.

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