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PUZZLE RING MAKER .COM
WOW5
This puzzle ring won a Jury Honorable Mention in the 2016 Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition at IPP36 in Kyoto, Japan
- Design by Carl Hoff
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Specifications
6
8.1 mm
2.5 mm
8.0 g
7
8.5 mm
2.6 mm
9.6 g
8
8.8 mm
2.8 mm
11.2 g
9
9.2 mm
2.9 mm
12.8 g
10
9.5 mm
3.0 mm
14.4 g
11
9.9 mm
3.2 mm
16.1 g
12
10.2 mm
3.3 mm
17.7 g
13
10.6 mm
3.4 mm
19.3 g
14
10.9 mm
3.5 mm
20.9 g

* As the size of this ring increases, so do all the other dimensions.

Band Options

Click here to see the band options for this ring.
They will help you to identify bands when deciding the color of gold or which bands to be matte and which shiny.

Blurb

Wow, indeed, since this is the first time I can say that a ring offered on my website is an award-winner.

2016 Puzzle Design Competition
http://www.puzzleworld.org/DesignCompetition/2016/results.htm

Here you'll find it won the cover of Vol.2 No.1
http://gapdjournal.com/issues/

Strictly speaking, this ring ought to be called WAW5 ( Wrap-Around Weave 5), since it is a modified version of another of Bram Cohen’s Designs, WEAVE FIVE.

However, there would be confusion as to the correct pronunciation of this word, so it was changed to the more user-friendly and evocative WOW5.

This marvel is the creation of Carl Hoff, with whom I first became acquainted when he and I collaborated on the making of another of Bram’s designs, THREESOME

Being a designer, Carl has always wanted to do something new, and eventually came up with the idea of trying to create a ring where the woven section wraps all the way around. With this idea in mind, he then set about finding a design that he thought could be adapted, and came to the (tentative) conclusion that WEAVE FIVE (which will also be offered on this website at some later date) might be suitable.

After much brain-busting effort, Carl created a 3D model. This modeling was used to print WOW5 in the solved state, and to his great relief it did dis-assemble just as he had hoped, proving that he had a viable puzzle on his hands.

Next he needed a copy in metal (brass), and of necessity this needed to be made in the scrambled state.

This is the point at which everything came to a screeching halt, since putting this scrambled version back together was completely beyond him.

As Carl himself put it :

"Fortunately, some fellow-designers all too familiar with being able to design puzzles they themselves cannot solve (or at least cannot solve easily) were able to point me to 2 puzzle enthusiasts from Virginia known for their collection of puzzle rings and their 50-plus years of puzzle-ring-solving experience". 

The deal he made with them was this :
"provide me with a video showing how to assemble the ring and it’s yours." 

He then waited and waited and eventually got the video, plus some photos of the ring in the assembled state. Obviously, those 50-odd years of solving experience come in handy sometimes :)

But Carl still wasn’t out of the woods, not by a country mile.

Unfortunately, the person doing the videotaping went for a bit of a wander while the ring was being assembled, so that the first part showed the view when looking over D’s shoulder, then when looking from the side, then from in front of him.

D's WOW5 video on YouTube

Yes, it was proof that D knew how to assemble it, but it really wasn’t very helpful to anyone else.

I should know, because it was at this point, after Carl revealed that he still couldn’t solve it, that I entered the picture. I offered to look at the video myself and see if I could follow it, and it was a struggle, to say the least.

Imagine me sitting there, with a copy of the ring in hand while frequently pausing the video, all the while craning my neck into unnatural positions as I tried to imagine what the view in the latter part of the video would have been if taken from my perspective, and not the perspective of someone standing in front of me.

Thus it was that the deadline for Carl’s departure to Japan for the upcoming IPP (International Puzzle Party, an invite-only affair held in a different country each year) was drawing ever-closer, with Carl still unable to solve his masterpiece.

Which would prove to be somewhat embarrassing, if he were to turn up and essentially say "Look, here's the ring you've given me a prize for. Sorry, but don’t ask me how to solve it".

Talk about pressure :) 

I’m not particularly good at solving puzzles, but I am methodical and patient, and eventually I was able to tame WOW5.

And there is absolutely no way I could have done it without the clues provided in that video.

I then hurriedly sent Carl a copy of the video I made, after which he was at last able to enjoy the satisfaction of getting his masterpiece to behave itself.

Also, his blushes were spared when accepting his award at the IPP.

And now to a few more practical considerations.

WOW5 cannot be re-sized in the usual way, so it is necessary to have a set of moulds for each separate size (meaning that I have had to make a lot of moulds lately).

Also, the masters needed to create all those moulds need to be 3D-printed, and all the different sizes were obtained by simply scaling the modeling, meaning that as the size of the ring increased, so did all the other dimensions.

Thus, a size 8 ring is approximately 8.5 mm wide, while a size 12 ring is about 10.1 mm wide (and also correspondingly thicker).

This makes WOW5 different from every other ring on the website, since for them the width (and thickness) remain constant, regardless of whether the ring is a size 5 or a size 14.

All in all, a remarkable ring.

( * And now WOW5 LITE is also available. )

Assembly Video