“With the release of TETRA-FLOP I announced a small series of four FLOP-puzzles: FRITZ-FLOP, DICK-FLOP, STEFKA-FLOP and SOMA-FLOP. As an encore, the series will be completed with TETRA-FLOP and for lovers of L-shaped tricubes L-FLOP. The FLOP series puzzles each consist of a cuboid box completely filled with various tricubes and tetracubes. The box has the largest possible rectangular opening on one side. Each of the four FLOPs has a unique kind of rotation. The solution to each should be unique. When a FLOP is placed on a flat surface with the opening at the top facing forward, the movement of the pieces is sometimes reminiscent of the Fosbury flop – a revolutionary high-jump technique that sent established records tumbling. The inventor of this technique is the forgotten Austrian athlete, Fritz Pingl, for whom the first FLOP puzzle is dedicated. My friend Fritz hoped the puzzle could be made in birch wood, and Pelikan were able to fulfil his wish. Many thanks for that. FRITZ-FLOP has only five pieces: two tricubes and only three of the eight tetracubes, making it the smallest FLOP. I think it’s really suited to being a coffee table puzzle. I selected this combination from what seemed like an infinite number of possible combinations. I suspect it is the only combination that fulfils all of the characteristics of a FLOP puzzle. The fact that this combination exists at all, fills me with great wonder, as does the story of the high jump. Please play and enjoy.”
Kevin Sadler wrote about it:
“Fritz Flop has been beautifully created using a lovely pale Downy Birch wood. I just love how Volker always specifies a delivery setup for his puzzles. It can be quite a challenge if you aren’t paying attention to return the puzzles to the start position. I reviewed the Tetra flop from the last release and am surprised to see that some are still available for sale. It was a seriously difficult puzzle but had some wonderful moves in it. I needed a little help and despite that did not feel that I lost out on the puzzling. Working out the moves required after getting a little position help did not detract in any way from my puzzling pleasure. With the Fritz Flop the puzzle is certainly a lot simpler in design and hence very solvable without help. It is still a challenge with the simpler set of pieces and only looking for a 3x3x2 block shape. The fun part is getting the pieces through the restricted opening which it just smaller than 3×2 in size. There will be rotations and space needs to be left for the rotations to occur. Knowing this helps with working out the possible assemblies to try. Before writing this review I entered the pieces into BT and found that there are 28 possible assemblies of the pieces into the block but doing this is not necessary for the solution. I picked the pieces that I felt were likely to be the last to be inserted and then tried to place the rest into a shape that would allow it. Of course, my first decisions were incorrect and I spent a good few hours attempting impossible solutions – they looked good but there was no way to insert them through the opening. Most of the assemblies stand no chance of insertion and can be discarded quickly. After a few hours, I had exhausted everything I could find apart from one which looked promising but I just couldn’t get it to assemble in the box. Time for a break and the following day, I had a fabulous Aha! moment – not only is this a packing puzzle but it is a sequential movement puzzle as well. The rotational move is simply joyful. I heartily recommend buying this set – it is pure Latussek genius!”
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