If STAR WARS Made a Level 10 Puzzle!!

Today I'm going to attempt to solve the incredibly well crafted and super difficult Mutex puzzle by Andrew Magill.

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IF YOU WANT TO SEND ME STUFF:
Chris Ramsay
CP 50011 BP. Galeries Des Monts
St-Sauveur, PQ
Canada
J0R 1R0

[ChrisRamsay]

Honestly so enamoured with this puzzle I didn’t even noticed they were numbered... thanks for pointing that out! Will make it easier next time for sure!! ❤️

[OminousHum]

It's amazing seeing my puzzle in such a great video! I'm impressed how quickly you solved it just by intuition.


Think of the puzzle as a three-dimensional maze. The three brass rods each move you on one of the three axes. The solution is the maze's map.
Rod 1 (the one with one black ring) moves you left and right on the map. Rod 2 (two rings) moves you up and down. Rod 3 moves between whole squares.
You started off in the top left corner of the top square, and it unlocks at the bottom right corner of the bottom square. Green spaces on the map are on the shortest path from beginning to end. Yellow spaces are on dead end paths.


So, following the map, your first moves would be:
Move 1, location (1, 1, 1): Turn rod 2 right
Move 2, location (1, 2, 1): Turn rod 1 right
Move 3, location (2, 2, 1): Turn rod 3 right
Move 4, location (2, 2, 2): Turn rod 2 right

[pillarrox]

Me: "Oh look, the designer put lines on the knobs so the user could differentiate them! Very nice!"


Chris: *marks the numbers incorrectly with a sharpie*

[alexnelson]

12 minutes in and he’s numbering the brass dials that are already numbered with black lines on the sides.

[baxterwilson]

Puzzle designer: "Ominus Hum... thats a great name for my website!"


Chris: "omi noushum"

[nickvarsworld]

The engineer of this puzzle is absolutely brilliant on multiple levels. Also, amazing video and intro. This channel has turned into one of my mainstays.

[toxicara]

Chris: I'm gonna use a marker.
Everyone else immediately sees different number of lines around the cylinders
FACEPALM

[ishanpm_]

Ok, I think I figured out how this puzzle works. Based on the solution diagram at the end, it is essentially a 3D maze, where each dial controls one coordinate. What's unusual, though, is how that maze is constructed.

The name of the puzzle, Mutex, refers to something which can only be used in one place at a time. In this case, that refers to the tubes with bearings. There are too many ball bearings to fit between the dials, so they must rest in the pits around each dial. In other words, at least one side of each bearing must have a pit; they can't both be bumps. That's why the marbles sometimes stay still - the mutex is in use. There are 6 mutexes in total, two between each pair of dials.

Each dial can have one of 7 possible states. The solution diagram lists all the legal combinations for the dials. Working backwards from there, we can determine the mutual exclusions. None of the following combinations are allowed:

X = 2, 3, 4, 5 and Y = 1, 5 ; X = 3, 4, 7 and Y = 2, 3, 4, 6 ;
X = 1, 4, 6 and Z = 2, 5, 6 ; X = 1, 2 and Z = 3, 6, 7 ;
Y = 3, 7 and Z = 1, 4 ; Y = 2, 4, 5, 6 and Z = 3, 6, 7

Based on how Chris moves the dials at the beginning of the video X, Y, and Z are the dials marked with 1, 2, and 3 rings. Each dial begins in state 1, and the puzzle opens when they are all at state 7. By twisting the dials so that none of the forbidden combinations are encountered, the puzzle is solved.

[jayschofield]

Just the fact that this project is the first undertaken by its creator is fantastic enough given the craftsmanship that went into it but the fact he made sure you got the second one ever made blows my mind, that shows how much respect respect and admiration he has for you Chris as a magician and master puzzle solver. I like this guy. Great content too thanks bro

[jeffcarr]

That mechanism is amazing, it looks so elegant and beautiful too.

[michaelschutte]

It hurt me a little when Chris wrote the numbers on the puzzle when there are grooves on the side of each knob already giving numbers. (one has 1 stripe, another has 2, the last has 3)

[alexm]

They were already numbered with the black lines Rams😂

[WesBarker]

Another legendary intro!! Can’t get over them man 🙌🏻 so good.

[joethompson]

This is why I love Chris’s channel so much. I could careless about puzzles or magic, but I am drawn to his genuine enthusiasm he has for both.

[kristarrahlee]

I love the intricacy of this puzzle and the streamlined design. The mechanics are amazing.

[nathankouris]

From the intro to the puzzle and even the wax seal this is absolutely hands down my favorite video of yours! Thank you!

[W]

Chris : *sets the camera to manual focus for whatever reason*
Also Chris : *tries to explain something and brings the puzzle close to the camera pointing at something that’s completely blurred*

[t.pisani]

This might be my favorite one yet. Amazing design inside and out. Plus I'm super jealous of the wax seals.

[geofisika]

Chris Ramsay: "What's inside this puzzle?"
Gordon Ramsay: "It's RAW in the middle!!"

[dieselmechanictoolholicand]

As intriguing the mechanism was, this dude who designed, engineered, and made this awesome puzzle made my mind blown, you know it took FOREVER to make and design and he killed it!!