I am not sure if I was given the absolute greatest Santa ever or an Evil genius intent on my destruction. It truly is a fine line. I told my Santa that the more difficult the puzzle the better and they did not disappoint!

First up was a mechanical puzzle. I saw that it was Hanayama which is a fantastic brand. I have had several of their puzzle in the past and they always offer a challenge. This one is the Enigma, I have worked on it for three evenings so far for about 45 minutes each time. I cannot call this one conquered yet but I can feel the fear it has setting in. The way that the pieces move and interact with each other is truly elegant. I have never seen a puzzle that you can manipulate on so many levels without solving. This really is a masterpiece and by far my favorite mechanical puzzle I have seen.

Next up was part one of a 3 part puzzle my Santa created. Part one has the feel of Sudoku but on steroids. All Rows and columns must add up to the totals listed on the right and bottom respectively as well as totals for the center diagonals. I then have to take the numbers in the colored squares, apply the function on the bottom and use that to complete the answer key below the graph, I feel like I have a good start on this but I am still working through it. I currently have everything in a spreadsheet and manipulating everything on there.

Part two of the Santa created puzzle is an index card with 21 letters on it. I originally thought that this was a large Anagram that needed to be solved but I am doubting that is it due to the fact of multiple letter Z's. So far I have tried to see what sentences I can create from the letters but have yet to find a solution but I have created some amusing partial sentences.

Part three I have solved. This puzzle was an index card with 21 random characters listed on it. They were oriented so the number of characters in each word went 4, 4, 2, 7, and 4. I was able to count the total times each character was used and then made the assumption the one used the most was letter E since it is the most common letter in English. Luckily it was in the 2 letter word so I was able to get another letter there by assumption and kept going till I got enough to make since of it.

Then we get to the Holy Grail of the present. My Santa took the time to make me an actual working cryptex! My assumption is that when I break the remaining 2 puzzles I will be left with a question that is to be answered on the codex. This codex is incredible. It is a five disk one just like in the da Vinci Code.

My Santa went above and beyond on this one. I have already gotten many hours of entertainment out of it and I imagine I have quite a few more to go until I everything in this one. I wish I could give this gift higher than a ten. You absolutely are awesome!