Monty by Jim Meddick for January 23, 2022

And no flat surface to work it on.

Judging by the beard & hair I’d say that only took -oh at least 4/5 months, huh monty?! lol

actually I have no clue how some people just pick em up one after the other & immediately solve them! Something like a rubik’s cube definitely doesn’t fall under anything I’m good at!

My elderly wife (God forbid if she reads this) just took up the demon cubic. I think it really helps her arthritic hands. She fairly quick at solving it.

The most intimidating jigsaw puzzle I ever heard of was a 1000-piecer. Jet black. All over. Both sides.

My first reaction was; He should leave that island immediately!

I would have been more impressed had the tree grown taller and taller with each frame.

must be a puzzle island

To avoid a nervous breakdown I’d count the pieces first to see if they are all there and make sure it’s not a picture of a cloudy sky.

During lockdown I decided to learn how to solve the cube without using any books or pre-written solutions. It took me about 6 months to work out a set of moves that can solve any cube. My method isn’t fast and it starts by solving all the corners first, which is not what the experts do. But now I can solve a cube using memorised moves that I worked out myself.

I always thought of the cube as some intractably complex thing, solvable only by arcane methods known only to the few. Now, it’s just a simple fun toy.

If there’s a moral to this story, it has temporarily escaped the chronicler.

Once he opens the puzzle and starts, Island rules are that Monty is not allowed to look the box…;-)

I solved a Rubik’s cube once. I was a preteen. They hadn’t been out very long. We were driving cross country and I got it done about halfway across.

He should try Wordle. Though Marshmallow in a Blizzard does sound interesting.

What do you want to bet that there are a couple of pieces missing?

It’s kind of like chess. If you’re into it, it’s everything and can take over your life. If you’re not, it’s, what the hell are you doing that for?

Hope the “mail-in-for-last-piece” coupon is still in the box. :)

At first glance I thought he was getting the stone tablet message that B.C. sent out in today’s strip.

I hope that when Rubik scrambled his first cube his first thought wasn’t Oh crap how do I get this back.

I’m working on that puzzle right now. Oh wait, I’ve got it upside down!

Round double-sided manhole cover or Oreo cookie puzzle.

Pre-Rubik’s cube, there was a puzzle with sliding numbered pieces on it. Don’t remember what the point was – whether the numbers were to add to the same number or put them in order numerically.

the inventor of the Rubiks cube took a month to solve it for the first time, almost drove himself crazy in the process

Monty should rejoice! Thank goodness, he has something new to help him pass the lonely months on his little island!

And Marshmallows in a Blizzard will be fun, just like Rubik’s Cube was fun….