The Nagging Wife

As far as I know, there is no definitive guide to being a puzzle collector, but if there were such a guide, it would include the requirement for having a tolerant spouse.  Conflicting stories on the Internet abound, both faux and fo’ real.

After observing my puzzle collecting obsession over several decades, my wife suggested that I design a puzzle of my own.  Over several years, she continued to suggest that I design a puzzle.  There’s a name for a spouse that continues to make the same suggestion over and over, but it’s not coming to me at the moment.


As any life-loving spouse would do, I eventually took my wife’s advice and started to design a puzzle.  Early on, I decided on creating a cubic dissection interlocking puzzle.  It ended up consisting of 5 pieces that create a 4x4x4 cube with no externally visible voids and a complexity of 3.1.2.  Not very difficult, but a great design for a prospective new puzzler to attempt.

My wife SUGGESTED that it be called The Nagging Wife, which seemed appropriate at the time. 

Over the years, I’ve made quite a few of these to give as gifts.  I particularly enjoy giving them as wedding gifts to the grooms, because every man needs a nagging wife.  At least that’s what I tell them.

The Ugly Nagging Wife

The initial prototype was my first wood working attempt and could be referred to as The Ugly Nagging Wife.  It was hastily made from cutting some squarish poplar stick stock from the local home improvement store, crudely measured, and cut to length using a box saw.  Gluing using the scotch tape packing method resulted in a fully functional eye sore.  I also swore that I would never cut puzzle pieces by hand again, and immediately bought a compound miter saw that I still use today.