[Sande24] needed a gift for his father’s birthday. He decided that rather than simply give his father the gifts, he would present his father with a unique challenge. The gifts are locked inside of a multi-stage puzzle box. This isn’t your average puzzle box though. This one is rigged to blow.
The puzzle box was designed to test his father’s reflexes, mind, and luck. The finished product looks sort of like a wooden crate made from particle board. The box contains three levels, each with its own gift and its own task to be completed.
With the lid opened, the first compartment and puzzle is revealed. Inside of the compartment were a new pair of gloves, meant to protect the father’s hands when working on the puzzles. The first puzzle is built into a sheet of wood with several custom-made levers. The levers must be moved into position in order to remove the wooden sheet and reveal the next level.
The first lever triggers a home-made detonator that eventually lights a series of fireworks placed around the box. You need to solve the puzzle box fast enough to prevent the fireworks from destroying the gifts that lay inside. [Sande24] was unable to legally purchase fuses where he lived, so he had to make his own.
The second level held a gas mask, also meant to protect the father from the booby traps of this mysterious box. This level, also made from a sheet of wood, has nine squares drawn on it. Each square is labeled with a different number which goes into solving a mathematical function (x^5-25x^4+233x^3-995x^2+1866x-1080 = 0). The solution to the function would reveal the safe path to be used to cut the wooden platform in half. Unfortunately [Sande24’s] father cut the wrong squares and released a huge amount of vinegar into the box. Oops.
The bottom level contained the final puzzle and the locked treasure compartment locked with an ordinary padlock. To find the key, another puzzle had to be solved based on a series of wooden levers labeled with different shapes. The shapes provided clues to the order in which the levers should be pulled. Once the levers were moved into position, two compartments were unlocked. One of them contained the key to the treasure box. The other contained another booby trap which would set off more fireworks, destroying the final gift of four cans of Kuld beer. That’s a lot of work to get a a few cans of frothy beverage!
[Thanks Ellery]
This guy must have wanted serious revenge on his dad. Here pop – this present will blow your hand off if you don’t push the levers in the correct order. At least I *hope* he told him about the fireworks…
father,
“gift”,
four cans of beer.
As the father sobbed without a sound before he fell asleep that night he whispered.
One last tear slipped onto the pillow.
“I will teach my grandchild how to install airbags and mouse traps everywhere as ‘gifts’.”
[Rick], this is like the anti-thesis of treasure. Do you thinking you can replace treasure with maybe “unwanted and unneeded event”
Why don’t we replace treasure with “beer” because Hurr Durr everyone, which is everyone on the internet, loves beer you are not a hacker/maker/power-tool-workers/whatever-this-site-is-pushing-towards until drink some, so start giving them to your children before they’ll turn into apathetic, poet-less, outclass who don’t have a free mind. UPJERK THE BEER CIRCLEJERK, IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO BRING PEACE AND ORDER TO THIS WORLD HERP DERP
Nah Rogue. “Treasure?”
Write a card about how much you care about your father.
Hand him a Bottle of 21 year old high end Scotch or Whiskey.
A custom made Meerschaum pipe.
Negative “gift”?
Buy him a pair of shoes from a Thrift Store. (make sure shoes are the right size but really wide).
Pair of ugly pants, make sure waist is right size except that the inseam is 4 inches short.
Buy a new jacket, offer it to a homeless dude in exchange for his jacket. (Do not wash the jacket)
Brand new pair of womens black colored calf high stockings.
In either case don’t post pictures to social media sites.
Who did this father raise, The Jigsaw Killer?
“Open this series of boxes correctly or you’ll destroy the gifts inside and ruin all my work.
Hmmm.
I didn’t really think this through very well.”
Maybe it was a Hit Girl/Big Daddy type of relationship… Or Batma… nevermind.
His old man must be proud, what an elaborate heart felt dad joke of a gift.
This is like winning the BRAND NEW Toyodta. search for “Jodee Berry, 27, Florida”
Its the time and effort that went into this that says ‘I love you Dad’. Awesome.
Nothing says “I love you” like third degree burns and chemical pneumonia – I need to start to work on something like this for my ex-wife… Though she’s not really a beer drinker. I wonder if she’d like cobras or rattlesnakes more?
Think of the animals man! That’s cruel! You might consider Cat and Dog repellant. “Why don’t they love me anymore”
Well, if his father works/used to work for the bomb squad in the military, this makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, those guys have issues that they need to resolve :)
Just wire up a simple box with wire of all the same color, 5 minute nanosecond LCD timer, and a car alarm. Alarm keeps going off until defused. Also canister of automotive NO2 (“I need NOS yo”), it will smell like rotten farts but he might get a laugh out of it.
“I want to play a game…”
“And in other news, Ted Kaczynski has been allowed to visit the ADX Florence prison workshop, where he’s busy making presents for all his friends.”
Technically that wood material is OSB oriented strand board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriented_strand_board
If you were my son and gave me a gift like that, I would beat your @$$!
I think you can say “ass” here. Let me check:
Ass.
Yep, looks good. Carry on.
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I’d be like NOPE, where’s my saws-all? Making a new door looks way safer than going in through the front door.
[Scotty] If I did that I would EXPECT physical harm for mistreating my father in such a way. :)
Maybe I’m alone on this, but I’ll say it- we don’t know what kind of father he is, or son this guy is.
It’s obviously a very specific kind of gift for a very specific kind of relationship.
I love mechanical puzzles and gag booby traps. I love suprises. I have a collection of Japanese puzzle boxes.
So I can tell you, I don’t know that it would be something most people would enjoy, but just hearing about this,
if it were me, I think I would love to be this guy’s dad. I’d love that he went to so much effort to give me not just
a gift, but an experience with thrill. I’d love solving the puzzles. I’d love the thrill of not knowing what would happen
if I failed (assuming he is not trying to kill or hurt me, but mess with or surprise me), and I’ve love seeing the grins
on the face of my kid while I try to find the gift.
This is a very unique type of gift, for a unique dad that must enjoy something like this. I don’t know the guy,
but I have to assume he’s not trying to be an asshole by hiding 4 cans of beer in an elaborate trap box. I’m
thinking his dad is like me- had all the good 24 year old scotches already, bored with normal or even predictable.
Unpredictable experiences and stories I look forward to more than another bottle of something or a tie.
I’d fucking love this, but I guess I’m messed up?
Damnit, can HaD add an edit or delete button? This page break ignoring stuff is ridiculous sorry.
I don’t know what phone or tablet you wrote this one but it is a appropriate mix of e.e.cummings, lucifer’s whispers and sufficient pain of formatting to cause any father to want to kill himself. You don’t even need to build the box. Just send him a post like this on a birthday card.
Gud Jawb Drew!