The Lincoln Logs Puzzle

I am sick with a cold, but still wanted to get a video out! This is a great puzzlehunt puzzle from the Famine Game! I hope you enjoy it!
Paper version of puzzle: www.thefaminegame.com/puzzles/...
If you enjoyed the video, please like and subscribe!
Twitter: / flebpuzzles
Email: [e-mail]
I'm a Top-10 finisher in the US Puzzle Championship and just released a logic puzzle game on Steam! The game is called RYB: store.steampowered.com/app/547050
Intro song: Tekvision - Mycoplasma
Intro template: /SDJGRedstoneDJ

[@gazelle1467]

Not sure what's more impressive, the fact that you can solve these or the fact people can come up with them...

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I personally think that creating the puzzles is much more impressive. You have to go from infinite possibilities to something that is creative and interesting to solve. The most impressive designs seem like magic to me. Todd Etter, who designed the Xbox puzzle, deserves the credit for designing this puzzle. I stupidly forgot to mention him in the video!

[@chelseapeterson35]

FLEB are* much more impressive.

[@NicolinkGamingVideos]

Chelsea Peterson You're wrong

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Grammar is a tough puzzle.

[@wiseburger957]

Chelsea Peterson ya... you failed at correcting

[@pgn42]

Him: You may notice that this forms a shape Me: It’s the letter “S”! Him: It’s the number “5” Me: 😑

[@MrLordFireDragon]

Haha, and all of the words you get as answers are types of trees! Genius!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Yep! Nice observation! I forgot to include that point in the video!

[@johndoejr.7180]

we need to go deeper

[@FLEBpuzzles]

All the words are made of letters?

[@almarc]

All the letyers are made of molecules? Molecule ritual? Science? Universe? That thing goes deeper that we might think...

[@thefullestcircle]

Well logs come from trees and they are Lincoln logs...

[@nedizcool28]

Ho. Ly. Shit.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It's quite the puzzle, isn't it?

[@suwinkhamchaiwong8382]

real life simu. will be great, ill be working

[@PuissantPike]

This is one of the first puzzle videos I've watched where I thought, "O hey, I maybe could have figured this one out"! Watching your videos has helped me figure out how puzzles are designed and what mindset I have to be in to work toward a solution. I want to try working on some puzzles myself in the near future. Keep up the great videos!

[@flonettafelling5838]

hope you will get well very soon, Fleb!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you!

[@marcben1539]

Lincoln logs are made of wood, wood comes from trees, all the clues are types of trees. i wood have never solved it.

[@remister1984]

The layers of inception of puzzles within itself, just made me realize how an unimportant speck of dust I am.

[@friendfraser7234]

Dang this channel gives me head ache! I feel so dumb and worthless by just watching you solving these puzzles :(

[@FLEBpuzzles]

You shouldn't! This was from a puzzle competition that you had to apply for as a team, and they only accepted 40 teams! People in general are pretty unfamiliar with the puzzlehunt style, so they have less experience with what's expected from the puzzle. I'm hoping that I can upload a talk I gave recently to next year's MIT Mystery Hunt writers on puzzle construction, so I can explain more about what this type of puzzle is like.

[@huntersullivan51]

Thanks for explaining that FLEB, I was curious about this one, the difficulty seemed to be up there. Really neat solve.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

The difficulty was definitely up there! There are events coming up which feature easier puzzles, though. There's actually a monthly event which caters to people getting into puzzlehunts, which is Puzzled Pint. The idea is that you go to a bar and solve a short puzzlehunt, which is a good introduction to the various techniques. Also, next month, there's an event called DASH which has a beginner or advanced track, and is sort of an intermediate hunt.

[@shoyunkaku]

Maybe you can try doing more of the beginner one, FLEB? I guess the one that intrigues you is fine for me, so I can get a little bit of hang of the puzzlehunt, because this one's pretty hard >< Nevertheless, excellent video as always!

[@huntersullivan51]

Once more, thanks for the response. Would you say there is an easy way to find out what difficulty level a new puzzle enthusiast should begin at? I want to get in to puzzles but I don't know where to start, I figured the machined puzzles are a good place to start but I'm on a bit of a budget.

[@Shlafoutre]

I always find those puzzle hunt puzzles impressive. I would never have think of the cherry word, even in my mother tong. Thank you for the video, I hope you'll get well soon!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! One thing that helps with these competitions is that you can often enter partial answers. So, for example, entering CHERRY would have the puzzle answer software tell you that it's a correct partial answer. You also don't need all the words to get the answer, just enough to guess RITUAL!

[@GeneralMEDFLY]

You know what FLEB, I don't normally comment on videos but you always intro yourself in such an upbeat manner! I love it, keep up these engaging and interesting videos.

[@MichaelHaskin]

I would have totally taken Bialik Sitcom as "The Big Bang Theory"

[@FLEBpuzzles]

That's also a possibility, but given that all the other crossword clue answers were one word, you could make an educated guess that is was "Blossom" and not "The Big Bang Theory".

[@engelsseele2]

I would never have gotten blossom as I have not had tv in a little over 7 years now...

[@whosjohngalt6164]

engelsseele2 Blossom was like....from the 90s or maybe even the late 80s.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

You can also use computers and smartphones for these events!

[@xtra3678]

FLEB notice me

[@ErinMacca]

I really admire the time and effort put into creating and solving puzzles like this! Kudos to you Fleb and other puzzlers like you

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you!

[@davidf2244]

One of the most elegant puzzles I've seen, wow.

[@Bee-very]

I absolutely love your videos, Fleb. your way of taking us through the quirky solutions really cheer me up and fascinate me. keep up the great work !

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much! :3

[@Ganue512]

Another great puzzle solve by the one and only FLEB....Great job!!!!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much!

[@xVIVAo]

This puzzle has so many layers ! Very cool!

[@megm7197]

i think this is my favourite puzzle you've made a video on. it's so cleverly made and it's clear that so much thought went into it. and it's equally as impressive that you managed to solve it. keep doing what you do, you're very good at it :)

[@ethanjensen661]

this is my favorite puzzle I've seen on the channel :)

[@intjonmiller]

This checks so many boxes. Probably the most fascinating one I've seen so far, at least to me. Thanks!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm really glad you liked it! I find puzzlehunt puzzles to be really impressive, in general.

[@mook403]

I honestly hate puzzles to death but absolutely love watching you solve these. The first video I saw from yours was The Lotus Box and I've fallen in love with how you think while doing these puzzles. Keep it up, I'll keep watching!!

[@sierra3159]

i love this channel so much

[@thehaigu321]

I love that people can get inspiration to make these things from such random stuff

[@leaffen9616]

I remember playing with these many years ago as a kid, never knew it was a puzzle though.

[@rena919]

I'm 15 but I love this kind of stuff. You definitely have the best puzzle channel out there that I've found!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you enjoy it! Puzzles have been a great source of enjoyment in my life and it's fun to share! :)

[@nickcap7337]

I would have never thought to have done half of this, great job on the video!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you!

[@l_a_i_n]

The best one I've seen so far! Also, judging by a huge stack of DS/3DS games in the background - you are a lot cooler than I thought :)

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I have a long commute, and there are a lot of puzzle games for the DS!

[@theworstgamer5135]

Wow! How long did this take your team to figure out?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I don't remember! I was trying to look up the data, but I couldn't find it. I think it was 45 min-1 hour, with a team of 4 people, but that's just a random guess.

[@Jomskylark]

Wtf you could've locked me in a room for 2 weeks and I still wouldn't have figured it out

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I found the timing data, and I was waaaay optimistic. It took us 1:44:30.

[@ConelradNation]

Wow! That's still really impressive for something so unfamiliar like a puzzle hunt. How did you end up placing in the overall competition?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

We placed 15th out of 25 teams. We've improved a lot as a team, though, in the last four years!

[@skun406]

That's amazing and clever. So simple, yet so complex.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I really liked it! The Famine Games was a great event!

[@UberOcelot]

I love this one, so many layers.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you liked it! I thought it was a really neat puzzle, too!

[@big-red-drew5808]

I think itd be cool if you recorded yourself in a famine game or whatever you said that thing was where you go from place to place solving puzzles. Like itd be like you taking us with you through the game. It think itd make a sick video(s). I enjoy your videos keep it up FLEB

[@collectivelight]

That was a really good puzzle! They really pack a lot of clues in there. I would have thought just building it would give the answer, but then there are a lot more steps to get to the word.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It was part of a pretty tough competition. We ended up finishing, but they skipped us over a lot of puzzles, and we were middle of the pack!

[@mrfrankums]

This doesn't just blow my mind, it literally rips it out and stomps on it! WTF that is amazing. 👏🏻👏🏻😵😵

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Todd Etter is a heck of a puzzle designer! The Famine Games puzzle event is legendary at this point in puzzle circles!

[@toddetter8251]

So psyched to see some of my puzzles up here! Thanks for showcasing these!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

+Todd Etter It makes me super happy to hear that!!! You're one of my favorite designers, and I absolutely LOVE your puzzles!!!

[@TheIronWaffleMan]

The number shapes is what got me. That's impressive.

[@Skwerll]

1:38 I don't know what you're talking about, that clearly says "Bunnyman"

[@danaondrackova3431]

I love this! You have to travel, search, solve some puzzles and then you can travel some more! This is amazing. Here in Czech republic we have a geocashing (that kinda went old by the time) and some kids games like "visit all castles and chateaus and you get a teddy" but nothing like this! And I want to search for the hidden clues! :D

[@marcelvdberg]

Wow, great effort on solving this. This puzzle reminds me a bit of the times i used to solve Geocaching puzzles with a couple of friends, and i can tell you, there are some really hard puzzles out there. We solved (and found) around 1000 Geocaching puzzles before i turned to collecting hardcopies ;-). Nice video again, thanks!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

1000 puzzles!? Wow, that's a lot! No reason you can't do both!

[@nesha_owo]

Why are you so good in solving puzzles? I'm so amazed.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Getting good at puzzle solving is really just solving a lot of puzzles, and creating them as well. Solving puzzles will give you a good sense of what's out there, while creating puzzles gives you a good sense of the constraints that puzzle authors face.

[@duels]

Wow. This is very unique. I love these videos.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much!

[@duels]

FLEB :)

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Right back at you, WolfHax! :)

[@richardhohls9550]

Another great video FLEB. I think it would be great if you gave us a ballpark on how long it would you to solve your puzzle (in addition to the videos)

[@FLEBpuzzles]

This competition was back in 2013, so I don't remember how long it took me! :p When I solve a puzzle for the first time, I'll time it and include it.

[@doongi2001]

I chuckled when I saw the thumbnail with all the pieces laid out

[@billylinburg8227]

I always see big youtubers saying that when they were smaller they replied to everyone, but I never really got to see that. Now that I've found a smaller channel I really enjoy, I love to see you replying and conversing with everyone here! I love your videos, and you're super smart to be able to solve these things. I hope some day I get to see you get to the point where there are simply too many people to get to, but I know you'll still be replying.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much for the kind words! I hope that I get to that point, and I really hope I'll be able to reply to everyone! Happy puzzling! :)

[@altin303]

Amazing! Very cool puzzle!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@lizzardtoad1]

Hope you feel better, FLEB!!!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you!

[@krisnailafat]

so much fun to watch!! this channel will big someday god bless you

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I'm hoping that more people get interested in puzzles!

[@oreojoyr]

I love this so much

[@ferndude4901]

You always sound so enthusiastic _nice_

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thanks!

[@AldyWaani]

from all of your puzzle videos, this one is the hardest in my opinion. I wonder how many puzzles do you own personally in total at this moment?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

A couple hundred? I've never counted. Also, with puzzles like these, they're shared with everyone on the team, so they're not really part of my collection, more like part of my puzzle team's collection.

[@JustinPayton]

"Next location we had to drive to..." THIS WAS JUST ONE STEP?!? How many were there???

[@lukostello]

what an elaborate puzzle!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Indeed!

[@jr.junior1692]

i used to have these at my daycare (when i was like 6) and i never thought anything of them other than building blocks. very neat.

[@the.nose.666]

when it's past midnight and u get fascinated af by these puzzles.. It's nice to keep thinking while you go through the steps and sometimes actually getting things right or guessing ahead of the video. a small triumph 😅 ( even this particular one was nothing for me, since English isn't my first language I feel like I have a clear disadvantage here lmaoo)

[@FLEBpuzzles]

If you got some of the steps ahead of time, nice! They're not easy by any means!

[@the.nose.666]

FLEB not on this one tbh. it was too hard for me bec English is a foreign language to me and it's hard for me to make the same associations or just keep up with the full vocabulary (the words in the puzzle). but I came here through the Eureka puzzle (it was recommendedfor me) and I really liked that one. it was more logical so I could solve that one in the head while you did your explaining beforehand 😅 ( obviously it's not half as hard as this one, but as I said, a small triumph) keep up with the videos! it's so exciting bec of the cleverness behind it !

[@FLEBpuzzles]

The Eureka puzzle is not easy! Nice job getting it beforehand! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos! Happy puzzling!

[@AIRFORCEismyfuture]

The X-box used to be my fav till before this one, love it when a puzzle has alot of steps like that. Whats the longest puzzle you've done so far Fleb? (in number of steps required rather than time spent)

[@Ditrix88]

This one was great!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@luxlox9029]

Your channels like a fun with flags but better and with puzzles ngl

[@notreal77]

I've always been interested in brain teasers, and by association, puzzles. But I find puzzles somewhat terrifying, with a mysterious object in my hands created by someone who masterminded it all, knowing something I don't, and I'd feel that if I couldn't solve it, I'd probably go mad with irrational fear. When I found one of your videos for the first time, the introduction of the puzzle made me rather anxious, but you always solve them in the end, and for some reason, that makes me feel really safe. I subscribed because of that. I think my heart would give in if you posted a puzzle without a solution. Thank you for your work! P.S. I'm interested if you have any puzzles you made yourself, and if you have any videos of them? Thanks u-u

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thank you very much for your kind words! I don't usually stream my own puzzles, as I like to highlight other people's work, but there are a number of puzzle competitions that have used my work, which is publicly available. (And don't worry, the solutions are posted!) If you go to www.baphl.org/15, I wrote "Countless Crossword Clues", "Spectacular Space Sojourn", "Dastardly Dungeons", "Time Cube", and "Time For You To Get A Watch".

[@wiseburger957]

I would just freak out because I LOVED Lincoln logs when I was little!!! Then I would build random things and forget it was a puzzle...

[@midwestskiesinnyc]

AMAZING!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you liked it! Also, your thumbnail is really unique. I remembered you commenting on a couple other videos because of it! What in the world is the drawing?

[@midwestskiesinnyc]

Huh? What drawing?

[@BlurSentinel]

That puzzle was really complex. You must be really creative - in solving - to have that solved in time. I mean how much tim edid you had to find the solution to get to the next location?

[@GreatValue]

Fleb. What are these types of puzzles called. I always wanted to try something like this

[@territango6132]

wow...so awesome

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I think it's cool too!

[@vanessalim2493]

Awesome video! Hope you get better soon! :)

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I'm hoping I'm better to record Friday's video!

[@Shlafoutre]

Friday's video? Yay!

[@Day23458]

Came in thinking it was just a simple Lincoln log puzzle like when I was a young kid and was mind blown lol

[@Ryyi23]

Could you use the paper in conjunction with Lincoln Logan you own already and write on the Lincoln Logs yourself?

[@Mumum2]

Hey Fleb I like the puzzles you post, is there any way I can know where to shop for one of these? Thanks!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

For puzzles like these, it's harder, because this was made for a one-off puzzle competition. Are there other puzzles on my channel that you've liked?

[@Mumum2]

I liked a bunch of the discovery puzzles, like the Lotus Box and Pirates Wallet

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Those happen to be the hardest to find and the hardest to make! Mr. Puzzle, the Australian puzzle shop, has a number of sequential discovery puzzles that they sell (that's where the Gold Coast Parking Meter is from). But to get a Strijbos or Stickman puzzle, you'll have to get on their private mailing lists and be prepared to spend $200-1000 per puzzle!

[@Pengie780132]

Which set of lincoln logs did you buy to make this?

[@aryme90]

get well soon

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thanks!

[@PriyaSingh-pw1ll]

Lotus Box Puzzle is still my favourite one.

[@DeshierArchitecte]

heck yes yerba mate

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It's great! One of my sisters got me that from Uruguay!

[@sw0rdz]

Puzzle Suggestion! Do the Enigma Ring Puzzle. I just started collecting puzzles, and this was one of the first I solved. The final move of the solution was beautiful. It was the first moment I was awed by a puzzle.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I really like Hanayama puzzles, but one thing I try to do is highlight the entire puzzle world, including the parts people don't know about, or can't access! I've covered quite a few of Hanayama's puzzles already!

[@zachmunro4407]

Are there any puzzles that have big red herrings in them that you have done? Where the solver is often tricked into thinking that something is important but not? For example, if in this puzzle the numbers shaped by the logs were instead completely unimportant, but the solver thinks they are and instead is led on a wild goose chase of sorts

[@FLEBpuzzles]

That used to be more of the case, but recent (last 10 years) of puzzle design has held that up as bad design. Most puzzles today are designed to not have red herrings. As a result, a number of puzzlehunt puzzles have gotten easier, but that's not a bad thing! The quality has gone way, way up!

[@TheGroovybear17]

When you guys do these events, how big are the teams? If they're larger than 5 do you all split up cars or do you have a van that you all hop in?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

This event was a team of four. Even with a large van, it can feel cramped to essentially live out of it for 48 hours! My Mystery Hunt team this year was 100+ people, though!

[@someoneexploded]

where do you buy all the puzzles from?

[@martonnemeth236]

This is a cool puzzle.

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I thought it was really neat the way that you built a log cabin using levels that looked like numbers!

[@DaHaiZhu]

dear lord, I'd go crazy trying to solve that word association puzzle!

[@billyhr5289]

i wonder how stupid i am .. after watching your videos . bro you're so intelligent , i love your videos . keep it going

[@FLEBpuzzles]

You're not stupid! Most puzzlehunt techniques come from experience!

[@thaylamay3531]

wow, that was really convoluted. it would take a sherlock holmes to figure all that out!

[@De-tp5mq]

great puzzle

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I agree!

[@gamergapple5676]

where do you buy these puzzles

[@ImShads]

your intro is dope af

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Thanks!

[@climatebrad]

One more design note: all the final answers fit into a single category that is related to the puzzle.

[@clamchance2404]

wow this puzzle look fun,where you get it?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

This one was from a one-off puzzle competition back in 2013!

[@madman1101]

I'm not sure if this was asked, but what was the point of the numbers in each layer? you did not have to put them in any order or anything, was that step necessary?

[@Vlr]

He addressed it at the end of the video. Each number represents the number of the letter we need to take away from that specific word. For Cherry it was 5 so we got "R"

[@ramiel555]

holy crap, that is impressive O.o

[@FLUFFMANDUFF]

How long did it take you and your team to figure this one out?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I don't really know, because I don't have the timing data from the competition (it was back in 2013), but my guess is 45 minutes - 1 hour. At this event (which was 40+ puzzles), an hour long solve was pretty long, although I think we struggled with this one a bit.

[@donnypassary5798]

Just curious, are you allowed to use google or something alike when solving these puzzles in puzzle hunt? I'm not quite well versed about trivia puzzles anyway.

[@zmaj12321]

Yes, and in fact you are expected to. Puzzle hunt puzzles don't require that much trivia knowledge (though having some can definitely help sometimes).

[@pedropedropedro7036]

Jeez. That was a puzzle within a puzzle.

[@ident1ty]

Are there any web based puzzle hunts?

[@naftbefehl]

Do you know if something like that Puzzle Hunt exists in Germany? I may not be good at solving puzzles, but i would really love to take part in itand at least try!

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I'm not sure! They're becoming a lot more popular in general. This one in particular was a one-time US event, but I imagine that people are starting to put them on in other countries! Usually I check out the upcoming events at www.puzzlehuntcalendar.com . I don't know off the top of my head if they post international events, though.

[@naftbefehl]

Thx for the answer, i will keep an eye open :)

[@Pjamasgaming]

How long do you think a puzzle like this would take to design?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Depends on who was designing it! :p But really, this would probably take a while to come up with the original idea, and then you would prototype it with paper, and then you would take it through testing, and then you would rewrite it, so it would take a while. I don't know how long it took this team to design, but once you had the idea, I don't think it would take more than a few hours to make the first prototype. Testing takes a loooong time, especially since you have to change the puzzle based on feedback. Getting the first idea is the hard part!

[@ByronIgoe]

Lunar Phenomenon is Eclipse (not Orbit), which is also a brand of Gum.

[@TuberoseKisser]

5:40 that's some illuminati shit right there I've been binge watching your videos

[@speedhacked_]

I really wanna join those puzzle hunt thingies but dam, it's either I'll go far away for that or wait 'til some organization does that contest here. At least I could still solve some puzzles online as a /temporary/ solution for that

[@FLEBpuzzles]

The online puzzles for puzzlehunts are really good!

[@randomperson6749]

how long did it take to solve?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I just found the timing data, and it took us 1:44:30

[@randomperson6749]

FLEB that's impressive, I wouldn't doubt it'd take that short though since you guys live and breath it :P

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Just so you can understand what the best teams were like, the fastest team finished this puzzle in just under 15 minutes! This was four years ago, and we had a lot to learn...

[@randomperson6749]

FLEB that's crazy, I'm sure after a certain point of experience you know what to expect

[@FLEBpuzzles]

It's really valuable to have the experience to know when something will fit into an established pattern, and when you need to think outside the box. A couple of the puzzles really stumped them, but they built up a solid lead over the 48 hours. They actually went so fast through the competition that they finished the whole thing in like 36 hours, which is nuts. A very good team!

[@RiverNaiad]

Don't know if more like Sherlock or CSI...but genius.

[@florianassmuth5257]

can you do notpron? or have you done it already?

[@FLEBpuzzles]

I tried it a few years ago. It was a lot of fun! But I got to a point where it referenced previous answers, but I didn't have them written down...

[@fe1liott.civicsi]

Wow, this had a lot of steps. 😀

[@FLEBpuzzles]

Yeah, this was a tough one! Definitely a harder puzzle on the scale of difficulty in puzzlehunt puzzles.

[@quasquaswex4430]

What country is this?

[@FreakyFred18827]

MY CHILDHOOD TOY WAS A PUZZLE!

[@kansascityshuffle4141]

Instructions unclear touched Pikachu in a bad place.