The 24 Triangles (a.k.a Bermuda Cube) is yet another difficult puzzle, designed by Wim Zwaan, from my latest Brilliant Puzzles order. It's a brilliant puzzle that has more to offer than it meets the eye.

The puzzle is made from eight small cubes, each with three triangles in adjacent faces, which in turn have different orientations. In total, there are 24 triangles - hence the name of the puzzle - and your task is to build a larger cube so that all triangles fit together. Note that two triangles will form an inner square and no triangles shall be viewed from outside.

Made from two contrasting wood types, light for the cubes and dark for the triangles, the puzzle is reminiscent of a wrapped gift box. It comes with a truncated wooden stand, for a more stylish presentation and measures 7 x 7cm (about 2.8"). To solve the puzzle, I would recommend that you do it outside the stand, because that way you'll have more visibility all around the cube. Keep it for displaying purposes only.

(Click to Enlarge)

This is a level 4/5 puzzle, as rated by Brilliant Puzzles, and I totally agree. It may even be a 5/5 if you're not used to this type of assembling puzzles. First of all, you should know that if you get this puzzle, it might not be exactly as the one shown here. This is because there's two versions of the puzzle, each with different triangle configurations, thus making two completely different solutions.

According to the provided solution sheet, I seem to have the version 1 of the puzzle. In terms of difficulty, they are pretty much the same, since the only thing different about them is how the triangles match. Challenge-wise, this is a hell of a puzzle. It took me almost an hour to finally reassemble the cube.

(Click to Enlarge) - Partially Disassembled

If you decide to tackle the puzzle with a trial and error strategy, it might take you some time: You can start by building the first layer and then, one by one, add the remaining cubes. If you don't succeed at first, don't take apart the first layer. Try different combinations for the last four cubes until all possibilities are done. If by then, you're still out of luck, try to rebuild the first layer with different cubes.

Another strategy, though, much more methodical, is to analyse the first two cubes that are linked together and see if you can find another two cubes that'll fit right on top of them. Finding these opposite matches proves to be more efficient and time saving than simple trial and error.

(Click to Enlarge) - The Eight Pieces

Closing Comments:

Overall, the 24 Triangles is a great puzzle. It has, essentially, what makes a good puzzle: a nice concept and elegant design, and most importantly, an engaging challenge. Definitely worth a try.

Availability: The 24 Triangles is available at Brilliant Puzzles for about $13 USD.