Flabber Floovers - Granville

(Click to Enlarge)

Granville is one of the most interesting rope puzzles I've tried so far, and definitely the best one in the Flabber Floovers collection. It has a very unusual goal, unlike any other puzzle I know. Curiously, this isn't considered a very difficult puzzle, and yet it had me stomped for a while. Read on to know more about this fascinating little puzzle.

The puzzle looks very well built with different colors and materials. It actually has a very good quality/cost ratio, considering its low price. Comprised of two identical metal rings, except for their color - one is golden and the other silver - plus a rope with two beads attached at both ends, the goal is not like you'd expect in this kind of puzzles.

Usually, your first impression about these puzzles is to remove one or more parts from the main body, and while you'd be correct 95% of the times, it's not the case with Granville. Here, the goal is just to exchange positions between the two rings. Sounds simple enough, but like I said above, I found it much more complex than I could ever expected.

Now that I have finally solved it, I can't understand why it took me so long to figure it out. I guess the unusual goal of the puzzle was part responsible for the different approach needed. You often have the same mindset when solving a puzzle type you already know, and the fact that I didn't have to remove anything from the puzzle took more time to adjust. It was clear that the knot at the top of the puzzle was the key to solving it, but I dread all kinds of knots and so I proceeded carefully.

Since all you need to do is exchanging positions between the rings, the solving process is basically to follow the rope with one ring at a time until they are in opposite positions. You will need to constantly readjust the knot back and forth to allow each ring to travel from one end to the other, but once you find the correct steps, it shouldn't be too difficult. I was the one who was making it difficult for no reason. Just goes to show you you need an open mind when solving puzzles that require a totally new approach.

(Click to Enlarge) - Rings in Opposite Positions

Closing Comments:

Granville is quite unique when it comes to rope puzzles. Now that I understand its solution I can admire its beauty. It's a great challenge, even though it's classified as a level 2/4, and it's now one of my favorite rope puzzles. I highly recommend it if you're looking for something new and different.

Availability: You can get a copy of the Granville puzzle from PuzzlesdeIngenio.com, in Spain. Worldwide shipping available.

Update: Shortly after publishing the review for Granville, I received a message by a puzzle friend from Sofia, Bulgaria. Dimiter is a mechanical puzzle enthusiast and designs and produces puzzles as well. After seeing how original the idea of the Granville puzzle was, he was able to design and build three different models based on the same principle. The fact that he did all this in such a short amount of time is amazing. Below, you can see photos of those models.

Photos 1 and 2, the objective is to exchange the two rings. In photo 3, you need to place the black bead in the middle.