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This is Hanayama's Cast Medal, released in February of 2009 and designed by James Dalgety, the founder of Pentangle Puzzles. It was first introduced at the 2003 23rd IPP Design Competition, at the time by the name of St Mungo's Fish.
The Cast Medal is comprised by two medals that are linked together and a ring. Basically, you have to remove the ring, but to do that, you must work with the two medals at the same time. You start with the medal that has a salmon in a flowing river and a ring in its mouth (it's this ring that you have to free). Then, you must join the two medals, as if they were one, to allow the ring to get across the two paths and out. On the other medal there are six holes scattered between the "rocks" that will make your journey through the river, a little bit more complex. The challenge resembles the one found in the Cast L'œuf, because of its two different paths that must function as one and, although a bit more complicated, is plays like the classic Cast Plate, for its similar design with holes.
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The puzzle is just a level 2 (out of 6), rated by Hanayama, but besides having a simple goal that shouldn't take too long to figure out, it may be still a bit tricky to get that ring out of the medals... And returning it to the starting point is also a challenge, because by the time you solve it, it's hard to remember the exact path you took to do it again without facing a dead-end first.
I can't stress enough the fact that, design wise, Hanayama's puzzles are among the best looking you can find in the market right now. Each puzzle has its own identity and this one is no different. Metal is always used, but not the same type, making each one look different and have various colors. Have a look here and see for yourself.
Closing Comments:
I liked the Cast Medal. Not a tough challenge, but an enjoyable one and given the fact that its concept is a bit similar to the Cast Plate, I loved the extra twist of having the two medals joined together to complicate your task.
The Cast Medal is available at PuzzleMaster, as well as other Cast Puzzles.
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Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)
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