Cast Key (交)

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The Cast Key is one of the first three puzzles released by Hanayama, back in 1983. The other two were the Cast Star and Cast ABC. The Key puzzle originated in Britain in the late 19th century and has ever since been intriguing puzzle fans around the World. 

The design is stunning, as it resembles two old keys from a couple of centuries back, and they appear as if it were impossible to separate them, although a careful inspection of the keys reveals a few interesting characteristics that are "key" to solve the puzzle. Some of those characteristics are thiner passages on one of the keys, three to be exact, and they serve as a way to pass through the opening of the other key.

The puzzle is one of Hanayama's easiest, rated as 1 out of 6 and 5 out of 10 by PuzzleMaster. Its looks are certainly deceiving, but its goal is pretty straightforward, even for a non-puzzler. This makes fiddling with the puzzle very intuitive and you won't need no more than five minutes to unlock it. There's no need to explain step by step the solution, but if you feel "locked", you can always download a solution at PuzzleMaster.

Video: Click here to see a video solution of the Cast Key.

Closing Comments:

Always regarded as a symbol of curiosity and mystery, the keys have the power to lock the deepest of secrets. It's this knowledge that kept people all these years fascinated by keys and by what they represent. For this, the Cast Key is one of my favorites from the Cast Series, and though they're one of the easiest from Hanayama, it doesn't mean that you won't enjoy solving it... I know I did. If you liked this one, then you will also love the Cast Key II, a new version released in 2006 and designed by Otake & Wong.

The Cast Key is available at PuzzleMaster for CAD $12.95, as well as the others from the Cast Series.

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Links:

Hanayama's Factory Visit (Many thanks to Roxanne Wong for sharing these pictures)