Trick Bolts is yet another interesting class of puzzles that I've recently acquired and I'm quite fascinated by them. The other type of puzzles I was referring to is the Bottle Puzzles, also recently reviewed.

I got two Trick Bolts from my latest PuzzleMaster order: Trick Bolt #1 and #2. Now, why am I reviewing #2 first instead of #1? - The answer is simple, I solved #2 first. The Trick Bolt #1 is still unsolved, so its review will come very soon, I hope...

These bolts are produced by PuzzleMaster and are made from solid metal - they're quite heavy - and look like the real thing. These are also not small, contrary to what I was expecting: the one I'm reviewing today measures 9.7 x 2.5cm (that's about 3.8" x 1"), which by the way feels much more comfortable holding it in your hands. 

The object of the Trick Bolts, as you might expect, is nothing more than one or two simple movements - that's why they're called "Trick" bolts. Discovering these exact movements is anything but simple, though. Although both trick bolts are classified as a level 7/10 (Challenging), a beginner might feel at a loss as to how to tackle this particular type of puzzles.

I feel I got a bit lucky with the Trick Bolt #2, because I didn't take too long to figure it out. The puzzle features a a ring and a nut, and the goal is to actually remove the ring, not the nut. The bolt also has two indentations at the top where the ring appears to fit and be removed from there, but no matter how you try it, it just won't go through. To make things even more complex, the nut seems to be welded to the bolt. There must be another way...

The solution is, obviously, counterintuitive, but at the same time this particular concept doesn't have many different movements you can try, so you'll eventually solve it after some trial and error. Even for a first timer, this one can be solved within seconds. I can't say the same thing for the other trick bolt, though, as I'm still stuck trying to figure it out. Stay tuned for my next chapter...

Closing Comments:

I love the fact that after more than 4 years of collecting, I still get to find these extremely interesting new types of puzzles. I'm really excited to add the Trick Bolts to my ever expanding collection, and if you don't already own one of these, give them a try and I'm sure you'll be "bolted" as well.

Availability: The Trick Bolt #2 is available at PuzzleMaster for just $10 CAD. If you like, you can also get the Trick Bolt #1 for the same price.

This week is dedicated to Jean Claude Constantin, and so I have another puzzle produced by him. The Triangle Box is an interesting and unusual 3D Packing Puzzle with 7 different pieces and, design-wise, it's a breath of fresh air from the all the squared boxes out there.

The Triangle Box's 7 pieces are stacked in three layers, which may difficult your task. I have in my collection this puzzle that features several of the same pieces, although it's only in 2D and much easier. The pieces themselves are a combination of two different shapes that are glued at different angles.

The design and quality of the puzzle is top-notch, just like any other Constantin's creations. I personally love the different color tones of the pieces contrasting with the beautiful reddish color of the box. The puzzle measures 11.5 x 11.5 x 6.5cm.

Although the Triangle Box seems intimidating at first, it's actually a medium difficulty level. Sloyd, which is where the puzzle came from, classifies it as a level 3/6 and, from my experience, it's about right. The reason for the puzzle not being overly difficult may be that it has multiple solutions, although I can't prove this at the moment (maybe someone good with Burr Tools).

If you want to make the puzzle a little more challenging, just make sure to dump the pieces on the table rather than removing them one by one. If you're still able to solve it pretty fast, try to find a different solution from the one you already have - Remember that rotations don't count as a different solution.

Closing Comments:

There are countless 3D Packing Puzzles out there, but Constantin's Triangle Box manages to stand out offering a different experience from the more common cubic-shaped puzzles. Being both a Constantin and Packing Puzzle aficionado, the Triangle Box is right up my alley - Highly recommended.

Availability: The Triangle Box came from Sloyd.fi, in Finland, and you can get a copy for €26.

Links:

Jean Claude Constantin - Official Website

Jean Claude Constantin at Puzzle Place

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The Sputnik Ball consists of two sizes of intercepting rings that keep a metal sphere trapped in the middle. At first sight, releasing the sphere appears to be an impossible task, because the rings intercept at a 90º angle leaving no room to move the sphere. The inner rings rotate freely in any direction and so does the sphere, but no position seems to matter, as they all have physical constraints that block any attempt to take them apart.

(Click to Enlarge) - Inner Rings Rotated

As mentioned above, any position you align the rings seems to result in a physical impossibility: you can't slide them up, because the sphere blocks any movement in that direction; you can't get the inner rings off  either, without taking the outer rings apart first, or vice versa. Therefore, that only leaves the option of taking them apart at the same time... So how do you go about accomplishing that? - That would be revealing the solution, and the beauty of it lies in figuring it out for yourself.

(Click to Enlarge)

(Click to Enlarge)

Solving the Sputnik Ball is more like leaning a secret trick - Once you know it the puzzle becomes just a collectible  or a decorating object, because you can no longer attempt to solve it a second time. You already know how to do it... It's fun to see others try though, so the puzzle gains a new purpose. Another great puzzle by Jean Claude Constantin.

Availability: You can find the Sputnik Ball at PuzzleMaster for $16 CAD.

Jean Claude Constantin at Puzzle Place

Many of Hanayama's Cast Puzzles have been entered in the annual International Puzzle Party, and today's puzzle, the Cast Rattle, is one of them having been featured in 2010's 30th IPP. Bram Cohen, a talented puzzle designer, has created this deceptively easy brainteaser. The theme for the Rattle is "loose", although "align" would've been a good choice as well.

As mentioned above, the Cast Rattle appears to be this fairly easy puzzle at first sight, but soon you realize that whichever way you fiddle with it, you always end up in the same position. The four identical pieces comprising the puzzle are interlocked and move mostly freely, but there's a limit to that looseness, and that's when things start to become more complex.

When it was first released, Hanayama rated the Rattle as a level 4/6, but in their most recent website overhaul they re-rated many Cast Puzzles and this one's now a level 5. In my opinion, these new ratings reflect much better the difficulty of many puzzles, not just the hard ones but the easy ones as well. As for the Rattle itself, I couldn't agree more - it was one tough nut to crack.

The first time I solved the puzzle it was more luck than skill. After so much fiddling (approximately a couple of hours), I was surprised when I saw the pieces come apart. What's more frustrating in this type of situations is that you don't pay much attention at how you did it, because it happens so fast. Suffice it to say, I was in trouble getting it back to its original state - It's like solving two challenges in one. I eventually spent less time trying to figure out how to put it back together, as the only thing to think about is how to properly align the pieces in order for them to interlock again. Although easier than to take it apart, it's doesn't mean it won't be challenging.

Closing Comments:

Prepare to be extremely frustrated... The Cast Rattle is one hell of a challenge and only with enough patience and persistence you will be able to succeed. Bram Cohen had previously designed another brilliant Cast Puzzle, the Marble, and this one is proof that he has a knack for creating very tough puzzles. If you like a real challenge go for this one - You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Availability: I got my copy of the Cast Rattle from Sloyd.fi and if you're interested in others in the Cast Puzzle Series you can browse for more here.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

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

Bottle 2, designed by the Dutch Ad van der Schagt, is the first bottle puzzle in my collection. In over four years, since I've been collecting puzzles, I remember seeing many bottle puzzle designs and thought they were really interesting, but never got around to actually get one. In my latest Brilliant Puzzles order, I saw they had a few of these and decided it was time to try one and see what I've been missing... Boy am I glad I got one!

All bottle puzzles have one interesting thing in common: At first sight they appear to be unsolvable. The trick is to study them carefully and look out for smaller details. Their solutions aren't intuitive either, so an outside of the box thinking is a requirement.

The goal of the Bottle 2 couldn't be any simpler: just free the wooden bead and then put it back as it was. Easy right? - Well, if you're experienced with bottle puzzles, this one's actually not that hard. Brilliant Puzzles has rated it as a level 2 out of 5 (Tricky). For a beginner though, like myself, it's a little tougher than that, but nothing extremely frustrating that would discourage you from solving it. It took me around 15 minutes or so to solve it.

The design you see here is actually an updated version of the first Bottle 2, which was much taller (see this blog post), although the solution is mostly identical. At the end of the dowel you have a series of metal parts attached to each other that prevent it from being removed. Without going too much into the solution itself, I can tell you that some dexterity is needed to get the metal parts where you want them. Also, you won't get too far by holding the puzzle in its natural state, so get creative...

Once you manage to get all the metal pieces to fit inside the narrower part of the bottle, you just need to pull the dowel and it should slide off pretty easily. Getting the dowel back in the bottle is much easier, because you get to touch the metal pieces and adjust them to better fit inside that narrow tube. When you reach the bottom of the bottle just jiggle it a little and the pieces should go back their original positions and ready for the next puzzler.

Closing Comments:

After solving my first bottle puzzle I am definitely ready for some more. I became an instant fan of this original concept and will look forward to getting more bottles. As for the Bottle 2 by Ad van der Schagt, it's a great way to get started on this type of puzzles. Give it a try, I promise you won't regret it.

Availability: I got my copy of the Bottle 2 at Brilliant Puzzles, but as of the time of writing the puzzle is currently out of stock. Just keep checking the site regularly, because they should restock it at any moment. They do have other bottle puzzles if you're interested, so check them out here.

A few weeks ago, I started a series of reviews for some of the latest puzzles from renowned inventor Ivan Moscovich. Ivan's Hinge and Reflection were the first two, and as my third review I'll be writing about the Paradox Box, a blind maze with a twist...

The first thing you notice when you see the puzzle for the first time is its size - it's huge compared to a standard size Rubik's cube - with a diameter of 12.5cm (about 5"). It's a large puzzle, but it feels nice in your hands, as the edges are covered with this soft rubbery material that gives a nice grip for tilting and turning the cube.

The premise of the puzzle is simple: Just drop the small metal sphere into the cube and see if you can find your way out to the exit in the cube's opposite face, by navigating through an internal blind maze. Getting the sphere out, however, is everything but simple. There's a way to solve the maze and know how it works without the need to actually see what's going on inside, but for that you have to decode the Paradox Box's secret.

Each of the cube's faces is "decorated" with helpful clues, or hints, on how to follow the maze without falling into a trap, but there's no instructions on how to read these clues. It's up to you, though, to discover what they mean and how they can help you guide your sphere through the maze unscathed.

To my knowledge, the secret of the Paradox Box is comprised by 3 types of clues: the first is found on the plastic cover of each of the cube's faces and consists of a series of arrows pointing in four different directions, apparently in random order; the second type of clue is marked on the actual faces of the cube and consists of several different colors scattered in a 5x5 grid. This pattern of colorful small squares create a strikingly beautiful visual effect, which makes the Paradox Box stand out in the crowd of your puzzle collection; finally, the last of the three clues is a little more subtle, and it's found at the corners of the colorful squares. They're nothing more than little "plus" and "minus" symbols, but they provide important information, sort of like "maze coordinates".

From the three types of clues, the last one is the one I believe to have deciphered its true meaning. The other two are a bit trickier to make sense of, but with patience and determination I'll get there. It's also possible that the other two clues, or maybe one of them, are mere decoys and don't mean anything, but I'd like to believe they hide some useful pattern to help me solve the puzzle much faster.

The first time I tried to solve the maze, I managed to get the sphere out just within a couple of minutes, and without paying too much attention to the clues. I suspected lady luck had something to do with it, and so I immediately dropped the sphere into the cube again... Suffice it to say, until now, the sphere is still inside the cube, so that proves something.

Once the sphere is inside the cube it's not easy to keep track of where exactly it is, so concentration is key. Even if you think you have deciphered all three types of clues you still have to rely on your touch and hearing as your guides. Practice makes perfect, and with the Paradox Box it's no different. Little by little you start to notice that the sphere makes different sounds as it goes through the maze, indicating that it reached higher or lower ground depending on the sound. Also, when you're holding the cube, it's possible to feel the sphere knocking the inside walls of the maze as a small thump, clearly revealing its location. These subtle sensory hints help you to locate the sphere and allow you resume where you left of if you haven't managed to solve the puzzle in one session.

Closing Comments:

The Paradox Box will delight any fan of 3D maze puzzles. The idea of having to discover the meaning of these clues, like deciphering a secret code, is a brilliant concept and it'll surely put your logic and spacial-visualization skills to the test. Highly recommended to anyone looking for a serious challenge.

Availability: You can get a copy of the Paradox Box at Fat Brain Toys for about $30 USD.

Originally designed by Joseph L. Little in 1965, the Violon puzzle depicts a violon and its strings. Nob Yoshigahara like the puzzle so much that he decided to make a version of it for Hanayama's Cast Series. The Cast Violon was released in October 2003 and the key word for it is "strings".

The puzzle looks fantastic, and due to its extremely smooth and polished finish it feels great in your hands. There are three pieces that are entangled together and the goal is to find the correct way to separate them. The way that the pieces are interlocked and look resemble the CGO puzzle (seen here), or as I like to call it the "COG" puzzle. However, the main piece (the violon), has a series of curves and grooves that make the solution quite unique.

This is rated as a level 2/6 by Hanayama, but make no mistake, this is no level 2 puzzle. I guess Hanayama understood this and that's why the puzzle has been reclassified to a level 3/6. This is also true for many other Cast Puzzles, as you can see by their new and updated rating on Hanayama's website, since some of the puzzles were clearly misclassified.

The pieces of the Violon are removed in a sequence, and despite being harder than any other Hanayama's level 2 you should be able to solve it withing 10-15 minutes. What surprised me more in the puzzle was that I found it harder to put it back together than to take it apart. Once the three pieces are loose, it's hard to visualize the starting position and how it should look like. I had to resort to a picture of it showing the original position of the pieces to try and do the steps backwards. It took two times longer to put it back together than to take it apart. Definitely not a level 2, I reckon.

Closing Comments:

With an avant-garde design and a polished clean look, the Violon has one of the most interesting shapes in the Hanayama Cast Series. It's challenging enough to get you hooked for a few moments, but even if you find it to be very easy it'll be a worthy addition to your collection.

Availability: You can get a copy of the Cast Violon at Sloyd.fi, as well as all the others from Hanayama.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

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

Akio Yamamoto, besides being one of the designers with the most Cast Puzzles released, is also responsible for many of the best-looking and most elegant designs in the popular Hanayama series, as is the case of the Radix or the Marine Series. Yamamoto is also a romantic, and proof of that is clearly seen in two of his creations, the Cast Amour and the Cast Dolce, with the latter being the one reviewed today.

The Cast Dolce is yet another one of Yamamoto's masterpieces, which by coupling together the two universal symbols for male and female (also known as the astrological symbols for the planets Mars and Venus), he not only created an exquisite puzzle, but also a graceful and artistic object of admiration. The contrasting colors of silver and gold are a nice metaphor for the two opposite sexes depicted in the puzzle. The Cast Dolce was released by Hanayama over 10 years ago on January 2002.

The puzzle itself is not overly difficult, but for a difficulty level 3/6 it sure puts up a fight. Separating the two pieces can be more troublesome than you'd expect. The golden part has an opening which must be aligned to the silver's notches at the center, but the solving process is a little more complex than that. What's interesting about this puzzle is that its main features let you know only part of the solution, since it is obvious that the opening should pass through the notches, but you need to find out the correct angle and right sequence of the steps needed, and that is no easy task.

After solving the puzzle for the first time and while I was trying to put it back together, I found that it's possible to solve the puzzle with just one single movement, and no, it doesn't involve brutal force, just a slight pressure. Is it just a design flaw or is it supposed to be like this? - I honestly don't know, but it sure it's easier than following a series of steps. Let me know if you also found this alternative solution.

Closing Comments:

The Cast Dolce may not be the most difficult puzzle you'll ever solve, but what lacks in challenge definitely compensates in beauty and elegance with a perfect harmony between the two pieces. A great gift for someone you love or just for the romantic at heart.

Availability: The Cast Dolce is available at the Finish store Sloyd.fi and you can find there all the other Cast Puzzles in the collection as well.

Links:

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

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

PuzzleMaster isn't just a large mechanical puzzle retailer. They create and manufacture great puzzles as well, and the Twisted Gem is a very nice example of their superb craftsmanship.

Standing on a base with a smooth black finish and surrounded by eight metal sticks, the seven wooden pieces with contrasting colors complete what seems to look more like a trophy than an actual puzzle. Solving this apparently simple challenge will prove to be a more arduous task than you'd think.

The pieces are comprised of six tetrominoes and one tromino - I actually am not exactly sure if the pieces can still be called polyominoes, since they're not squared anymore - but instead of having a squared shape they were twisted (like the name suggests) on a 30º angle to form a rhombic shape. This subtle change in the overall appearance makes it much harder to visualize how the pieces stack on top of each other and ultimately, how can they fit inside that tiny area again.

I've had this puzzle almost since the beginning of my collection (2008), and I remember this puzzle was one of the hardest to solve back then. I just couldn't find a way to get all the pieces within the area surrounded by those metal sticks. Many times when I thought I was doing well, there was another stubborn piece sticking out. Determined to be more stubborn than the pieces, I was finally able to solve it after several weeks. Patience paid off...

I tried again to solve it, before writing this review, and after an initial fear of spending another great deal of time with it, I managed to solve it in less than half an hour - Not bad for a level 9 puzzle, according to PuzzleMaster's rating system.

I compared the solution I had with the one provided by PuzzleMaster and I found they're the same one, simply by flipping the entire structure. Although it's not proof that it's the only solution, it does look like there's only one way to stack the pieces in a diamond shape.

Closing Comments:

The Twisted Gem is one of the prettiest and most elegant puzzles I have from PuzzleMaster. The concept is a breath of fresh air from all the squared-shape puzzles out there and it's a great challenge for anyone looking for a little puzzling frustration.

Availability: The Twisted Gem is available at PuzzleMaster for about $12 CAD - A bargain for this kind of puzzle.

(Click to Enlarge)

Eingeengt consists of only six pieces (hexominos - six unit pieces) that are trapped under a wired frame, which blocks most of the movements required to solve it. When you see the puzzle for the first time it's not solved. Your task is to remove the pieces one by one, in a sequence, and put them back in, but with the correct arrangement in a 6x6 square.

The design is simple, but very elegant. Four small metal bars are placed around a wooden base, long enough to hold the edge pieces in place. The pieces are carefully chosen with contrasting colors for a more pleasing visual effect, and even though it's a small puzzle, measuring about 10.5cm (4.1"), it feels heavy in your hand due to the high-quality wood used, especially the base.

The puzzle is not that hard to solve, but it's challenging enough to provide a good and satisfactory experience. The first step in solving it is to try and remove the pieces, and since it doesn't come already solved you don't need to worry about leaving it unsolved. When you have all pieces out of the frame it's best to try solving it outside the frame, because you don't have any constraints with how to place the pieces. You already know that the finished puzzle occupies 6x6 area, so when you finally accomplish this goal you just need to transfer the pieces back inside the frame.

The strategy for placing the pieces inside the frame is basically the same as removing them, only it's backwards. In order to be able to move all the pieces around, you need to place first the five edge pieces around the frame, followed by the sixth and last piece. This is pretty much a simple and easy task. The only part that should offer a little challenge is finding the correct six-piece arrangement, and even that is done within 10 minutes. By the way, I'm not sure how many different solutions are there, but I always ended up with the same layout no matter how hard I tried. It may actually have just one solution.

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Closing Comments:

Another superb puzzle by Jean Claude Constantin. He managed to turn a simple hexomino packing puzzle into a highly original concept with brilliant execution, combining elements of sequential movement and assembly puzzles. If you're looking for a good packing puzzle give this one a try, and you won't regret it.

Availability: The Eingeengt puzzle is currently available at Sloyd.fi for €23.50.

Links:

Jean Claude Constantin - Official Website

Continuing with my reviews on some of the best Ivan Moscovich's creations, this week I bring you a different type of puzzle, a board game. Now, usually I'm not a big fan of board games, because I don't find them challenging enough and most of them just rely on luck to find a winner. Fortunately, Ivan's Reflection, manufactured by Fat Brain Toys, doesn't need a couple of dice to determine who wins. Instead, victory belongs to the player who best uses his visual and spatial abilities coupled with fast decision making. Moreover, it's a game that helps you keep your brain healthy.

Reflection is a superb and brilliant concept where you basically use a mirror to reflect part of a game card and try to score as much points as you can with the different colored spheres. There are some strategies that you will most certainly learn as you play more and more, but first let's get to the basics:

• The game comes with 60 cards, and each one has a different arrangement with four possible colored spheres (red, blue, green and yellow). Not every card contains all four colored spheres, though, and the total number of spheres varies from card to card.
• You start the game with one of the cards and up to four players choose one of the 10 possible axis lines of symmetry. Each axis line can also be reflected from both sides, making 20 symmetry lines in total, so each player must choose which side they want to be reflected prior to place the mirror.
• When all players place their tokens on the board signaling their chosen axis line, the mirror is placed and the spheres are counted to see who scored the most points. You count all the spheres you see, both on the card and on the mirror. Note that no two players can share the same axis line.
• The scoring is simple: First you count the red and the blue spheres - It's always the difference between red and blue, and not the other way around. Then, you add the number of green spheres and finally, subtract the number of yellow spheres.
• When all players' score is counted, place another card on the board. The player with most points after 10 rounds wins.

What I found most interesting, even after being more familiarized with the concept, is that it never ceased to surprise me, when I finally got to see the actual reflection contrasted with the image I had in my head. Obviously, with experience, you gradually can predict with more certainty what the final sphere arrangement will look like, but in the heat of the game and the pressure of choosing the best line first, there'll be times where you get unexpected results and think to yourself "How did I miss that?".

 

(Click to Enlarge) - Reflection's Box (Front and Back)

As mentioned above, there are strategies that you, with time, will learn how to use in order to get the most points. Spotting which lines capture the most red and green spheres, and avoiding the ones with blue and yellow spheres are some of the best ways to win the game. Also, sometimes it's best to go for a low sphere count and have a positive score than to risk on an axis line with plenty of spheres, which ultimately can result in a negative and unexpected score.

Throughout my experience with the game, I've seen scores go as high as 7 or as low as -5. I'm not certain what's the maximum or minimum score, but they pretty much vary between these numbers (see examples below).

Reflection is essentially a multiplayer game, but it's also possible to play it solo, although it's not as much fun. One of the ways to play it solo is to pick a random card and, without using the mirror, try to find an axis line that will yield the most points and one that will yield the lowest possible score. When you think you have the two highest contrasting lines, use the mirror and check all the other lines to see if you were correct. It certainly serves as a nice training for when you're not playing with others.

Closing Comments:

Ivan's Reflection is probably one of the best board games I've ever played. I was very surprised at how much fun and addictive it can become once you get into it. The rules are simple and easy to understand, and it's based on your skills to be won and not on pure luck. The high number of challenge cards keeps the game fresh for a long time, and most importantly, it never gets boring. Highly recommended for any puzzle or board game fans. It's the ultimate battle of wits.

Availability: Ivan's Reflection game is available at the Fat Brain Toys website for about $25 USD.

Example of a four-player game round with the same card:

(Click to Enlarge) - Blue (4 Points) and Red (3 Points)

(Click to Enlarge) - Green (2 Points) and Yellow (0 Points)

When you think of a good Cast Puzzle, the hardest ones are the first that come to mind (Cast News, Cast Enigma, for example). However, a good puzzle doesn't necessarily need to be hard to be fully enjoyed. Vesa Timonen's Cast Loop, released by Hanayama in 2007, is one of such puzzles. Also, the folks at the 27th IPP seem to think the same thing as well, as they awarded it the Jury First Prize and the Puzzlers' Award. The key word for the Loop is "Synthesis".

The included description of the puzzle is quite interesting, because it tells us that the design is based on an actual puzzle ring Vesa created for his girlfriend. It's amazing what you can come up with when you have motivation. The description also indicates that the puzzle can be used as an accessory when solved - a pendant, maybe?

What's interesting about the Loop is that it's presented in a different way. In other words, it has a different approach, solving wise: Instead of the usual presentation, where you first see the puzzle in its solved state and you need to take it apart, the Loop is the exact opposite. Right out of the box you see the loop in a state where it appears to be impossible to close it (see photo below). The first tries to solve the puzzle seem to end in the same position, over and over again, and closing the Loop looks like an impossible task - That's the beauty of it, because you're led to think the two parts only interact that way. There's more to it than meets the eye, though...

After some unsuccessful attempts, you begin to realize that in order to solve the puzzle you need a different approach. What intrigued me the most when I first tried to solve it was that this was a level 1 difficulty out of 6, and there I was, completely confused, trying to make sense of it. It took me almost 10 minutes to have that aha moment, when you finally discover the correct way to join the two pieces.

The simple and yet genius concept is accomplished by this spiraling, corkscrew-like mechanism where the two parts - they're identical, by the way - are joined together. The finishing touch is done by two small magnets at the ends that keep the loop closed. Mine doesn't close perfectly, though. The two parts are slightly offset, maybe due to a bad positioning of the magnets. It's not clearly visible from the photo, but it's there.

The trick to solve the puzzle lies in where you meet the two pieces in order to spiral them into a closed loop. It looks easy when you finally know how it's done, but I reckon it's not that simple. I would be surprised if you actually solved this within the first minute... Or even second.

Hanayama released a couple of years later, a Disney version of the Loop, although the concept is exactly the same. It's the perfect gift to get your kids initiated into the wonderful puzzle world, though.

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

Closing Comments:

Surprisingly harder than I was expecting, the Loop is a brilliant concept made simple. Don't let the level 1 difficulty keep you away from a definitely enjoyable experience, despite the apparent easiness of it. Even if you're an experienced puzzler, I guarantee it, you'll love it.

Availability: The Cast Loop is available at the Finish puzzle store Sloyd, as well as the others in the Hanayama collection. Worldwide shipping available.

Links:

Vesa Timonen's Shapeways Shop

Hanayama Cast (in English) - Very useful website in English, with plenty of information on all things Cast.

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