CONUNDRUM

Designer: Benjamin Heidt

This puzzle measures: 60 mm x 60 mm x 70 mm

Material: Bubinga, Am. Walnut, Purpleheart, Wenge, Padauk

Benjamin Heidt wrote about it:
“A ‘conundrum’ is a difficult puzzle, a tricky question, or a problem that is hard or seemingly impossible to solve, often with a pun or unexpected twist. Many of my puzzles require such a twist. The current CONUNDRUM is no exception. It’s a small, handy puzzle with a simple appearance. However, you shouldn’t underestimate this puzzle. I’m sure you’ll make good progress quickly, but eventually, you’ll reach a point where you can’t go any further. That’s where the “twist” comes into play. Find it, and the puzzle is practically solved. Even though it requires some maneuvering, it’s a good puzzle for beginners. Not too difficult, but a nice challenge. The Pelikan team has chosen an appealing combination of woods to give the puzzle a harmonious look.” 

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:
“Here we have another fascinating burr by Benjamin Heidt. The box from Pelikan says “mixed woods” but the pre-release gave more information – it has a beautiful set of dark woods (Bubinga, American Walnut, Purpleheart, Wenge and Padauk) arranged into a caged burr containing 4 sticks held vertically alongside each other in a frame. Initially it looks like the frame can split into several more pieces. As usual, Benjamin has created a fun logical sequence of moves that follow each other very nicely without leading you too far into long dark pathways. as you explore, these pieces dance around each other in a circle and go back and forth. After a decent sequence the dance stops dead and there seems to be no way forward and it looks like you need to go back and explore the side paths further. This won’t get you anywhere so after a little while of returning all the way back to the beginning and trying alternative starts you realise that there must have been a hidden move at the end of that dance. There is a lovely Aha! moment when you find the cleverly hidden move and then suddenly the dance can continue to the removal of the first piece. The removal of the remaining pieces is now a nice logical sequence that you can work out by looking inside the space left after the initial removal. At level 21.3.3.2 this is a fabulous fun challenge with a lovely Aha! moment to keep any burr solver happy.
 
The reassembly would be impossible from scratch for all but the best burr solvers but having gone back and forth multiple times, I was able to put it back together straight away from memory with only a bit of experimentation. Fabulous!”