MATRUSCHKA

Designer: Benjamin Heidt

This puzzle measures: 90 mm x 90 mm x 90 mm

Material: Wenge, Cherry, Acacia, Merbau

Benjamin Heidt wrote about it:
“When I was a child, my grandparents had that well-known wooden toy, where a few dolls are packed in one another.
 
Burrs with hidden surprises are not a new idea. New is, when the surprise holds another surprise.
You receive a big knot of beautiful wood that holds one of the surprises inside.
Next to it you get another very small burr. The goal is to pack that small knot into the hidden puzzle. Finished is MATRUSHKA  – a puzzle in a puzzle in a puzzle.

The reason why the smallest one is kept outside is not to show the position of the small puzzle in the middle puzzle.
It was a long journey to find the right pieces that guarantee a unique solution (when fully assembled).
But you also can assemble each knot by itself. If so, there are a lot of possible solutions for the big one and four for the middle one.

A lot of fun to play with and a beautiful eyecatcher – either packed or as a trio – at your shelf.
Thanks to the Pelikan team, who did a great job in picking the right woods and turned them into a beautiful puzzle.”

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:
“There have been quite a few creations on this blog from Benjamin Heidt. He designs interlocking puzzles and burrs that are just the right difficulty level for most puzzlers, with some very interesting design features and a lovely sequence to explore. Many burrs are much too complex for most due to multiple long blind dead ends, or alternatively, have too simple a sequence and no challenge to them. Benjamin always gets it right, and Matruschka is a beautiful example. This chunky puzzle is made from Wenge, Cherry and Acacia with what I initially thought was a diminutive stand made from Merbau. Looking at it, I was slightly confused as there only appears to be Wenge and Cherry visible, but after a couple of moves, the reason for the name and the extra wood type becomes apparent. A matryoshka doll is the name for the Russian nested dolls, but here Benjamin and the Pelikan team have taken the idea and altered it to make a nested burr.
 
The initial exploration reveals quite a few possible moves, and I was worried about having lots of long blind ends to explore, memorise and discount on my way to the correct solution. You can be reassured that, as usual, Benjamin has got it just right. There are quite a few possible ways to start, but the sequences are short before they stop, and you are forced to look elsewhere. The tolerances of the burr manufacture are superb, with everything sliding beautifully. The correct sequence is very well hidden, but once found, you are quickly on your way to the disassembly, and more and more pieces can be removed after you look for the unlocking sequence. The burr within a burr is revealed nicely and outer pieces are removed until the inner burr is left sitting locked in 3 sticks.
 
Once the inner burr is fully released, it can also be disassembled into 6 very beautiful sticks and then the whole lot displayed. The reassembly would actually have been possible for me without the use of burrtools, as I had sequentially removed pieces and placed them in their correct order and orientation on a table. I think most puzzlers should also manage the reassembly if they are careful to do this. Unfortunately, a cat decided to run across my carefully arranged table and scatter the sticks widely. A few unsafe for blogging words were uttered, and Burrtools was going to be my next step.
 
Once you have done the reassembly that you found then it is time to do it all over again! Only later did I realise that the 3-piece “stand” that is interestingly burr shaped can actually be reassembled inside the nest of 6 piece burrs so we end up with a burr in a burr in a burr! This is simply amazing!!! This is a wonderful challenge for all burr aficionados, just the right difficulty level! With an extra twist at the end.”