Category: Mechanical Puzzles
This puzzle looks like a piece of cake but it is actually quite difficult. A quarter of this metal pastry has been cut away, showing three identical layers inside. The object is simple, first disassemble the parts, then reassemble them to the starting position. Easier said than done. Designed by Bram Cohen for Hanayama of Japan.
The three identical layers hidden inside make this way trickier than it looks. Took me two evenings to figure out how the quarter slice comes apart, and the metal has a nice weight to it.
I didn't expect a dessert-shaped puzzle to stump me for a whole evening, but those three identical layers had to be rotated in a specific order before the cut-away quarter would slide free. The metal has a nice weight in the hand and the pieces don't rattle loose once it's back together.
The three stacked layers inside looked identical, so I assumed reassembly would be easy. Took me almost an hour to get that cut-away quarter seated right, and the metal has a nice weight to it. Genuinely a satisfying little brain teaser.
