When you think of the good-Cast Puzzle, the hardest ones are the first that come to brain (Cast News, Cast Enigma, for example). However, a good puzzle doesn’t necessarily have to be hard to be completely enjoyed. Vesa Timonen’s Cast Loop, released by Hanayama in 2007, is one of such puzzles. Also, the folks at the 27th IPP appear to think the same thing as well, as they granted 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 look is based on an actual puzzle band Vesa created for his partner. It’s amazing what you can come up with when you yourself have motivation. The description also shows that the puzzle can be utilized as an item when solving – a pendant, maybe?
What’s interesting about the Loop, is that it’s presented in different ways. In other words, it offers a different strategy, solving wise: Instead of the usual demonstration, where you first see the puzzle in its fixed state and you need to take it aside, the Loop is the precise opposite. Right out of the box you see the loop in circumstances where it looks impossible to close it (see photo below). After some unsuccessful efforts, you begin to understand that to be able to solve the puzzle you will need a different strategy.
What intrigued me the most once I first tried to resolve it was that this was an even 1 difficulty out of 6, and there I was completely confused, looking to make sense of it. It took me ten minutes to have that an instant almost, when you finally discover the right way to join the two pieces.
- 5 2
- Art therapy
- Be realistic – focus on 2 workouts a week
- 6 THE TINY Rascals
- Local distribution centres for both Canada and the United States
- 1 egg yolk,
- Appetite loss
- Strawberry Face Scrub
The simple and yet genius idea is accomplished by this spiraling, corkscrew-like mechanism where the two parts – they’re identical, incidentally – are becoming a member of jointly. The finishing touch is done by two small magnets at the ends that keep the loop closed. Mine doesn’t close flawlessly, though. Both parts are offset slightly, due to a negative positioning of the magnets maybe.
It’s not clearly noticeable from the image, but it’s there. The trick to solve the puzzle lies in where you meet the two pieces to spiral them into a shut loop. It looks easy when you finally know how it’s done, but I reckon it isn’t that simple. Hanayama released after some duration later, a Disney version of the Loop, although the idea is the same exactly.
It’s the perfect present to get your kids initiated into the wonderful puzzle world, though. Video: Just click here to visit a video solution of the Cast Loop. Harder than I was expecting Amazingly, the Loop is a brilliant idea made simple. Don’t allow the level 1 difficulty keeps you away from a definitely enjoyable experience, despite the apparent easiness from it. Even if you are an experienced puzzler, I insure it, you’ll think it’s great. Availability: The Cast Loop is available at the Finish puzzle store Sloyd, as well as others in the Hanayama collection.