I normally don’t quite fancy disentanglement puzzles. But once in a while along comes something that looks to be quite manageable without all that twisting ropes and such and I will give one a try. The Adam & Eve puzzle, with such a name, now who can avoid being curious just what sort of puzzle this is, is one such puzzle?
This rather unusual disentanglement puzzle came to me courtesy of Roxanne Miller during the IPP37 Puzzle Exchange. For those who attended IPP last year and did an exchange with Roxanne, you will have realised that there is a certain sort of theme going on. Planned by Roxanne (and George Miller) of course. This theme runs through the outfits (or lack thereof) which Roxanne and George wore during the Exchange, right through to the puzzle itself and its packaging. Rather devilish you might say!
Where’s the serpent?
The object of Adam & Eve is to “get the heads of Adam and Eve together”. At the starting position, Adam & Eve are joined somewhere around the lower limbs. The trick is to be able to navigate the two parts around and “along” each other to the final position as shown. It might have been relatively easy if the two circular metal rings and the red apple on the chain had not been present. The way the metal part have been bent and cut also causes some restrictions of movement.
I spent a while experimenting how the two figures interacted with each other, how to move Adam and Eve and so on. Not easy but later I figured out that I had to “dump” the apple to progress. It looks impossible to do so but like all good disentanglement puzzles, there is way of solving which is not obvious. Eventually with further trial and error, I got the two heads to lock together.
If I can solve this one without help, I would imagine that wire and disentanglement enthusiasts would not have a problem with this one. Its challenging no doubt but not frustratingly difficult at least IMHO. It will not get you into knots which you can’t extricate yourself, unlike some types of really complicated wire and rope puzzles. If that really happens, you can always dismantle the chain holding the apple. The Adam & Eve is one of those puzzles with just the right level of difficulty for an Exchange Puzzle. And did I mention that it was pretty fun to play with too? Nice design theme and concept, great to look at and a must-have for collectors.
A closer look will show that this is mulled brass and not bent wire. Tom Sun came up with this. On close inspection, George says you will find a tomato.
Oh I didn’t know it was a tomato…looked like an apple to me.
I need to get a copy of this for my rather extensive disentanglement puzzle collection! I failed to solve it in the competion room in Paris and need to try it in my own time!
Kevin
Puzzlemad
Kevin you must. It’s a great puzzle even for someone like me who doesn’t collect entanglement puzzles. Mk moreover I am quite lousy at them
Kevin, ask your Dutch puzzle supplier…☺