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.

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The puzzle measures 5cm x 5cm x 2.6cm and made up of laser cut acrylic and brass pins. Construction fit and finish is excellent with tight tolerances throughout. While Chorazin would probably be classified as a 3D assembly, put-together or 3D packing style puzzle, Like the Tel Arad, Yael has managed to come up with something that is very original in terms of puzzle design, breaking away from the traditional norm of what a packing puzzle we usually expect. With most 3D packing puzzles you put the pieces into a box, sometimes even sliding them within, the Chorazin requites you to rotate linked pieces into a frame from all four sides.

Each of the four pillars holding the top and bottom acrylic plates hold a varying number of little square pieces linked by brass of rivets/pins of varying lengths. The object is to flip or rotate the linked squares and put together the links into the “frame” with nothing sticking out from the sides. The four sets of linked squares move like a chain but some of the linked squares have limited movement. Looking at the way the puzzle has been put together, one cannot but help marvel at the design process (and testing) and all the work that went into the creation and production of the Chorazin. I am not sure if computer assistance was required in the design and I will make it a point to ask Yael when I next meet her.

Initially the puzzle looked to be rather difficult with all the links free-moving and flipping all over the place. It didn’t help that the frame was also loosely connected by the four pillar pins. However, there is a bit of logic to solving and applying the same with some thinking and close observation, I was able to determine how the links rotated, their orientation and the way they should be placed inside the frame. I was stuck towards the end when I had one link which simple refused to go in nicely with the rest but after some re-adjustment to the pieces here and there, the final link rotated into its correct position.

Overall a very fun and nice packing puzzle with just the right amount of difficulty for an Exchange Puzzle. Great design concept!

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