BePuzzled | Enigma Hanayama Metal Brainteaser Puzzle Mensa Rated Level 6, for Ages 12 and Up

Satisfied

Bought it for my husband and he was very happy to recieve it, he likes a challenge. He still hasn't figured this one out yet though. He has many puzzles, but this is the only one he hasn't figured out yet.

I got this as a gift for my mother. She loves spending time on puzzles like this. It took her a while (a few hours) but she managed it. And now she's taking them apart and putting them together any chance she gets. Money well spent. I already bought another one for a holiday present.

My boss is an idiot and I feel dumber simply being at work each day. To prove to myself that I still have a few braincells left, I went out and bought a bunch of level 10 puzzles to self-evaluate. Why puzzles? I figure they are objective with clear goals. And they wouldn't laugh at me if it turns out that I'm the actual brainrot all this time.Anyhow, bought this puzzle last year because it looks elegant and it's level 6 out of 6. It resembles a french horn and a base clef on a keyring, which reminds of merrier time of music classes back in school.I keep this puzzle in the travel bag for those instances waiting for a flight or trains without wifi access. Could only work on it for an hour or two at a time because my head physically gets hot, maybe frying my brain a little each time, trying to solve it.Due to the pandemic it was left untouched in the travel bag all this time. Fast forward. I got fired last week for something stupid. Long story short I came up with a new workflow to conduct business which saves both time and resources. My boss couldn't wrap his head around the concept and fired me for not doing things his way. Whatever. This event reminded me of the collection of puzzles.I snagged the Enigma out of the travel bag this afternoon and determined to solve this thing. My head got hot and at times felt sick to my stomach from the intense concentration. Took a break and put on some relaxation music and I went back at it. One by one, the pieces detach from the cluster. When all are separated, an overwhelming sense of joy flush over me.I'm not an idiot. With a smile like an idiot, I reassemble the pieces back to its original state.

I love hanayama puzzles, the harder they are to solve the better, and this is no exception. It took me several days of (intermittent) studying before I could successfully solve it, while other similar ones I can usually open then in maybe an hour or two. Part of the reason why this one took so long, and also the reason it lost one star, is that there is one step that requires some force. I thought with these puzzles you never have to use force, so I assumed that was the wrong way.I could not believe that was the only way, so after solving it in every other respect, I checked other people's solutions online, and yes, they all had to exercise some force. Even the ones that claim that there is "another" way, they still need to force it through (I actually tried all these ways myself before giving up and looking online).So, a little disappointed by this fact, but definitely one of the most challenging puzzles out there, and it kept me entertained and unproductive at work for a long time :P

Gave it as a bday gift and we all had fun trying it

Yay! Finally found one that will give my dad a run for his money. Super happy!

Challenging and fun