Hurricane

Description

Hurricane is an eight-piece puzzle, where the object of the puzzle is to take the puzzle apart. Each pair of pieces is tangled such a way that it takes two moves to separate them: one to swap a parity and another for the full separation. So a total of 2x eight-choose-two = 56 moves is needed. However, the moves require careful logistics. If you fully remove two pieces from each other too early, then other pieces can not longer be separated.

The puzzle is an extension of my Lucky Clover puzzle (design 27 August 2002, production by Bits & Pieces), which has four identical pieces. Summer 2023, Bram Cohen showed me a four-piece puzzle: "Hey Oskar, I believe I have re-invented your Lucky Clover puzzle"). The puzzles were indeed very similar: similar rings, same logistical challenge. However, Bram's puzzle had two pieces of one type and two of another (almost mirrored) type. More than a year later, it just clicked with me: we could combine Bram's concept with mine and have eight pieces, 4x type A and 4x type B. Hurricane is solved by First performing 8+8 moves to separate the A set from the B set. Then each of the set is solved in a similar way as Lucky Clover.

Watch the YouTube video.

Read at the iMaterialise Forum.

Read more at the Non-Twisty Puzzles Forum.

Please order a 3D-printed do-it-yourself puzzle kit from iMaterialise at this page (check with Oskar about screws and stickers), or contact Oskar directly if you are interested in obtaining a fully colored, stickered and assembled sample of this puzzle.