Brontosaurus

Brontosaurus

Continuing with my batch of Puzzle Master, puzzles, it’s time again for a review of another Puzzle Master wire puzzle. This time I am reviewing the Brontosaurus puzzle, another one from the rather prolific (should I say horrific?) Dick Hess. This is very similar in design to the other puzzles from him. I have reviewed the Yak puzzle here and the Whale here - if you look closely at the general shape, you will see that the underlying structure and shape is almost identical. The basic concept of freeing up the Borromeans rings is really much the same as in the other two puzzles.

Like the others, this comes in the standard Puzzle Master clamshell packaging with the instructions to just remove the ring and shuttle. It is supposed to look like a dinosaur but I do struggle to see the likeness. Puzzle Master have rated this as a 10 out of 10 (Mind Boggling) on their difficulty scale and despite having done the others, I have to agree with them. This is one tough puzzle!!! No solution is provided but if you need one (and you might!!) then it can be downloaded from here.

Just like the previous Hess puzzles the exit point is very visible and nigh on impossible to get to. You know where you want to go to but cannot for the life of you find the correct path to get there.

I think that this one must have taken me several hours to solve. Having solved the other two, I knew what was required but apart from the exit point the actual solution is totally different. In fact having done the previous two, I was really no further forward at all! Only after a very long time fiddling did I find a new technique possible in this one. It is not at all intuitive and hence very worth its grade. One of the reasons for my delay and a reason for criticism is that the last part of the critical move requires a modicum of force. This was enough to make me doubt whether I had done it correctly. Despite holding the 3 pieces in my open palm, I felt that I should check the solution to make sure I hadn’t cheated! It turns out that I had, after all gotten it correct.

Brontosaurus beheaded!

So, should you add this to your collection? I believe you should - it is really quite special having a collection of the wire puzzles from Dick Hess. They all offer something different and are fiendishly difficult. You need to try them to understand his genius! I think I have all the ones sold by Puzzle Master and am eager to find some more. If I do I will review them for you.