Disentanglement puzzle

Vexiere (Latin vexare " afflict, torment " ) are puzzles with the task decrease or grow, so to unravel something or assemble meaningful part. There are Vexiere of different materials, eg of bent wires, cords, wood beads, etc.

History

The game had its first widespread use in the late 19th century with the general puzzle craze. A large number of even now available perplexes their roots in this period.

Previously Vexiere were well known in the art locksmith. Mainly to make security more secure locks, devices were installed that needed to be placed in a certain position known only to the owner, and then expose the actual castle. They were called Puzzle locks.

Both in literature and in film criticism, the term Vexier is also seen as a term for hard intellectual puzzles, such as in the movies Last Year at Marienbad ( here especially also the Marienbad ( game ) ) or The Draughtsman's Contract.

Variations

A different kind of perplexes are ring puzzles, which include the Chinese rings. In these games, an elongated wire loop of a mesh of rings and wires must be solved. The number of required steps is often exponentially with the number of loops.

Example

A well-known Vexier is partially under the name Berchtesgaden known problem ( also known as the Head of Nails Magic Nails or nail sample) puzzles. It is a Vexier which is also often demonstrated due to its material used in directional festivals by carpenters.

Task

In a board, a normal nail (preferably also a carpenter nail ) a few millimeters taken. Now the task is to balance as a larger number of additional pins or even the maximum possible number of nails to a nail that that they contact either the floor or the board, but only the other nails. This must be accomplished without the use of other objects, such as a magnet. Furthermore, should the nails during the balancing act can not be influenced by any body part touching or.

Solution with 10 nails

Solution with 50 nails