Cast Hourglass

5 

I have been fascinated with the complexity of this puzze since I bought my first copy. Got a second as a gift, and used both of them. Even cheating and using the solution provided by the manufacturer ( which are sometimes puzzles in themselves due to language and notation) I found it difficult to solve. If I do not "maintain currency" (an aviation term meaning you have recently practiced ) in the solving required, I will get stuck on what seemed learned forever. It is possible to get caught in dead end configurations that are not covered by any solution available. When stuck in these cul-de-sacs, you are literally on your own. Got stuck in one dead end for three weeks, and even then I do not know how I got out of it, just did by chance. To the guy who complained about "safety" I say exercise your fingers every day and you will not get broken nails or bruised fingers from this puzzle. But the puzzle is perhaps the toughest one I have, right up there with enigma, vortex, equa, etc. Each is a favorite in some way. These little gems of engineering and imagination are such fun, and provide so much brain stimulation in logic, mechanics, sequencial learning, procedural knowledge, and spatial reasoning, that it is understandable that a carreer military pilot like me would find them fascinating. Pilots are just plane people like everyone, and enjoy challenges such as these. Best entertainment value for the dollar, and they will last a lifetime.

5 

Move over Enigma, a new hardest Hanayama puzzle has emerged. That being said, I still prefer the Enigma puzzle over this. The Enigma puzzle has a logic to it that the Hourglass puzzle lacks. The way the pieces come apart is absolutely unguessable. I wouldn't have imagined how they come apart in a million years. It takes a lot of trial and error (mostly error) to hit upon the solution. I have been a puzzle nut all my life and I now only get the most difficult puzzles possible because anything else is now just too simple for me. I sometimes solve even supposedly difficult puzzles quickly. But not this one. I lost track of how many hours it took me to solve the Hourglass puzzle. The only puzzle I can think of that took me longer to solve was the Yak wire disentanglement puzzle. If you are looking for the hardest puzzles possible, you won't be disappointed by the Hourglass puzzle.

3 

Is this the hardest in the Hanayama series? Yes but mainly due to faulty design. Hourglass is incredibly clunky to handle. I have bruised one of my finger nails slightly (it wasn’t bad and didn’t really hurt), just to give you an idea of how clunky it actually is. Quartet is a much better puzzle designed similar to this one it seems but imo, seems way easier because the design of the puzzle is much more ergonomic. I would say if the handling of the puzzle had better aesthetic to it with no sharp edges, perhaps it would be as difficult as Vortex (which I’m close to solving at this point in time). Of the puzzles I bought so far, still haven’t solved Equa, which is also a better puzzle since it is much better designed and more worth you money if safety of your fingernails from bruising and clunkiness is an issue. Your better off getting Enigma, Vortex, or Equa if you want to get one of the hardest puzzles to offer in the series. I almost solved Enigma on my own but I cheated a little to take it apart and put it back together. If only I was a little more patient, I would of eventually figured it out but it is probably quite a bit harder than Vortex and same difficulty as Equa (which I’m still working on solving but recently bought at the time). You should also redeem yourself by buying Quartet if you don’t have it even if it might be an easy solve for you. It is quite a clever puzzle and imo feels quite similar in design. But... let’s get back to the point here... Is it really worth getting possibly the hardest puzzle in the series? Yea but it will piss you off especially when you start getting bruises on your finger nails and your fingers start hurting from handling the edges of the pieces. You’ve been warned, but it’s I think it’s mostly worth it. This puzzle however needs to be redesigned due to the safety complains I have. Dropping it by 2 stars because of the issues.

5 

Hourglass is the epitome of a puzzlers dream.

5 

This puzzle is, in my opinion, Hanayama's hardest without a doubt. Each move requires one to think almost completely backwards to how you think it "should" work, and then to align the pieces with careful precision to execute it. I was able to disassemble this beast after many many hours of working on it, but the reassembly proved too much. If you thought Vortex, Quartet, or Trinity was hard to put back together (and yes I have solved those), this one is worse by a lot. After more hours than I would care to mention I was hopelessly lost in the countless dead ends of the reassembly and had to resort to YouTube.. oh the horror! Jin-Hoo Ahn, my hat is off to you for creating a puzzle that even I thought was too hard. This puzzle definitely belongs in every serious puzzler's collection, I highly encourage you to pick up your copy now!