Konstrukt

Name
Konstrukt

Designer
Yavuz Demirhan. For some of Yavuz's other designs, click here.

Nice contrast of light and dark woods and textures

Manufacturer

Pelikan. 

Type & Classification
Interlocking

Dimensions
9.0cm all round. This is a relatively large puzzle making for comfortable handling.

Materials & Construction
The Konstrukt is made of four different hardwoods; Maple, Wenge, Acacia and Paduok. Construction fit and finish is excellent and everything is not too tight and slides smoothly. All the pieces are very nicely cut with fine bevelled edges. Visually the Konstrukt is also an aesthetically pleasing burr due to the contrast of its different coloured woods.

Overview

The Konstrukt is a recent 2013 design from Yavuz Demirhan. An interlocking burr, it consists of 15 pieces of which 12 are congruent. From the remaining three, one pair is also congruent.

The object is to disassemble and reassemble the burr. At first glance you will notice that the puzzle is made up of the pieces criss-crossing each other on all the three axes. Symmetrical all round. Here is where Pelikan has made very good use of the contrasting woods to enable the opposite sides of the puzzle to have distinct colour tones.

The Konstrukt has a 3.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3 solution, meaning it takes three moves to remove the first piece, followed by two for the second and so on. Disassembly is not too difficult once you discover that first (and only) moving piece that locks the entire puzzle in place.

While it took me several minutes to take apart all the outer pieces, for some reason, it took me longer to get the remaining three inside ones free. Putting the pieces back together is the real challenge here. 

As usual, I got stuck after several of the initial moves.Thank goodness Pelikan provided a printed solution which got me going in the right direction. About halfway, I sort of figured out where each piece was supposed to go and didn't have to rely on the solution any more (the printed solution was not too clear anyway, at least nothing compared to the ease of using Burr Tools). 

I eventually got the last two pieces into place only to discover that one of the early pieces was in the wrong position; so I had to re-do part of the puzzle again.

Difficulty Level

Taking the puzzle apart is relatively easy but reassembly is the challenging part, but not unduly so painful. As I mentioned, once you get the first five or six pieces correct, you sort of can figure out the rest slowly even without the solution. If the puzzle had all been of one colour, I think it may have been slightly easier.The correct solution requires that each two opposite sides of the puzzle comprise of just one colour and not a mix of different woods. So a bit of forward thinking early on is necessary. 

Also, because you are trying to grapple with several loose pieces at one time, it can be quite fiddly to physically hold the puzzle to position the pieces correctly.

Summary
A very high quality and fairly challenging burr to collect if you enjoy this genre of puzzles. With sufficient practice, you can actually solve it repeatedly without the solution or Burr Tools. Aside from the puzzling, the rather handsome Konstruckt also displays very well!