Limited Edition Dita Von Teese Perrier Bottle Puzzle

Update 23 October 2017 - Dear Reader, please check out my new puzzle blog and e-store at http://mechanical-puzzles.com

It's been quite a while since I played with a bottle puzzle. The last one was in 2012; Wil Strijbos' Coke Bottle #1.

This time round, co-incidentally it is another of Wil's bottle puzzles, which I received from him at IPP34 in London last year. But I happen to have placed it at the back of my puzzle closet and consequently forgot about it until I was doing some tidying over the weekend.

This one is his limited edition Dita Von Teese Perrier version which as you can see, comes with a very delectable "autographed" photo of Dita Von Teese, a well known burlesque dancer. I cannot show the entire photo for obvious reasons, otherwise my blog would have to include an "adult content' warning :-). If any reader wishes to see the entire photo, please email me via my blog email :-)

The puzzle consists of a standard Dita Von Teese Perrier bottle with a metal tube inserted down to about three-fifths past the opening. Inside is a black bullet shaped plug and the object is to get the plug out of the bottle without using any external tools whatsoever. You can only use whatever comes with the bottle. (clue: the photo does NOT in any way contribute to or help in the solving other than perhaps give the puzzler some much needed inspiration). You also do not require a bottle opener to remove the cap.

It is obvious that to get the plug out, it would have to travel out through the metal tube...but how to get it into the tube other than perhaps random shaking of the bottle.... and hoping that it would pop into into the tube by chance?

This puzzle didn't take me long to solve. The solution is actually very interesting and in puzzle speak, very "elegant". In fact once you know it, its rather easy to execute. But novices or less than seasoned puzzlers may find it very challenging! 

No force is needed at all and any violent shaking may cause the plug inside to crack the glass. In some sense, this could be classified as a sequential discovery type puzzle. (Check this out and I think you will know what I mean). Some principles of physics also come into play as you go through the process of solving. Those who own the puzzle will understand what I am referring to.

Once the plug came out, I also found a hidden surprise inside the plug; trust Wil to hide things all over. Again I am restrained from showing what Wil had placed inside the plug, except to say that the item was unusually small and short and fitted just nicely into the shaft of the plug. I wonder where on earth Wil gets all this stuff from?

Overall a great bottle puzzle designed and made by Wil with a unique, fun and repeatable solution!