What did the bolt say to the other bolt?
This sounds like a beginning of a joke right?
Well, I don’t know what they said, but apparently they are mad at each other.
It is up to you to seperate them.
The U&U by Hanayama is an eye-catcher.
Two U-shaped bolts with two nuts on each are bound together.
When you try to pull them apart, they seem to be completely locked together.
Its difficulty level according to the Hanayama scale is 4/6, which means it’s difficult but not too crazy.
First Impressions
Fully made of sturdy metal, this puzzle’s quality is very nice. Common practice by Hanayama.
All bolts spin easily, and the overall feeling of the metal is good.
Which, considering we’re talking about spare parts-ish pieces, is pretty neat!
Alas, a good metallic feel does not guarantee a fast solve.
I wonder who told you that…
Huh? What?
No one?
Good.
Hanayama Cast U&U In a Nutshell
| Characteristic | Details |
|---|---|
| Puzzle Type | Take-Apart – Disentanglement |
| Designer | Kyoo Wong |
| Manufacturer | Hanayama |
| Budget | Low |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Material | Metal |
| Quality for Price | Great |
| Puzzling Value for Price | Very good |
| Best for | *Wanderers |
| Warnings | Force will damage the thread |
I honestly don’t remember where I got U&U. Yeah, it was a long time ago.
What I do remember though, is that it accompanied me in more than two countries.
And still, when I returned home, it still looked as if I purchased it a moment ago.
Not because of it’s polish, or quality, but because it was still unsolved!
And yeah, I decided to put it aside.
It was collecting dust until recently, when I decided to take it to work with me.
And to zoom meetings.
And everywhere else.
I played with it a lot.
And I can say, this one has some very interesting moves.
I always like it when puzzles show you everything, but you still don’t know what are you even supposed to do.
And I had an idea for years… But it wasn’t quite enough!
Having an idea was not enough. This one needed a plan.
Puzzles and people actually have some similarities.
One of them is that we need food to survive and achieve our goals, while puzzles need thought to be solved!
So of course, keeping this one with me allowed me to feed some thoughts to it.
Eventually, like a screw on a bolt, a plan came together!
The following moments were memorable.
Executing this plan resulted in a full opening, but not before U&U danced an elegant dance of moves in front of my very own enthusiastic eyes!
Satisfacted with my win, I immediately did it again and again to watch the final moves.
Marvelous!
I must confess, at times I got frustrated and used a tad too much force, which damaged the threads of it. Don’t make the same mistake.
The Verdict
If you have a disposable 12.5$, get it.
It’s fun enough for everyone, but of course, with its low price and immense puzzling value, it’s an all-star for Wanderers.
It’s also very fun to grasp after you invest good amounts of thinking in it.
Even though you can’t really go wrong with Hanayamas, U&U is extra cool.
Stay wanderful.