“Ooh, it makes me wonder”
-Led Zeppelin
How do you feel when you understand how little we all understand?
Is it a magical feeling of wonder, or a melancholy feeling of meekness?
Whatever the feeling may be, we can agree that it’s rare for an object to incur strong feelings like these. Almost… impossible, even.
Not impossible at all for impossible objects though, seems to me, aye?
This is the puzzle type for those who:
Enjoy wondering;
Find art interesting;
Work in an office;
Want to catch people off-guard;
Are very imaginative.
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Impossible to Forget
This category of mechanical puzzles is so unique they aren’t always mechanical! What’s cooler than that?
Impossible at first – Some impossible objects give away the impression that they’re impossible to take-apart, even though it’s not actually so. Never trust what you see.
Impossible at last – Some impossible objects are really impossible to take-apart. Trust what you see!
Ponder – While impossible to disassemble, they have been made in one way or another. Therefore, the solution required is understanding how they were made.
Discussion – Because of their nature, impossible objects are a great conversation starter.
The bottle you see in the picture was designed and made by my dear friend Phillip Knoringer (thanks Bar Aharon for the photo!). It may look impossible to take apart at first – well thats what I thought at least for some years. But lately Phil told me it actually is solvable. Intriguing…
Impossible to Categorize
I must confess, it’s not easy to categorize impossible objects, as they are very unique on their own.
One way of dividing them is by possibility to solve. Let’s be frank though – that won’t really explain anything new.
Another way of doing that is by pointing out the type of object they use. I think that’s how we’ll roll – as you’ll be able to understand perfectly what I’m talking about.
Piercing
Piercing impossible objects include a wooden apple with an arrow that pierces it from one side to the other, nails stuck in wood with no way out or even arrows that pass through bottles.
Yeah I know, you’re probably asking yourself how is this possible. I’m sorry, you’ll need to figure it out on your own!
There’s one Hanayama, Cast Arrows, that is an impossible piercing object. But is it really impossible?
Joints
Dovetail joints are a way to hold two pieces of wood together.
However, in these impossible objects the dovetails seem like it’s impossible to seperate the pieces!
Imagine how they are made – sometimes you can even take them apart.
Bottles
Evolved from ships in a bottle, impossible bottles are all about having some object inside them that just couldn’t possibly fit there, at first glance.
When solvable, they require a fair amount of dexterity.
This is perhaps the most popular among impossible objects.
Bolts
Impossible objects keep getting stranger every time eh?
These are bolts that have something stuck inside them. While most of them are also take-apart puzzles, there are bolts that are actually impossible.
Wil Strijbos has made some of these in the past.
Verdict
Impossible objects are not always impossible.
When they are – taking them apart will be difficult to imagine, demanding dexterity as well as creativity.
When they are not – they remain artistic and interesting, intriguing your friends and colleagues, and usually low-budget too.
A unique puzzle type, Impossible to ignore!