Alcyone is a 6-piece non-orthogonal interlocking burr puzzle. The puzzle is not very difficult but confusing enough to assemble because of the unusual angle of the pieces and its assembled shape. When Juno designed the puzzle, he forced himself not to use a simple stick piece that does not have checkouts. It means the assembled puzzle has to be separated to 3 + 3 pieces or 2 + 4 pieces. Each three pairs of pieces are rotated 12 degrees from the original position. By doing so, none of the edges created by checkouts do not become parallel to the surfaces of the basic shape of the pieces and it makes 3 + 3 or 2 + 4 separation impossible. To solve this problem, Juno also rotated the pieces 2.53 degrees (atan(sin12*tan12)) around the axis parallel to the direction of the length of the pieces. Now, if you observe the disassembled pieces carefully, you find that some edges generated by making checkouts are parallel to the surface of the pieces. The gravity center of the puzzle is off-centered to the ends of a pair of two pieces and it makes the puzzle unstable on a flat surface. The base compensates the off-center and makes the assembled puzzle stable on it. Alcyone is the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. We also have produced a puzzle named Merope that belongs to the same constellation. The puzzle is sold DISASSEMBLED to save the shipping cost. The printed solution of the puzzle is enclosed. Size: 120 mm x 120 mm x 120 mm Number of pieces: 6 pieces + Base Material: Burmese Teak and Zebrano Designer: Junichi Yananose (Juno) Origin: Made in Australia Ages: 12+
