I printed another puzzle created by Frank Worrell, called Baseball Strike 2 http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~uy7t-isn/Puzzle/555/Baseball/Str ike2/

I have no words to describe how good this puzzle is. It looks great in its assembled state, it is challenging, and the disassembly sequence is varied and entertaining.

Assembled, this is how it looks. It is beautifully symmetrical; it somewhat resembles a baseball, hence the name.



It takes 19 moves to take out the first piece. Sometime during the disassembly, none of the pieces is in its starting position. I like that



Here are the six flat pieces plus the frame that encloses them.



The puzzle can also be assembled without the frame. It still holds together, but it takes only 8 moves to take out the first piece, so it's considerably easier. You could call that "Strike 1", I guess, though I don't know if this is the reason why the puzzle is called Strike 2. When starting from the disassembled puzzle, one could attempt to reach this position before tackling the full puzzle.

• Attachment: Baseball assembled.jpg
  (Size: 45.74KB, Downloaded 577 time(s))

• Attachment: Baseball during disassembly.jpg
  (Size: 57.72KB, Downloaded 568 time(s))

• Attachment: Baseball pieces.jpg
  (Size: 66.37KB, Downloaded 565 time(s))

• Attachment: Baseball without frame.jpg
  (Size: 48.31KB, Downloaded 565 time(s))

[Updated on: Sun, 08 May 2011 19:15 UTC]