Start with 1 wooden bead on each of the two loops and try to get the two beads together on one loop without untying the string.
See Photo 1 below for how to start manipulating and solving this puzzle, and Photo 13 for what the completion of the solution should look like.
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Hold the puzzle so that the small loop is toward you as shown in Photo 1. Do not turn the puzzle around. Keep the same side of the wood toward you all the time you are working with the puzzle. |
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Grasp the small loop at the center of puzzle with your thumb and first finger as shown in Photo 2. |
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Pull the loop down far enough to allow room for a bead to slip through
the loop |
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Pass the bead through the center loop as shown in Photo 4. |
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Let go of the bead as shown in Photo 5. |
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Grasp the two strings in center hole as shown in Photo 6. Do not turn the puzzle around. |
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Pull these strings toward you until a double loop appears as in Photo 7. |
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Slide the bead along its string through the double loop from left to right as in Photo 8. |
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Let go of the bead as in Photo 9. |
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Grasp the two strings at back of puzzle as in Photo 10. Pull the two strings until the double loop is pulled through the center hole to the back of the puzzle. Do not turn the puzzle around. |
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This will leave a single loop in the middle on the back side of the puzzle as in Photo 1l. |
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Slide the bead along the string as in Photo 12. |
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Then slide the bead through the single loop as in Photo 13. |
With any luck at all, you have done it and now have the two beads together on one loop!
IN ORDER TO GET THE BEADS SEPARATED AGAIN:
Start with Photo 13 and do everything backwards to Photo 1. Be sure to even up the size of two loops before you start back to give you enough string to work with.
Solution by World Wide Games, Box 450, Delaware, Ohio, 43015
NOTE: This page was originally created and posted on the Web on May 20, 2003. Subsequently it has been modified and periodically updated. Last update April 7, 2010