Sudoku Puzzles Types of puzzles

Disentanglement puzzle

A disentanglement puzzle is a type of mechanical puzzle that involves disentangling one piece or set of pieces from another piece or set of pieces. The reverse problem of reassembling the puzzle can be as hard as - or even harder than - disentanglement. There are several different kinds of disentanglement puzzles, though a single puzzle may incorporate several of these features.

Plate-and-ring puzzles

A plate-and-ring puzzle usually consists of three pieces:

The plate as well as the ring are usually made from metal. The ring has to be disentangled from the plate.

Wire puzzles

Wire puzzles consist of two or more entangled pieces of more or less stiff wire. The pieces may or may not be closed loops. The closed pieces might be simple rings or have more complex shapes. Normally the puzzle must be solved by disentangling the two pieces without bending or cutting the wires.

Early wire puzzles were made from horseshoes and similar material.

Wire-and-string puzzles

A complex disentanglement puzzle. The goal is to free the string.

Wire-and-string puzzles usually consist of:

One can distinguish three subgroups of wire-and-string puzzles:

Tabletop games: Rules and Strategy