Hanayama Cast Viollet

The Hanayama Cast Viollet is a disentanglement puzzle made of durable cast metal. It consists of two intricately intertwined pieces designed to mimic the shape of a musical instrument, specifically a violin or viola. The goal of the puzzle is to take the two metal pieces completely apart and then figure out how to put them back together.

The puzzle was uniquely designed by Vesa Timonen, a highly respected Finnish puzzle creator who has contributed multiple designs to the Hanayama catalog. Timonen is famous for creating incredibly elegant solutions out of seemingly simple, geometric wire and metal shapes. The Cast Viollet is celebrated as one of his most aesthetically pleasing designs.

In the standard Hanayama rating system, the Cast Viollet holds a difficulty rating of Level 4 out of 6. This places it in the moderately challenging category, making it accessible to intermediate puzzle solvers but still tough enough to stump casual players. It requires a mix of spatial reasoning and physical dexterity to solve without using force.

Unlike the Hanayama Cast Key or the Cast Enigma, the Viollet's difficulty comes from navigating the interlocking curves of the viola shape. While it shares the metallic, cold-touch build of other Hanayama puzzles, its mechanism is uniquely centered around rotating and sliding the parts at very specific, tight angles. The aesthetic makes it popular among collectors who appreciate the artistic value of Hanayama's designs.