Octopus by Pelikan

I was finally able to find some time with my ‘Octopus’ and its charm is quickly surpassed by what I like to think of as a ‘fun’ puzzle.  I often tackle high level burrs that require deep concentration that sometimes takes that fun aspect away.

Your goal of course is to manipulate the tentacles (burr pieces) in coordination with the body (burr piece) to ultimately remove everything.

I highly recommend grabbing yourself a copy as they’re still available at Pelikan.

My copy is #14 of 43

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“It seems that no new Pelikan release is complete without one of their own designs, beautifully visualised as some kind of animal. We have had Turtle, Snail, Ladybug and Crab so far, all of which reside on display in my living room. The arrival of the Octopus in the Puzzlemad asylum/loony-bin was greeted by me with a whoop of delight and by Mrs S with a groan of “Oh no, not more!!”. She did admit that it was very beautiful. This was the one I began with because it’s just irresistible. It’s pretty big at 13.3 x 13.3 x 9.8 cm and made of Limba, American Walnut and Wenge. The beady eyes just look at you. Like the crab, it is not just a simple slot together Kumiki puzzle. It is a burr with pieces that interlock in all directions. It all fits beautifully together and the first sliding move is easy to find but after that it gets more awkward. I was able to remove the first two pieces quite quickly and realised that I had not really paid attention to the orientation they came out – the shape of them meant that they rolled off the cat who sleepily acted as my tabletop. Having realised I was going to be stuck soon, I just proceeded with the disassembly. Usually after half the pieces of a burr have been removed it suddenly gets easier but not with this one. I really struggled for another 20 minutes to find the way to remove the final pieces. The main challenge with this will be the reassembly after scrambling the pieces. I almost gave up and went to Burrtools but luckily before I lost the last remnant of my mind, I finally found the correct assembly. This puzzle is an essential purchase if you collect Kumiki puzzles or if you have the rest in the series. For the rest of you it’s worth getting because it’s adorable and clever.”

• Presentation Box Sleeve is Bird’s Eye Maple.  Top & Bottom Frame are Yellowheart/Iroko/Mahogany.  Slipfeathers are Peruvian Walnut