Preview
Date
ca. 1978-1985
Description
#23 in Stewart Coffin’s Puzzle Compendium.
“Imagine taking a nest of twelve triangular sticks and splitting each stick longitudinally. This produces a symmetrical arrangement of twenty-four sticks with 30-60-90° cross-section. These resulting sticks can then be assembled in fours (with four sticks radiating out from each of the six square dimples) to make the basic Scorpius puzzle. Its external appearance is identical to the Scrambled Scorpius. The Scrambled Scorpius is a variation where the four sticks are joined in different ways. Not counting side-by-side pairs, there are ten such ways of joining four sticks. Of these, one is symmetrical, two are impossible to assemble and one does not permit any solutions. The remaining six pieces assemble only one way with a single sliding axis making a very difficult and interesting puzzle.”
200 scrambled scorpius puzzles were produced between 1978-1985 using Honduran Mahogany. This puzzle is not complete. One piece is missing and one piece is separated into two parts at the joint.
Object Number
PT.0354
Box Number
48
Material
wood
Dimensions
5 pieces
Keywords
Arthur Loeb Design Science Teaching Collection; mechanical puzzles