Solving the Washer Puzzle

Here’s my attempt at showing the solution to the washer puzzles I make. It turned out to be a little harder than I thought. Describing this with just pictures probably isn’t the best way to go, but I’ve included a link at the bottom that may explain it better.

To start with, the puzzle needs to look like this:

The object is to get both washers on the same loop.

First you want to pull the loop on the bottom of the puzzle out far enough that you can slide as washer through it:

Once you get the loop pulled out, it should look like this:

Next, take the washer on the right and slide it through the loop you just pulled out:

I find it makes the next step easier if you’ll pull down on the two main loops a little to tighten up the knot and take out the slack:

Now here’s the tricky part, and the key to solving the puzzle. Pull the knot through the center hole towards you. You basically grab the two strings going through the center hole and pull them until the knot comes through:

After you pull the knot through the center hole, you should have two loops that you can now slide the washer through:

Here’s another view after the washer has been passed through those two loops:

Next you pull the knot BACK through the center hole. You do this by grabbing the stings from behind the puzzle and pull them back through:

Once the knot has been pulled back through the center hole, there should be another loop you can pass the washer through:

After passing the washer through that last loop, you can now pull on the two main loops to tighten the knot and you should have the two washer on the same side!

That’s it! Pretty easy, right? Hopefully this will help, but you may have to try it a few times to get it down. Even after I show people in person, it usually takes them a try or two.

For a possibly better explanation, check out this website.

You can also view larger pictures on my photography site.

Thanks for looking and I hope you make some of these puzzles!

David

-- David