The Yin and Yang is one of the fifteen puzzles in Professor Puzzle’s Matchbox Puzzle series, from the British brand of puzzles and brain teasers. It is made up of two pieces of bent metal wire, linked together, whose curves recall the well-known symbol of Chinese origin. The challenge is to separate them and then link them back together as they were at the start.

• BrandProfessor Puzzle
• SeriesMatchbox Puzzle
• TypeWire disentanglement puzzle
• MaterialMetal
• Pieces2
• Box7 × 4.7 × 2.2 cm

How it works

It’s a disentanglement puzzle: the two pieces aren’t welded or press-fitted, but interlinked in such a way that they only come apart with the right sequence of moves. As with many wire puzzles, the pieces mirror each other, and putting them back together is usually just as entertaining as separating them.

Forcing the wire gets you nowhere and can bend it out of shape, so handle it calmly.

What’s included

The puzzle is kept in a cardboard box shaped like a matchbox, with the retro-style illustration that runs through the whole series. Nine more challenges, classic matchstick puzzles, are printed on the sides of the box and extend the fun once the main puzzle is solved.