The Three Wedges is a wooden puzzle from Vinco, the workshop of Czech designer and craftsman Václav Obšivač. It consists of eight irregular pieces from the half-cube family, each made of several woods in contrasting tones. The aim is to bring them back together into their original shape, a cube of about 6 cm, and put them away in their box.

• BrandVinco
• DesignerVáclav Obšivač
• TypePacking (half-cubes)
• MaterialContrasting woods
• Pieces8
• DifficultyLevel 5 (Vinco scale)

Design

Vinco presented it in 2006 at the Edward Hordern puzzle exchange of the International Puzzle Party (IPP) held in Boston, the leading annual gathering for puzzle collectors and designers, where participants exchange limited editions of their designs.

The pieces start from the idea of the half-cube, either of the two halves you get by dividing a cube, modified to create shapes that no longer fit together in an obvious way. The contrast between woods means that the solution, once found, looks like a small mosaic.

Skill level

Vinco gives it level 5, among the highest on its scale. It is a packing puzzle designed to be solved without hurry, recommended for anyone already familiar with this kind of challenge. The same puzzle is also sold inside the Special Box 503, a decorated lidded box.