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The Columbus Egg Puzzle


The Columbus Egg is probably the most elegant puzzle in my collection.
It is an extremely rare puzzle, and that makes it even more mysterious.
The goal of this puzzle is to find the combination where the five layers shown
in the window are all red. After this is achieved, a weight will be realeased
towards the bottom of the puzzle, enabling to stand on its own base.

 

Some History:

Back in ancient Greece, Eratosthenis was the first man who calculated the circumference of Earth.
Many years later, Posidonius (at the island I grew up!) and Ptolemy made much more accurate calculations.
Columbus (rightfully) supported this view explaining that Earth was spherical and not flat.
Unfortunately, the Royal Court did not support his view and his efforts were degraded.
Then, after being invited to a dinner, he used an egg to teach those aristocrats a good lesson.

Quote from the Instructions page:
"Columbus challenged the members of the Royal Court to stand an ordinary egg on its end in such a way that it would not fall over. Non could do it. Columbus shook the egg so hard the yolk broke and flowed to the bottom, thereby shifting the weight and enabling the egg to stand on its base. In doing this, Columbus chastised the Royal Court with these words:
Once you have been shown the way, it is always easy for others to follow, but the first to make the discovery
should be honored and respected."

 

 

 

These are all the three moves that may be used to solve the puzzle:

Position R (Right)
Position M (Middle)
Position L (left)

 

 

Here are the instructions (click on them to enlarge):

(many thanks to Ed Cambridge for providing me a copy of the instructions!)

 

 

When scrambled, it cannot stand on its base.

 

But with the correct configuration, it can! :-)
(In fact, after the weight is released, it always goes to this position... automatically!!!)

 

 


Please let me know of any comments or suggestions. Thanks! :-)

 

 

 

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