Apparently Aesthetically Pleasing – Belt Cube 3

Pelikan Puzzles has made quite a few clever apparent cube packing puzzles designed by Osanori Yamamoto.  I’ve already talked about W-Windows and Pumpkin 1.  Now let’s look at Belt Cube 3 released in 2019, although I only recently acquired this copy.

Belt Cube 3 is a very attractive puzzle made with a Purpleheart frame and Wenge pieces. With only 3 pieces and a wide open frame, how difficult could it be?  Technically, it has a 10.2 level of difficulty.  This can be loosely translated as fun but not very difficult for this type of puzzle.

The symmetry of the 2 rather large frame openings gives you a big clue as to how the 3 pieces need to be assembled to make an apparent cube.  And yes, there apparently is a non-apparent configuration.

When I started working with the pieces, I quickly found a configuration that looked promising but was having difficulty figuring out the moves required to get it in the frame.  However, having learned my lesson (many, many, maannnyyyyy times) I stuck with it until eventually the pieces appeared to make a cube within the frame.  For puzzles like this, it’s all about appearances.  My rule of thumb for this type of puzzle is if you find a configuration that supports at least 3 to 4 cool consecutive moves, it’s probably the solution and there is a 5th move, and a 6th move, etc.

I found this one a bit easier than the others that I have done, but to be honest, you can’t go wrong with any of them.  They are well made, beautiful, and apparently aesthetically pleasing.