SPLIT ASUNDER, RE – CONNECTING CUB3S

This puzzle is cubular dude!  Albeit a bit broken.  

You might be able to determine the number of cubes from the name of the puzzle.  Each of the cubes is split in twain and your mission is to reform the cubes asunder.  There are also some rectangular tubular pieces to be cached in rectangular receptacles of the cubic halves, each half having half of a whole hole.  Magnets were also added to make this a very attractive puzzle.  

This puzzle was designed by Tanner Rayes, that famous celebrity from the YouTube show What Did I Get Myself Into? and used as his exchange puzzle for IPP41.  New episodes of W.D.I.G.M.I.? have been temporarily put on hold for the development cycle of this puzzle, but I’d expect them to restart again after Tanner and his co-hostess Geneva open their new studio.

When I first saw the pieces for CONNECTING CUB3S, I was immediately reminded of the Impossible Triangle of Three Cubes puzzle by Andrey Ustjuzhanin and thought it would have a similar solution.  It didn’t, so forget that I mentioned it.

Tanner 3D printed the CONNECTING CUB3S himself and they came in a sturdy plastic box for storage.  The cubular pieces were black and the tubular pieces were Red, White, and Blue, keeping in theme with IPP41 which was held in the US.
 
Although constructing the attractive tri-cubular-cached-tubular shape was not difficult, the though process was enjoyable.  To be honest, I think that I found it easy because I had a good guess what the target shape would be.  For less experienced puzzles, it may provide more of a challenge.  My biggest problem was 2 pieces not wanting to go nicely together.  This was due to a rogue magnet that crashed the party and was hanging out with a buddy in one of the hole halves.  Once it was removed, the pieces slide nicely together.

I ended up laughing during the second challenge, which is to place the pieces back in the box.  I thought I would be able to just dump the pieces back in, but it required placing them inside with a little thought.  Not difficult, but you can’t just drop them in either.

Altogether, a nice package from W.D.I.G.M.I.? H.Q.