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Readers familiar with the symmetrical version of the diagonal burr puzzle know that the easiest way to disassemble it, especially when it is tight, is to grasp any opposite pair of sticks, wiggle and pull, and the whole thing flies apart. The Pseudo-Notched Sticks Puzzle (Fig. 148) also has six identical pieces and looks exactly like the diagonal burr when assembled. But when you grasp what appear to be two opposite sticks to disassemble it, all you are doing is pressing it ever more tightly together, and it has the feel of being glued absolutely solid! Only when one grasps in a manner that seems to make no sense at all does it come apart with ease!
Fig. 148
Anyone who collects puzzles or writes about them is faced with the question of classification. This design illustrates the sort of problems one confronts. What other field of human endeavor outside of the legal profession is so purposely confusing? If based on superficial appearance, this puzzle would be in Chapter 7, but psychologically it belongs here.
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