A couple of weeks ago, someone gave me a puzzle that only had two pieces.
The object: put the pieces together to form a cube.
I knew that a twisting motion was involved...but I just couldn't get the
pieces to twist together properly. I've been trying to solve the puzzle
for a couple of weeks now, playing with it at odd moments. I thought
I had the general idea of how the pieces twisted. Was more force required?
The puzzle was plastic...and I didn't want to break it.

I was getting frustrated.

This afternoon, a very odd thing happened. I tossed the pieces in my coat
pocket when I left work. I also grabbed a cold can of cola from the
refrigerator and threw that into my pocket, planning to drink it on the
drive home. As I neared my car, I discovered that my car keys were not in
my pants pocket where I usually keep them. So I started searching all of my
pockets. When I reached into the bottom of the coat pocket containing the
can of cola, I had a sinking feeling when I felt only ONE puzzle piece.

Oh, no! Had I lost the other piece? But then I realized that I was feeling
a cube! The two pieces, quite by accident, had jostled themselves into the
proper configuration and magically twisted together into a cube! Where I had
failed, random jostling had succeeded. Dumb luck had outwitted me.

I started laughing my fool head off, frightening a couple of people walking
nearby. It still makes me giddy thinking about how the puzzle magically
solved itself. (Or maybe the can of cola deserves the credit.)

What are the odds? It was quite a "freak out." I laughed all the way home.

I should have mentioned that the puzzle was created by George Hart.
George has a website, but I can't find any info about the cube puzzle
on the site.
George Hart

That is a funny story. I can imagine you appeared quite sane to passers by; taking a cube out of your pocket and laughing manically.

I'm going to try your method. I can't solve the times crossword so I'm going to put it and a pen in my pocket and bounce on a trampoline for half an hour. Fingers crossed.

George

George,

Let me know how it goes. I hope you're patient. (You can't expect a
miracle every day!)

While laughing, I was screaming, "Holy Sh*t!...G** D***!...Unbelievable!"
I was also shaking my head in disbelief...with my eyes bugging out and
my mouth agage. I'll never forget the moment of realization of what had occurred.

Stan

PS The screw-apart cube was given to me in disassembled form. I can see why.
Once you have the pieces properly screwed together, it's a simple matter to
slowly separate them. If you analyze the motion and the positions of the
pieces while doing so, it's easy to figure out what is required to "run the movie backwards."
Kinda like the classic two piece pyramid (tetrahedron) puzzle. Once you
understand the solution, you wonder why finding the solution ever seemed
difficult in the first place.
Can't wait to watch friends attempt to assemble the cube. It'll be interesting
to see if anyone can beat the record established by my can of cola.

Can you post a photo of the puzzle? Where can we get it?

George you are being simply ridiculous.
This will never work without the can of coke.

I have contacted George Hart, the puzzle's creator. I pointed
him to this thread. Please be patient and wait for his response.

Stan

trickytrav,

You magicians never cease to amaze me! How the heck did you know
it was Coke and not Pepsi or some other brand? (You are correct!)

OK, Mr. Mentalist, can you be more specific about the variety of Coke?
Regular or diet? Caffeinated or caffeine-free? Cherry Coke? Vanilla?
Coke Zero?

Stan

I've received a response from George Hart.
Unfortunately, all of the puzzles he manufactured are gone.
He has no (current) plans for making more. (They were manufactured
using selective laser sintering, utilizing very expensive equipment.)
If the situation changes, he'll let me know...and I'll pass on the
info to readers of this forum.

Keep an eye out for a George Hart contribution to an upcoming issue
of Make magazine.

Good old regular coke

Do you have an out?

With a twist of lemon?

Enquiring minds want to know: Did you ever find your keys?