Cast Claw

Cast Claw is the third in a series of six marine-themed Hanayama Cast Puzzles designed by Akio Yamamoto. Puzzle Master sent me a copy of this puzzle to review. Thanks!

As with the rest of the marine series, this one is cast in contrasting gold and silver. In this one, a mackerel is caught in a crab's claws, and you task is to free it!

By looking at it, you may think that it similar to Cast Bike: a ring with a gap that must be navigated through slots. However, the profile of the ring is such that there is a bit of additional complexity, albeit not a ton.

This one is ranked a 2/6 on Hanayama's scale, and I found it fairly easy to solve. I think it took me about 2-3 minutes, since I'm pretty familiar with this type of puzzle. There were a few little interesting parts that slowed me down a bit, but generally it was pretty straightforward. The ending is somewhat unusual for this type of puzzle.

I would say it is slightly more difficult than previously reviewed Cast Shark and Cast Seabream, mainly because it has a somewhat longer solution. I liked it a bit more than Cast Seabream, but not as much as Cast Shark. Overall, a good little puzzle, but not one of my favorites in the series.