A ball-in-cage puzzle in unsolved form

The same puzzle in solved form

Disentanglement puzzles usually have two different tasks to be solved, namely first to disassemble the puzzle and then to put it together again.

One of these two tasks might be much more challenging than the other. Nevertheless we will call both types of puzzles 'disentanglement puzzles'.

Categories of disentanglement puzzles:

• ball-in-cage puzzles . These are burr-type puzzles which release a ball when disassembled.
• burr puzzles . More or less compact shapes that have to be disassembled.
• plate-and-ring puzzles . Plate with holes or indentations plus ring.
• rattle puzzles . These are burr-type puzzles with loose-fitting pieces.
• tavern puzzles . These are forged iron puzzles traditionally made by blacksmiths.
• wire puzzles . Made from several interlinked pieces of stiff wire.
• wire-and-string puzzles . Made from wire, string and maybe other attachments.
• others.