Cathedral Door Puzzle

A fiendish plywood puzzle recalling the mastery of medieval stonemasons. Empty the 16 shaped puzzle pieces from the arch-shaped frame to reveal a colourful pattern; your challenge is to then replace the intricate, tessellating shapes so that they fit within the frame perfectly. Recalling stained glass tracery, the shaped pieces can only fit together correctly in one combination. Resembling a cathedral door or stained glass window, the puzzle echoes the challenge facing glaziers when removing and re-fitting 311 stained glass panels to restore York Minster’s 15th century Great East Window, 2005-18. From the Romanesque to soaring Gothic, medieval churches and cathedrals employed ancient principles to ensure arches and doorways could be self-supporting. Ponder the genius of such constructions as you piece together the tactile, unputdownable puzzle.

Antique- and colour-stain plywood
18 x 9 x 1cm
With 16 puzzle pieces
18.5 x 13.5 x 6.5cm box
Box printed with brief instructions
Does not include solution
1 player, age 14+
Packed in a card box with plastic window – widely recycled
Puzzle wrapped in plastic – widely recycled with soft plastics