Below is a brief categorisation of the types of puzzles that I am particularly interested in. A great deal of the definitions is thanks to Puzzles Old and New (Jerry Slocum and Jack Botermans)
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Assembly - Requires the puzzle to be put together, examples are tangrams, Soma cube and jigsaw puzzles
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Disassembly - Take the puzzle apart, examples are Japanese puzzle boxes and trick locks
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Interlocking - combines assembly and disassembly, examples include burrs, chuck puzzles, and various burr like assemblies.
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Disentanglement - To disentangle and re-entangle the puzzle, examples are wire disentanglement, wood and string, ball and chain etc.
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Sequential movement - move parts of the puzzle, examples include Rubik’s Cube, Solitaire, and Sliding block puzzles.
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Dexterity puzzles - Requires manual dexterity to solve, commonly one or more ballbearings in a maze.
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Impossible object - how do they do that, ship in a bottle is a well known example, and also the puzzle joint.
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