Stuck on The Column?
The Column is designed to feel impossibly simple on the outside while hiding a precise internal mechanism. Most solvers spend a few minutes trying twists, pulls, and squeezes before they realize what the puzzle is asking for. Hints in order, gentle to full solution.
Column Puzzle Solution
Hint 1: Listen first.
Hold the Column shuttle close to your ear and tilt it slowly through different orientations. An internal mechanism makes a faint sound when it moves. Find that sound before you try anything else.
Hint 2: Orientation is key.
The mechanism inside The Column responds to gravity. Hold the puzzle in different orientations and pay attention to what you feel and hear when you tilt it. There's an internal piece that moves when the vertical axis changes.
Hint 3: Inversion.
The latch only releases when the puzzle is inverted. Hold The Column upside down for a moment, then try to take it apart in that orientation. The internal ball bearing has to roll out of the way before the magnetic latch can release.
Give up?
If hints aren't enough, watch Chris Ramsey's solve video for a step-by-step walkthrough.
Want to understand the puzzle instead of just solving it? Read the design deep dive.
Still stuck?
Email Damein at Solutions@CurioPuzzles.co and we'll help.
New to Curio? See the Column Puzzle or browse our puzzle gift guide.