Ennui

Interlocking puzzle by László Molnár

Assemble six pieces into a 4x4x4 cube shape.

Ennui is one of a series of Turning Interlocking Cubes ("TICs") by the endlessly creative László Molnár. Its pieces are all made from adjoined cubes meeting at right angles, but fitting them together requires a series of unusual and surprising rotations. TICs are challenging puzzles, but finding the solution is a satisfying and rewarding experience.

The puzzle is modeled to precise tolerances. It should not be necessary to use force or bend the plastic in order to assemble the puzzle. If you feel like you need to force a piece in order for it to fit, then most likely, you haven't found the right rotations. Keep trying!

Printing Instructions

Print one copy each of molnar.ennui.pieces-1.stl and molnar.ennui.pieces-2.stl. Printing them in separate colors will give a nice contrasting effect as shown in the photos, but is not necessary (the puzzle does not depend on the color scheme).

This model uses "snap joints" so that it can be printed without supports. After you print it, first connect all the joints before attempting to solve the puzzle. Snap each male connector into a corresponding female connector (for example, the male connector labeled "A" should connect to the female connector with a matching "A" label on the interior).

The joints are designed to be tight, and depending on the printer and filament used, you may need to hammer them into place. If they come out too loose, a drop of superglue will make them more solid (in most cases this shouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately tolerances vary across printers and filaments). The snap joint concept is discussed further in this tutorial: Getting Started with Puzzle Printing.

Due to the convoluted and fragile shapes of the pieces on this puzzle, I recommend printing at 100% scale, in a sturdy filament such as PLA+ (at least for pieces-1), and reinforcing the joints with glue.

The Printable Puzzle Project

The Printable Puzzle Project aims to make available high-quality open-source models of many puzzle designs. All of our models are posted with the generous permission of their designers and are licensed for non-commercial use only. Anyone may print copies for their own personal use, but selling or otherwise monetizing them is not permitted, and puzzle designers retain all rights as copyright holders of their work.

Our puzzles are modeled using the open-source puzzlecad library. The .scad file is included with this model in case you want to modify any of its design parameters; more information on how to do this can be found in the PPP Puzzle Modeling tutorial.

About the Designer

László Molnár is well-known for designing puzzles that are based on a seemingly simple idea, but are actually fiendishly difficult. In recent years, Molnár's designs have featured prominently at the International Puzzle Party, and his packing puzzle Hat Trick received a Top 10 award at the 2019 IPP in Kanazawa, Japan. A Google search for "laszlo molnar puzzles" will turn up lots of information about his designs, including links to several that are commercially available.

Happy puzzling!