Rainbow Puzzle

Over

This wooden puzzle by Clever Toys consists of a cylinder split into three layers. The top and bottom layers are connected by a central axle, around which the middle layer can rotate. The top and bottom layer cannot rotate with respect to each other. On the side of this cylinder there are four looped tracks containing balls. These tracks are vertical loops split across the three layers. The top and bottom layers contain curved sections of track, all holding three balls, while the middle layer contains vertical sections of track, (two from each loop) each containing two balls. The loop of 10 balls in a track can be moved around in unison. The neat thing is that the middle layer's eight track sections are equidistantly spaced, so that there are eight ways for the middle layer to be aligned, not just four as you would expect with the four loops. In its solved state, the surface within each loop has a distinct colour (blue, red, green, yellow), with the top layer being a lighter shade of the relevant colour, and the bottom layer a darker shade. The balls in the loop of course have to match this in colour and shade. If your browser supports JavaScript, then you can play the Rainbow Puzzle by clicking the link below: