Hedgehog in the Cage (in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

: Ježek v kleci) is a

mechanical puzzle A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...

popular in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

which features prominently in the ''"Dobrodružství v temných uličkách"'' (''Adventures in the Dark Alleys'') trilogy of adventure stories by

Jaroslav Foglar Jaroslav Foglar (6 July 1907 – 23 January 1999) was a Czechoslovak writer who wrote many novels about youths (partly also about Boy Scouts movement) and their adventures in nature and dark city streets. His signature series is ''Rychlé šípy'' ...

. The puzzle consists of a small sphere with protruding spikes of various lengths contained within a cylinder perforated with holes of different sizes. The challenge posed by the puzzle is how to release the sphere (the hedgehog) from the cylinder (the cage).

History

Although known mainly through the children's stories written by the Czech

in the 1940s, the Hedgehog in the Cage has its origins in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The first known similar puzzles were made since 1886 by the Trilby company in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. The puzzle was patented by the American inventor Clarence A. Worrall in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on 7 April, 1896. It has been suggested that Worrall's invention was inspired by a Japanese puzzle called the ''Snake and Star'', which appeared in the catalogue of the games manufacturer

Selchow & Righter Selchow and Righter was a 19th- and 20th-century game manufacturer best known for the games ''Parcheesi'' and ''Scrabble''. It was based in Bay Shore, New York. It dates back to 1867 when it was founded as E. G. Selchow & Co. In 1880, to reflec ...

on 25 May, 1895. The principle of both inventions is similar: solving the puzzle involves finding the correct position and angle that allows the object ("the hedgehog" or "the star") to be removed from its entrapment in the cage or the snake. It is not known exactly how Jaroslav Foglar knew the puzzle, but he probably encountered a copy of the one made by the Trilby company—a few instances of the puzzle could be found on the territory of the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslo ...

. The Hedgehog puzzle was produced in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

since 1941 at a toy factory in

Roudnice nad Labem Roudnice nad Labem (; ) is a town in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. A steel road b ...

''Mystery of the Conundrum''

It was not until 1940 that it achieved its remarkable level of popularity, when Jaroslav Foglar published ''Záhada hlavolamu'' (''Mystery of the Conundrum''), the first part of his sequence of stories about the

Rychlé šípy Rychlé šípy ("The Rapid Arrows") is the name of a fictional club of five boys by the Czech writer Jaroslav Foglar. Consisting of Mirek Dušín, Jarka Metelka, Jindra Hojer, Červenáček ("Red Cap"), Rychlonožka ("Speedy") and a dog named Bub ...

("Rapid Arrows") boys' club.The first edition of the novel was published in sequels in a popular magazine ''Mladý hlasatel'' (Young Herald) from 1940. Rychlé šípy comics series began to appear in the magazine ''Mladý hlasatel'' (Young Herald) in December 1938, and gradually became the most popular series in the history of the Czech comics. However, their adventures involving the Hedgehog in the Cage are written in the standard novel form. The Hedgehog in the Cage plays a key role in the story and its sequels in the trilogy, ''Stínadla se bouří'' (''The Shades are Revolting'') and ''Tajemství velkého Vonta'' (''Secret of the Supreme Vont''). The novel tells the story of a young apprentice locksmith Jan Tleskač, who invents a flying bicycle. Tleskač also owns a copy of the puzzle, which he refers to as the "Hedgehog in the Cage". He succeeds in removing the hedgehog from its cage, splits the sphere in two parts and hides the plans of his invention inside it before reuniting the two hemispheres and replacing the Hedgehog inside its Cage. After Tleskač's mysterious death, local children take the Hedgehog as a symbol of leadership for their secret society.

Cultural references

From the 1940s onwards, the puzzle was manufactured in Czechoslovakia in a variety of forms and sizes. It became particularly popular in 1969 when

Czechoslovak Television Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

broadcast a TV series based on the novel. The Removing the Hedgehog from the Cage World Championship has been held annually in the Czech Republic since 2000. In 2010, an exhibition was held in the ''Galerie jedné věci'' gallery in Prague to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the novel's publication. 70 variants of the puzzle were displayed in the exhibition. Among them was a golden Hedgehog in the Cage and Tleskač's bicycle.

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

ježcivkleci.cz - fan website about the puzzle
* https://web.archive.org/web/20140312212430/http://www.hlavolamy.info/hlavolamy/jezek-v-kleci/
Ježek v kleci
an audio story available at the website of Radio Wave (

Czech Radio Český rozhlas (ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating since 1923. It is the oldest radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second oldest in Europe after the BBC. The service broadcasts throughout the C ...

) Mechanical puzzles Culture of the Czech Republic