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Below is a theory of how the inside might look
- without tearing it apart -
to accomplish the success of the solution .

Originally, as those of you who have already visited this site in the past, I was under the impression that there was a built-in stop created by a 'jog' in the wall of the pin chamber .
  

However, I have since been contacted by a fellow puzzler, Steve, who also has this puzzle, who informed me of a new theory, based upon the fact that, when either piece is flipped, even while holding the two 'main' pins stationary, there is a sound of pieces of metal shifting inside, suggesting that there are smaller pins acting as 'stops' within the main structure of each piece .
  

Upon further deliberation though, I realized that, if I were to turn the piece over from the unlocked state . . .
. . . while the 'main' pins are still all the way towards the back of their chambers . . .

. . . the 'main' pins could not now move beyond the 'stop' pins because of their back lips .

So I made a modification by elongating the width of the 'stop' pin to extend all the way back to the rear wall of the chamber .
  

In the 'locked' mode, the two 'main' large pins cannot travel any further towards
the back of their chambers because of the built-in smaller 'stop' pins .

So now -- upside down -- the 'main' pin can freely move forward past the 'locking' pin without getting hung up before it .

   
again . . . This is just a theory !

  

Well, I actually have some pics from one of my puzzle friends out there who bought a castNEWS puzzle at a local puzzle shop, and discovered that -- after viewing the above theory -- was missing two pins on one of the pieces.  

He found that not all castNEWS puzzles are created equal . . . . .

He thought something may have broken off inside the puzzle, so before he took the puzzle apart, he again searched this webpage hoping to find more information on the construction of the puzzle .   He carefully viewed the theory presented by Steve, (another puzzle friend with a theory of his own, as stated above) who was right in stating that there is something inside that stops the larger pins from fully retracting when the other side is up.

This ultimately gave him the confident initiative to go ahead and pry up one of the end caps to see if he could fix it, but there were no pins to be found on that one piece ( East / West )!   He figured -- after viewing the actual pics I had with all four pins showing -- that it must have been a faulty puzzle that somehow had sneaked by quality control.

In fact, there is a ball at the very end of the track, as presented in the pic below:

Hopefully my friend can get another castNEWS puzzle from his local puzzle shop at no extra cost to him.



There are four 'main' pins (two to each piece) to deal with .   The solution to this puzzle is 'almost' the same as all those that require centrifugal force .    However, there is one added 90° pivot step that separates this puzzle from all the rest .

Note: as the puzzle sits in front of you, be acknowledged that the bottom piece is automatically in the 'unlocked' position, and the top piece is in the 'locked' position, according to the schematics you have seen above . Remember:   the locked and unlocked positions mentioned above only refers to the positions of the smaller 'stop' pins .

STEP 1 : give the puzzle a good spin on a flat surface -- it doesn't matter which way the rotation has to be, whichever way gains the most out of the spin .   This will completely recess the two 'main' pins on the bottom piece (E W).

North & South letters are vertical
the 'main' pins are still in the locked position



STEP 2 : As you're looking down onto the puzzle, you will notice the four letters that are inscribed -- N E W S -- carefully flip the puzzle over to its other side (90° to the other piece) by pivoting on either the N letter or the S letter .   Do not tilt the puzzle sideways as you are pivoting, or you will undo the position of the recessed 'main' pins from step 1 .



STEP 3 : You have now reversed positions of 'locked' and 'unlocked' pieces .   What was once the top piece is now the bottom piece .   The new bottom piece has been put into the 'unlocked' mode
('stop' pins have been recessed)
~ Remember, the new top piece has the recessed 'main' pins from step 1 ~

Again give the puzzle a good spin .   This second spin will free the locked 'main' pins in the new bottom piece .   At this point, you should be able to lift one piece away from the other .

Note:   . . . . . sometimes another one or two spins will be required .

Notice the orientation of the letters after the flip . . .
North & South letters are now horizontal


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