Anyone know how to take a Back To Square 1 (square 21) apart?

The pieces are held in place by a middle layer that only has 1 slice in it. That's the piece that all the other pieces revolve around. In my puzzle's case, the screw that keeps the two halves of the middle part was under a plastic panel that keeps the screw out of view. I managed to pry off this plastic panel with my knife but basically this made my Square 1 "ugly" because the stickers were slightly damaged and the plastic was misshapen where the knife was inserted and then pried up (the panel is glued into place).

Underneath all of that is a single screw with a spring and some washers to keep everything together. It's a very simple mechanism, but they've made it difficult to take apart.

To take apart a square 1, I typically arrange it so that one of the smaller wedges is nearest to where the puzzle can be rotated, rotate the puzzle about 45 degrees, and try to pry one of the smaller wedges out of the puzzle. A word of caution, be careful in doing this.

i got a wedge out, but i cannot get any other pieces out.
i will keep trying.
any tips wynn?

i got that cover off.
it was tough
but that screw is so tight. i feel that i will strip the screw head opening it.
any suggestions?

i got it
took a lot of squeezing, but i got it apart
thanks 4 the help everyone