A:Answer I had same problem. I tried pliers several times but they kept slipping even though the cork was dry. I then tried needling a fork into the cork but it kept slipping off. The cork continued to crumble (which I thought might eventually help me if it crumbled completely). Finally I went back to the pliers (I could not find my needle-nose pliers, these were regular thick-nose pliers), and I was successful. I had to dig them deeper into the wine opener to gain a better grip on the cork than the first attempt. If you go the pliers route, turn them counter-clockwise (I thought maybe since I was looking in the reverse direction of removal, it would be clockwise, but no, that was not the case) facing the bottom of the wine opener. Good luck!
