Beware the Stare

There’s a fantastic origin story behind this award winning puzzle maker (it's appropriate that he has an origin story, given his almost supernatural abilities). American artist Lee Krasnow, who hails from the Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest, relates that when he was around twelve years old he watched a Sixties era movie called “The Village of the Damned”. It’s a campy sci-fi thriller featuring a strange cohort of Aryan-esque children from a remote town, all born on the same day, who have eyes that glow brightly as they harness their strange powers of mind control. “Beware the Stare”, warns the movie trailer, or it might spell your doom. But what Krasnow found most interesting in this movie was a brief scene depicting a Japanese sliding puzzle box opening to reveal a hidden drawer. He played this scene back, over and over on his VHS tape, reverse engineering it until he had worked out a way to create one for himself. Talk about powers of mind control.

Clutch Box by Lee Krasnow

Lee has come a long way from the humble box he made when he was twelve. He is renown in the puzzle world for the impeccable precision he can achieve in his wood craft. Interlocking puzzles simply feel different if pieces are off by as much as one thousandth of an inch, and creating things with that degree of perfection is what Lee enjoys most about puzzle making. He also has a mathematical mind, which lends itself to designing brilliant puzzles like the Barcode Burr, which won an honorable mention at the 4th annual International Puzzle Design Competition in 2004. But I’d like to talk about the puzzle box he created the year before that, when he was just starting out as a new puzzle maker, which won the coveted Puzzler’s Award, and became one of the most sought after puzzle boxes of all time. It’s a little box to hold onto rather tightly - perhaps you might even be inclined to “clutch” it.

spalted tamarindo, palisander rosewood, olivewood, koa and copper

The origins of the Clutch Box go back to the beginning of 2003, when collector and wood crafting hobbyist Dave Rossetti expressed an observation to Lee about a certain type of mechanism that many puzzles shared, and noted that there really wasn't anything he knew of that used the very opposite concept. Lee turned that spark of an idea over in his mind, and it eventually evolved into the central locking mechanism of the Clutch Box. Another component of the final box came from an idea Lee got after admiring a particularly rare puzzle box from Japanese artist and Karakuri Creation Group master Yoshiyuki Ninomiya. In fact, all puzzle boxes owe a debt to the Japanese masters who originated the art, but it’s particularly nice that this one has a direct link to one of the greats. The initial run of three boxes Lee made had hinged lids. The boxes have a beautiful stellate pattern in contrasting exotic woods on each side that is distinct from the main body of the cube, and on the very first box this pattern was applied on every side. On subsequent boxes, Lee decided to highlight the lid by creating a swirling spiral of the inlayed wood on that side, as if he had twisted the stellate pattern at the center. Lee relates that this was a bit of a “flex” at the time, some bravado showmanship of his meticulous and enviable woodworking skills. He was submitting these boxes for the International Puzzle Design competition, after all. Over time, along with age, he has developed enough satisfaction with his own reputation that he no longer feels this is necessary. In fact he prefers the perfect symmetry of having all sides the same, which also makes the puzzle just a bit more difficult.

Golden Handcuffs by Stuart Humphries

Lee made a few more changes to the design of the second and third box as well (besides the spiral lid pattern), including one suggested by Nick Baxter, which better protects certain components while simultaneously making other things easier to manipulate. It’s quite possible that Lee would have continued to make changes and additions to the box, but he was rushing to complete the project in time for the competition, and he also had to vacate his overpriced workspace and move to a new location among the redwoods of Santa Cruz. Another story for another time tells the tale of how the Barcode Burr came to be invented in that new workshop due to a chance observation. After Lee had resettled, he produced six more copies of a third iteration to the Clutch Box design which saw the hinged lid gone, replaced by one that can be removed completely, allowing for a larger internal space. The puzzle has a simple elegance to it, with three distinct phases that complement each other perfectly. Once the central mechanism had been perfected, Lee added the additional components in order to seemlessly hide each subsequent step. The initial secret is well hidden, clever, and unique, and is really only there to disguise the next step (the homage to Ninomiya), which is there to disguise the next (the namesake mechanism). I could say he did an admirable job of this, creating a scarce set of very beautiful boxes with a wonderful sequence of secrets, but I don’t have to say anything – the Puzzler’s Award really says it all.

A little one-two punsch

Here’s a toast to the Clutch Box, a drink I’ve been waiting to have for a long time. I’m sure Lee would approve – he knows how to enjoy a classic cocktail seasoned with a dash or two of fine bitters. This one comes from Houston native and local cocktail star Stuart Humphries, who got his start at Anvil Bar and Refuge, and has worked at notable bar programs here including Pass and Provision, Tongue Cut Sparrow, and Rosie Cannonball. During his time as head bartender at the now defunct Pass and Provisions, he created this delicious riff on a rum Negroni (or Manhattan - it’s rather hard to classify this drink, and it doesn’t really matter), using Plantation’s fabulous pineapple rum as the base spirit, and the soft amaro Aperol in place of a vermouth. For even more complexity, he turned to Swedish Punsch, itself a complex mix of spirits. Swedish Punsch originated in the 1600’s, when Indonesian rum known as Arak was commonly imported from Batavia (Jakarta) by sea merchants. The Swedish traders were fond of mixing the savory rum with other flavors of the Indies, such as dark sugar, tea and Java spices, into a “punsch” they would enjoy on the long sea trips back home. The punch became a social pastime and eventually a national obsession which found its way into many of the old classic cocktails. The modern day version, recreated by Swedish master blender Henrik Facile, is a blend of Batavia Arak with Demerara and Jamaican rums and spices. Like one of the classics of old that utilized this evocative historical spirit, Humphries modern take captures the essence in a way that will keep you coming back for one more sip. It’s definitely worth holding onto. Cheers!

A pair I'd like to clutch

Golden Handcuffs by Stuart Humphries

1 oz Plantation Pineapple Rum

1 oz Aperol

½ oz Swedish punsch

1 dash Angostura bitters

Garnish: Aleppo dusted orange wheel (or a namesake lemon twist)

N.B. Special thanks to Lee Krasnow for his insights and reminiscence on the history of this special puzzle box.