Angry Walter

Danger, Will Robinson

“The Zeroth Law: A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

― Isaac Asimov, I, Robot

Angry Walter by Dee Dixon

The robots are coming. They are already here. And boy are they fun. If the Burr Bot didn’t scare you, I’m pretty sure that Walter will. He makes no pretense about it – he’s angry. Dee Dixon has created a monster - of a sequential discovery puzzle box – and his finest effort to date. Armed with an ominous backstory and a simple mission to remove Walter’s little green fuel cell and power him down, Dee takes you on an amusing (and frustrating!) journey full of twists and very clever tricks. Dee’s earliest work with simple enough looking wooden boxes made a few things clear. He is a skilled woodworker, and uses some beautiful and exotic hardwood in his creations. It has also become increasingly clear that he has a knack for creating challenging yet rewarding hidden mechanisms in his boxes that keep them locked tight. It seemed only a matter of time before he would start to branch out into new forms and ideas, and if Walter is any indication, he seems to be having a lot of fun doing it.

"Resist much, obey little." ― Walt Whitman

From Dee: “I wanted to try something different from my previous puzzle designs and step out of my comfort zone. A puzzle that’s not a box. I wasn't sure how people would react but decided to take a chance. … I started with a rough idea but for the most part it just kinda developed as I went along. An idea would pop in my head and I'd implement it. I think that's why I had so many prototypes. It kept changing. I kept thinking ‘That's cool. Let's see if I can make it work.’ I've never had a puzzle idea develop like that before. Totally new to me. I'm just glad it worked out.” Dee also spent a lot of time and effort on choosing the perfect look for Walter, sourcing roasted (“torrefied”) curly maple from a company that caters to luthiers and paring it with Peruvian walnut, cherry, and padauk wood. “This puzzle wasn't a robot when I started the design process but as I proceeded it started to look more and more like one so I just went with it and Walter emerged. The short backstory was intended to bring a little fun and ‘life’ to Walter. Who doesn't like an angry robot? Better yet who doesn't want to stop one from taking over the world?” Dee has succeeded in creating a first rate puzzle that combines the best elements of the genre into a highly enjoyable experience.

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story." - Walter Cronkite

The Sir Walter cocktail hearkens back to the pre-prohibition era of Harry MacElhone, where it first appears in his amusing and influential book Barflies and Cocktails, 1927. MacElhone purchased the Parisian “New York Bar” in 1923, added his name to the window sign, and made “Harry’s New York Bar” one of the more famous expatriate establishments of the era. The mixture of rum and cognac, sweetened with hints of orange and pomegranate, has been suggested as referencing either Sir Walter Raleigh or Sir Walter Scott, although since MacElhone was from Dundee, Scottland, the latter sir more likely caused the stir.

Sir Walter (the Angry Robot)

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive.” – Sir Walter Scott

I’m not sure Sir Walter Scott would have truly appreciated his namesake cocktail, with rum and cognac. One might imagine him far more enamored of the water of life from his Highlands peat. But MacElhone catered to the tastes of the twenties and had more pressing matters to attend to, such as creating the “International Bar Flies”, a not-so-secret society of drinkers whose home base was fly “Trap No. 1” - you guessed it - Harry’s New York Bar. Harry had a wicked sense of humor and a set of rules for his society. Rule number ten? “Remember, nothing is on the house but the roof.” Cheers!

Sir Angry Walter (adapted from Harry MacElhone, c. 1927)

1 oz gold rum

1 oz cognac

¼ oz orange curacao

¼ grenadine

¼ lemon

½ oz Campari

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Garnish with a lemon twist or angry robot lemon wheel.

anger management

See more from this artist