Dabbit Invasion!

A Creature of Dabbit

Most of us are creatures of habit. We might think we like to shake things up in life, but how extreme does that really get? I like to mix things up periodically here at Boxes and Booze, for example. I get bored of doing the exact same thing over and over - but only a little. Which is why I sprinkle in the odd themed series from time to time. Something different, but only a little bit so. Such as the recent five course meal with Eric Fuller. Naturally, just when I’m getting into the habit of it, and settling in for the main course, something completely unexpected occurs. Uninvited dinner guests arrive - those damn Dabbits. Now, this really is something different! I’m not complaining, since they certainly know how to liven up the party, and they keep you on your toes. There’s no use in fighting it, so I might as well get this over with.

Dabbit Invasion by Tye Stahly and Haym Hirsh

This story arguably starts back in 1892, in a German satire magazine called Fliegende Blätter (flying leaves / loose sheets), where the first published illustration of these ambiguous animals appeared with the caption “Rabbit and Duck”. Was it a rabbit, or a duck? It took well over one hundred years for the mystery to be solved and the true nature of these creature to be elucidated, to get us to the present moment. We meet puzzle creator Haym Hirsh, who likes to explore “packing puzzles” that utilize multiple copies of a single shape yet remain interesting and tricky somehow. From Haym, “As a puzzle designer I like the cases where there are unique solutions to things, and I started wondering if there were examples where you could pack some number of polyominoes in a rectangle even when the polyomino's size doesn't evenly divide the size of the rectangle - meaning you might be able to fit some number in but with a little space left over - and where they fit in the rectangle in just one way.”

Time to kick the Dabbit (kicking not actually condoned)

This line of inquiry, and expansion into the third dimension, eventually led him to a peculiarly shaped hexomino that could be packed into a cube in an unusual way with a few extra spaces. Again from Haym,”As for the name, early on I showed the 2D rectangle packing puzzle that started me on this path to Nick Baxter at a NY Puzzle Party. At that point I was calling the shapes ducks, since I hadn't noticed that they could also be viewed as rabbits. He noted that if you rotated them they're rabbits. I loved this, because it connects up with the century old rabbit/duck optical illusion, only with greatly simplified version of the two animals. At a later point I interacted with John Hache about the same puzzle, calling the pieces rabbit/ducks or some such thing, and he started calling them dabbits and I liked it. So that's how they got their name.”

Will not be solved through sheer force of Dabbit

Of course, the Dabbits may have never manifested themselves in such an outrageous manner had it not been for Tye Stahly, another puzzle maker who, in addition to his own fantastic designs, has produced any number of beautifully rendered packing puzzles from other designers that are available on his “Nothing Yet Designs” website. Tye had been thinking about the idea of hiding the pieces of a puzzle inside a diorama of sorts to create a “puzzle hunt”. He reached out to Haym about a possible collaboration, and Haym thought of the Dabbits. Tye ran with the theme, creating an out of this world “Invasion” which hides the ten dabbits and their two “eggs” inside a solid laser cut acrylic fortress filled with all manner of puzzling mayhem. Tye and his girlfriend spent about six months and many iterations on the sequential discovery aspect, which combines a few different styles of puzzle into the enjoyable hunt. One of the original prototypes featured a large UFO on top which needed to be opened, but was unfortunately too big and heavy to work well.

Old Dabbits die hard

The final puzzle is a great mix of clever moments and has four or five fantastic sections to conquer before all the components are discovered, including the very first step, which I admit took me far too long to figure out. And once you have proven yourself a worthy Dabbit hunter and collected all the pieces, the final step, completing the packing puzzle by Haym Hirsh, will give you pause. Haym took his original idea and created a “jail” for the Dabbits (and their eggs) with restricted openings. Through trial and error and sheer force of will he created a unique solution for the puzzle. “For the "jail" that ends Dabbit Invasion, BurrTools says there are 720 ways that 10 Dabbits can be arranged within the jail, leaving 4 units empty in various ways. It also says that there are 48 ways to arrange the shapes if you also include the two "eggs", with the eggs take up the 4 empty spaces making the jail completely full. Of those possibilities only one arrangement of the pieces can be inserted into the jail.” It’s no easy feat to get those damn dabbits into the jail properly, and again I’ll admit it took me a long time. I won’t even mention how a certain property of the eggs makes things even harder. Nope, I’m not going to mention that. I’m just going to pour myself a drink. Resetting the puzzle also requires some attention to detail and can be considered an additional “bonus”. Welcome this Invasion for an unexpected and unique puzzle experience that just might convince you to become a creature of Dabbit.

Livener from the Dead Rabbit

Since they are the life of the party, I’m toasting these devilish Dabbits, and the makers of such an epic puzzle creation, with a fantastic libation sure to liven up any celebration. From the genius team behind one of the best bars in the world (and winner of that title more than once), The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog, comes this splendidly elevated daisy style cocktail. The original “Livener” cocktail can be found on page 34 of “Recipes of American and Other Iced Drinks” by Charlie Paul, 1902, where it instructs, “fill tumbler with chipped ice; put in two or three drops of Angostura bitters, two or three drops of lemon juice; add a teaspoonful of raspberry syrup, a liqueur-glassful of brandy, half a glassful of champagne; then stir well with large spoon and strain off into a pony tumbler; put a piece of lemon on top.”

Guaranteed to liven up your day

It’s no accident that the cocktail pairing for the Dabbits comes from the Dead Rabbit – if the bar wasn’t named for the notorious Irish American street gang from 1830’s Manhattan, they might have chosen a different mascot. Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, the brilliant business and barmen behind the Dead Rabbit’s success, chose to elevate their modern take on the Livener cocktail with the use of strawberry cordial and rose liqueur, and finish it with Bittermen’s wonderful “Burlesque” Bitters which brings notes of hibiscus, sour berries and pepper. As they say in their cocktail book, “If you are not livened by this drink, you probably have already given up on life. Try another sip just to be sure.” It’s a perfect cocktail to toast the Invasion of Dabbits, which is also sure to enliven you. Cheers!

You’ll want to make a Dabbit of these

Livener from The Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual, inspired by Charlie Paul (1902)

1 oz strawberry cordial

1 ½ oz cognac (Remy Martin VSOP)

¼ oz rose liqueur (Combier)

¼ oz absinthe (Pernod)

¾ oz lemon

2 dashes Bittermens Burlesque Bitters

1 ½ oz brut Champagne

Shake all ingredients (except Champagne) together with ice and strain into a chilled flute. Top with the Champagne and garnish with a lemon peel Dabbit.

Explore the category: