Reluctant Drawer

I need to admit that I’ve been stalling. Kyle Chester and his Grandfather Steven have produced another beautiful puzzle box in their English workshop, but I’ve been hesitating to talk about it. Like all of their other lovely creations it is handsomely crafted from exotic hardwood and has a few notably distinguishing features. There is the requisite knob, of course. And a few panels which appear to be moveable, perhaps. There is also a playful rod on one side, no wait, on the other, no, hmm. There is a drawer, potentially, but it is perplexing. It all sounds rather promising, I know, and yet, I have been, as mentioned … reluctant. Until now!

Kyle shared the story of his newest puzzle with me. A question I typically ask people is whether there were any ideas they did not end up using in a puzzle, which might find their way into a future creation. In this case that turned out to be exactly what happened. “The idea for the puzzle came to me when I had some unused mechanisms that I had come up with for 3P Box, and I couldn't quite fit them into that puzzle without compromising other mechanisms. I knew they'd make it into a future puzzle, but I wasn't quite sure exactly how. 

Inspiration for the design came when I knew I wanted to make a 'drawer style' puzzle - I don't think there's anything in-particular that inspired the design specifically, but looking at the Karakuri creation group, a lot of their puzzles incorporate this same style with some fantastic looking results.” You can’t go wrong with ideas inspired by the Karakuri Group, they have been setting the standard for over two decades.

I’m always curious about puzzle names. “This is an interesting one - originally the puzzle was called 'Drawer Dropping' but then a significant part of the puzzle changed which made the name not quite match the mechanisms.” I guess this means I should stop trying to drop the puzzle on the ground. “After this and much searching for a name, I settled on Reluctant Drawer. The name becomes a little bit more interesting and makes more sense upon solving the puzzle - where another small 'aha', or in this case, 'haha' moment may occur.” I’m certainly reluctant to admit how much this stumped me!

“The Puzzle is made mainly from Sapele, Walnut and Maple hardwoods, with some stainless steel, brass and magnetic  components mixed in! We use traditional methods using tools like bench drills, table saws, belt sanders, and a woodworking router.”

Kyle mentioned that his new creation “has certainly pushed the limits as to what we can achieve. This puzzle has over 30 individual parts that have to be created, finished and assembled. The time it takes to create this puzzle is longer than both Dual Dial, and 3P Box (the two previous complex puzzle designs we have released) combined. The result is something I am very, very pleased and proud of.”

Any hints about the next great design from Potentially Perlexing Puzzles? “The next project is a closely guarded secret at the moment, however I can share a small hint to the next puzzle box I am working on, but that's all you're getting! The puzzle is called G_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  J _ _ _”

So mysterious - but I suspect a few folks who are reading this might just figure it out. The blog tends to attract people who like puzzles, after all. Reluctant drawer is a respectably challenging puzzle that kept me guessing for a long time, with one step after another presenting a new hurdle and confusing mystery. I feel quite … lucky … to have solved it finally, and suspect it may well be the team at PPP’s finest effort yet.

I’m not at all reluctant to share the toast to this lovely drawer box, since it is very tasty and happens to be a favorite template of mine, the “mezcal Negroni”. There’s an old adage that goes something like “you can never go wrong with a mezcal Negroni”. Don’t quote me on that, or if you do you might skip the “old” and “adage” and just admit I like to say it. The drink, created by Boston area bartender Frederick Yarm (a tremendously prolific creator), has a bit of its own Frederick Yarm origin story as well. Fred relates, about ten years ago on his ironically named blog, that he intended to invent a new cocktail using the bitter aperitif Byrrh Grand Quinquina. He had read that mezcal went exceptionally well with the spirit, so the drink was built off of that and fleshed out with some chocolate, absinthe and Angostura bitters flavors. Further tinkering led to it being presented as a “Scaffa” – undiluted and served at room temperature.

That older drink was called “Ask the Dust” after the classic John Fante novel. The newer version, which follows by taking its name from a John Fante screenplay, updates the ratio of mezcal and Byrrh to equal parts, and adds a healthy dose of Campari while doing away with the Angostura bitters, which settles the drink squarely into the Negroni family. Once again, Yarm suggests the drink be best made as a Scaffa, because it loses power and flavor once diluted and chilled. The Scaffa version presented here was delicious and I wouldn’t be reluctant to have it again soon. Cheers!

Reluctant Saint by Fred Yarm

1 oz mezcal

1 oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina

¾ oz Campari

¼ oz crème de cacao

1 dash absinthe

Combine ingredients in a favorite glass and serve at room temperature. Orange twist.

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If you are interested in Kyle’s Reluctant Drawer send him an email, he may still be taking reservations. At some point he will close the limited edition. “The puzzle is still being produced - and whilst it will have a hard limit of production, you can send an email to me to be placed on a reserve list - my email address is kylerchester@yahoo.co.uk”