Knot Again!
Gordian Knot Recast
Robert Yarger's Gordian Knot by Lewis Evans
Prophesy foretold of this, as prophesy tends to do. What comes of a great Eagle, the symbol of Zeus, perched upon a plow in the field of the peasant Gordios? A kingdom, to be ruled by Gordios’ son Midas, that is what. In honor and thanks to this prophesy, a new one is created. A great knot, tying the fated plow to pole, shall stand as test and testament for a future ruler to cleave, and thus be destined to rule the world.
Gordian Knot by Robert Yarger
Perhaps that is a bit lofty in comparison to a puzzle, and to a new version created in its likeness, but there is mythology in the air, and we must rise to the occasion. The Gordian Knot, Stickman No 22 created by Robert Yarger in 2010, is one of his very best. It may be one of the most enjoyable puzzle boxes ever, and it is therefore sad that it is so rare and that so few people have ever experienced it. Of all the Stickman boxes, it simply begs to be reproduced, but that is not an easy task. So we are incredibly lucky, and thankful, for the challenge accepted by Lewis Evans, who has fulfilled the prophesy.
frayed knot
Looking back, Rob reminisced about the origins of the original. “I recall back in the day having a discussion with Eric Fuller over creative ideas for all of the scraps of exotic woods we end up with in puzzle production. There is always some last slice from each board that is long, and yet too thin to use for any practical application. Exotics wood was expensive. He would use it as fuel to heat his first shop, and I dumped mine in a mushroom bed. We both decided to mill these scraps into perfectly square planks, because it stacked better and took up less space in the shop, while we brainstormed ideas.
tied up in knots - courtesy of Robert Yarger
Eric played around with gluing multi-colored slats side by side in clamps to produce new board panels to mill from, which was a great idea, but the effort was not really worth the savings over just buying new boards. The concept for the Gordian evolved from my attempt to weave this stock over boxes as decorative exteriors, and it was quickly discovered how interlocking slats could serve as both decoration and puzzle, while finding a productive use for accumulated scraps.
plush carpet, not included - courtesy of Robert Yarger
However, I somewhat ran into the same issue as Fuller, and even this effort to salvage these scraps was time exhaustive. I had forgotten (until just recently, struggling to get my own current run of Midas Touch boxes finished), how each wooden piece has to be notched to interlock, which produced excessive surface sides and corners that required sanding, beveling, and lacquering, prior to attachment. Notched areas could not be sanded on machine, and required hand sanding. So did the bevels. To make the slot bottoms as smooth as possible also required filing off the outer lead teeth on the dado blade, which are there to reduce tear-out splintering, so these types of cuts have to be made slower than normal too.”
what’s knot to love
Rob’s recollection gives insight into how complex, time consuming and tedious the box was to make. So it takes a special person to look on such an undertaking with excitement. “The whole project fell into my lap, the stars aligned”. Lewis Evans, who is by profession a cast resin prototyper and producer, saw the Gordian Knot as an ideal challenge to bring back to life with his own skill set. He had worked with Robert previously on an updated cast version of Rob’s original Snowflake puzzle box, which became the Golem Heart. Lewis added new challenges to the design and made a few gorgeous versions of that puzzle. The timing of the new Gordian Knot “recast” was serendipitous, as Robert was simultaneously working on the puzzle’s sequel. Lewis and Robert discussed the project and Rob gave his blessing. Lewis was able to borrow a copy of the original puzzle from Allard Walker, to whom we all owe a debt, from which he measured and modeled everything.
knot gonna lie … courtesy of Lewis Evans
“I underestimated the challenge, it’s a huge challenge. I started once and had to scrap my entire CAD design and start from scratch again. This was due to the way I was thinking about the design and a few assumptions I had made about how I was going to build it.
knot up to much … courtesy of Lewis Evans
The wood version uses multicolored pieces to camouflage everything while holding it all together, so you can’t see the connections or where something might move. You can’t really do this with resin, you need to rely on physical screws and glue to hold it all together. So I needed to change the strategy from the patchwork idea to using only a few or just one color to achieve the camouflage.”
Lewis had to start over, redesigning the puzzle not from a solid cube with moving parts, which wasn’t going to work in resin, to instead a central cube that all the parts screwed onto. But he also says that this is all part of what he finds enjoyable, the challenge of designing things to be made in resin.
to be or knot to be … courtesy of Lewis Evans
The additional metal accents, made from an alloy of tin and bismuth which is easy to cast, serve a number of purposes. Since his version is all of one color, they add contrast and a shiny pop to the cube, elevating the appearance to something much more attractive, to be displayed proudly on the shelf. Lewis is conscious of the stigma of “plastic” and strives to push the medium beyond that with high end touches. The metal caps also assist with camouflage and add confusion to the steps, hiding sections or creating fake joint lines. Finally, they extend the Greek story theme with their classic pattern. Lewis mentioned it was hard to do this without interfering with the geometry of the puzzle movements and solve. Remarkably, he was also able to achieve a symmetry to the metal accents as they dot each side.
knot on my watch
Lewis walked a fine line with his reproduction. He understood that people wanted, as close as possible, an “exact” replica of the original, to add to collections and to allow many who might never have the opportunity to experience this incredible puzzle for themselves. “I knew I needed to tread carefully to stay true to the original design.” However, he and Robert had been discussing the puzzle and the idea of adding extra steps. Lewis recalls that Robert actually suggested it. By adding the extra steps and what is a brilliant new challenge to the end of the solve, once all of the original solution has been discovered, Lewis hit upon the perfect balance of these competing desires.
knot just another pretty face … courtesy of Lewis Evans
He explained that in CAD design there is not much room to add external parts or function anyway, once the model has been made. By evaluating the existing space and mechanisms, the final challenge essentially presented itself to him, revealing what could still be done. Lewis bent that idea to his will, so to speak, to create the grand finale, which adds a surprisingly delightful dynamic new chapter to the story. He was even able to add layers of complexity to this finale, with an “easy, medium and difficult” step to the process. It really is fantastic.
certainly knot
Rob agrees, “I was greatly impressed with Lewis's remake of the Gordian, and had hoped that cast resin, as a medium, would avoid the hassles of production that I had. It did, but not without producing its own unique set of production challenges, as Lewis relayed. I was particularly impressed by the additional steps that he included in his version of this puzzle. As an internal mechanical function, these extra steps were only possible in cast resin. Not so in the original wood version, and nor would I have devised something quite so diabolically clever. It definitely added to the already exceptional fit and feel of his version design.”
tight knots
Manufacture is going well, and Lewis estimates that he has shipped out about half of the production run already. Challenges with working in resin include the very subtle adjustments in tolerances needed, so that pieces move perfectly, not too loose, and not too tight. This is made even more challenging due to the 3D nature of this puzzle’s pieces. Once all current Gordian Knots have been completed and sent out to their lucky owners, Lewis will focus on his next highly anticipated project, the Pin and the Pebble. As some will be aware, this puzzle is a nod to the King Arthur legend, with a final goal, which is all that Lewis will share right now, to “crown yourself king”. He has taken lessons learned from his prior original work, the legendary Triple Yolk puzzle, to carefully create and build clues and cues into his new puzzle, to hopefully make it just a bit easier on all of us aspiring royalty. We shall see!
Alexandrian Solution
I rarely revisit the same cocktail twice on these pages, which is rather misleading about me, since I will typically make one of a small handful of the very same cocktails to enjoy at home. But nothing is sacred at Boxes and Booze, and I’ve always insisted that I break the rules now and then so no one gets the wrong idea that there are actually any rules. I made a not so subtle point of this principle way back in the very first offering I ever did here, in which I not only featured two cocktails instead of the usual one drink, but I also very intentionally wrote about something that was not a box! What cheek!
how to derive the solution
With that in mind, I decided we should revisit the same cocktail I created to celebrate the original Gordian Knot, albeit with a few little tweaks and improvements. It was a really good drink, and deserved to be made again! What a novel idea! The cocktail takes its cues from the legend of the Gordian Knot, which was tied up with rope made from Cornel tree bark. The tree is indigenous to the Mediterranean and produces tart little fruits as well, which are used to make a regional liqueur. That was the driving flavor for the original drink. I’ve tinkered with the base spirit a little, as well as the fruit components, but the updated cocktail follows the same path and remains a bold and fearless solution that cuts right to the heart of any problem. Cheers!
that’s one solution
The Alexandrian Solution
½ oz tequila
¼ oz mezcal
½ oz cranberry liqueur
¼ oz Heering Cherry liqueur
¾ oz green Chartreuse
¾ oz lime
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Citrus knot.
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