Hand in Hand

Those who follow the works of Robert Yarger, the brilliant puzzle maker behind the Stickman Puzzle Box Company, know that he likes to create new puzzles and explore different genres. He rarely revisits an idea, and when he applies his focus to a new project it becomes extraordinary. He is well known for his puzzle design approach of “painting himself into a corner”, and he admits that figuring his way out, so that the puzzle work the way he envisions, is the most enjoyable part of the process. His “Dwemer Construct” puzzle box (No 34), with its many many pieces and parts, was his invitation to the world to experience this process up close and personal.

For the One Hand Puzzlebox (Stickman No 35), he teamed up with Asher Simon, a musician and puzzle collector who had an idea for a puzzle exchange. Rob explains the development of the box: Originally the One Hand was to be a single compartment puzzle with a lid for Asher's first IPP exchange. The theme was a Pandora packing puzzle, where the lid could slide open freely, and all of the puzzle pieces would jump out. The goal was to figure how to get them all back and shut the lid. Later it was decided to find some way to make it into a 2 compartment puzzle, so that it would be both a packing puzzle and a puzzle box with hidden chamber, that only opened once the pieces were put back in.

The idea of a “Pandora’s Box”, which once opened sent pieces chaotically flying out like the evils of the world was a sensational one, but as these things tend to do, the puzzle evolved and changed a little. Again from Rob: The name "Pandora" for the puzzle was changed along the way, as it seemed there was already a puzzle box out there with the same name. The design of the puzzle also changed a bit as it morphed into being a 2 compartment box. Now, instead of trying to hold all the escaping beasties back down as you got the last one in to close the lid, the grenade pin became an added feature, so that pieces could be put in at leisure, and only jump apart into an orgy of beasties, once the grenade pin lifted them out. Magnets that were arranged to pop pieces up and out were now rearranged to push them against each other and the container side.  This allowed for some unique, and at times, unintended results, as sliding pieces into place would both lock them in the container side while also priming them for the next explosion.

Like any puzzle genre Robert Yarger puts his mind to, he makes it uniquely his own in many new ways. A standard packing puzzle, for example, would have fairly uniform pieces that must be maneuvered into place inside a constrained space. The One Hand Box has ten very different pieces, of different shapes, sizes, thicknesses and configurations. The unusual pieces are only made more so by the use of colorful exotic woods. Of course that would still not be enough to merit the Stickman moniker, so of course these pieces also have magnetic properties and differing polarities that interact with one another and the box. Pulling the pieces out is the fun, and putting them back in, with one hand one at a time, is the challenge. Doing so will also unlock the secret compartment.

Rob relates a few more anecdotes about the puzzle: The purpose of the multi-colored woods is to give character and personality to each piece, as they were supposed to be little beasties escaping. Stickman coins were to go into the locked chamber until it was realized that this interfered with the magnetic lock, so nothing ferric could be placed there. During production, as magnets were pressed into holes, I had a production line going. I soon came to realize that I could not work on too many pieces at a time on the table, as picking one up would make others start to wiggle a little, and then "SNAP", the entire table would go off like a pile of set mousetraps and end up as a huge wad in the middle, while catapulting others across the room.

Ultimately the new name “One Hand Box” stuck, to indicate the proper and most satisfying way to solve the puzzle, replacing one piece at a time. This needs to be accomplished in a certain way, and Rob left a clue behind, a bit like Pandora’s box, which still had a bit of hope left inside after all the evil spirits had escaped. Indeed this box is special in that same way, bringing a bit of hope with it. Asher had intended it as his exchange puzzle for the International Puzzle Party, which was canceled along with everyone’s plans, everywhere in the world thanks to the pandemic. Despite this, Asher doubled down with Rob and they continued to create the puzzle. Many were sent out across the globe as a gift from Asher, providing a much needed dose of puzzle therapy to his close friends and acquaintances. It was a very nice gift from a very nice guy.

There’s an interesting correlate to the Pandora’s Box that always makes me think of cocktails, believe it or not. In the original Greek myth of Pandora, she opens a jar of spirits, not a box. This of course makes much more sense as amphora and pottery were the norm in ancient Greece. Inside her jar were all manner of misery and evil, but also hope, which remained. Pandora’s jar of spirits always makes me think it must really have been a jar of spirits – of the alcoholic kind. What a perfect metaphor for wine, that liquor of misery, evil and hope.

There are actually two classic cocktails that I know of named for Hands – the Left Hand and the Right Hand. These are subtle variations on the theme of a Negroni, made with rum or bourbon rather than gin and with a dash of chocolate bitters. I wrote about them a while back, coincidentally with another Stickman collaboration exchange puzzle called the Ambidextrous Hexduos. Since these were previously taken, I already had my hands full, so to speak. So I decided to toast the One Hand Box with something crafted in the spirit of the box. It had to be simple in concept, yet nonetheless complex, lovely to look at, delicious, and easy enough to make with one hand. It also needed to be low in alcohol content (low “alcohol by volume”) so it could be enjoyed all day long. One of the easiest low ABV cocktails around is the Campari and soda – simply add soda water to a bit of Campari in an ice filled glass. So easy! Of course, this is a Stickman box, so I also added some premade pineapple margarita mix (pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup, requiring both hands … is that cheating?). I couldn’t resist a few dashes of Stickman bitters on top, because, why not, and it still only took one hand. Cheers Rob, and here’s to you, Asher.

One Hand

1 oz Campari

2 oz pineapple lime simple syrup mix

4 oz soda water

2 dashes aromatic bitters

Assemble ingredients sequentially in a glass filled with ice, using only one hand.

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