Motley Cube — Boxes and Booze

Mötley Cübe

Motley Cube puzzle by James Exizien — Mötley Cübe by James Exizian

I recently found myself in possession of an incongruous mixture of rare colorful wood, reminiscent of a tiny, beautiful Rubik’s like object, fashioned together into a motley cube. Seeing such an object invites all manner of speculation as to what it might actually do, or how it might actually work, or if it might actually even move at all. The designer, and maker, of this intriguing objet d’art, however, is a card carrying member of the international mechanical puzzle community, so expectations for something a bit more than merely beautiful were high. The cube was crafted by hobbyist maker James Exizian of Boulder, Colorado, and I was fortunate to receive it, so that I might now share it with all of you.

The Mötley Cübe is a 2x2x2 cube made with over 16 species of exotic woods cut to 1/2” voxels. The objective of this surprisingly complex and interactive sequential discovery puzzle is to release the steel ball bearing secured inside, and then reset the puzzle back to the start again, which will require at least 30 distinct moves or more. James has actually created a few puzzles to date. “The 1st puzzle I designed and made is an SD / Free the 5 Coins – I had it tested and one person found a flaw so I put it on the back burner for now. The 2nd I designed and made a dexterity course ball bearing which I call the impossible because no one can solve it even myself! The 3rd was a collab design with Kris [Antibus] he called NADA #1 – Eschers Badlands, which I only made 6 of them. The 4th is one I also designed and made called Mötley Cübe – SD / Release the Ball Bearing and Reset it.”

James told me about himself and his outstanding little puzzle. “I’ve had different types of jobs/businesses, but woodworking was never one of them. I’d say it’s a self taught hobby other than the two years of woodshop classes I took in high school (35 yrs ago). As for now I’m only working with a table saw, drill press and a router but always looking to expand and add to this hobby. I always had a passion for art and to be creative with everything I do, which is probably why I like mechanical puzzles so much. With most puzzles I appreciate the art of the craftsmanship and also the creativity of the mechanisms.”

Like many who are drawn to this niche hobby, James had a few wood and metal puzzles which entertained him in his younger days. Like many, he then stumbled down the rabbit hole by discovering artisan puzzles at the crossroads of complexity hiding inside a beautifully crafted object. In his case, it was Dee Dixon’s Where’s My Hammer, which proved to be a gateway drug of sorts for a lot of more recent puzzle addicts. “Let me tell you, when I had it in my hands it was a work of art, a beauty with so many exotic colorful woods on one box and the solve was mind blowing, even though it took me longer than I’d like to admit it with hints to boot. That puzzle alone changed a lot for me to appreciate the craftsmanship of wooden puzzles even more. I was hooked and had many ideas of my own, so I started drawing up my visions of mechanisms for puzzles and decided to bring it to fruition just for my personal interest.”

James also credits the Karakuri Group, Juno, Eric Fuller, Jerry McFarland and Alan Lunsford among those artists who inspired him most, along with a few other: “The cube puzzles were always challenging for me to solve and I decided to take three of my favorite ones and take some of the fun steps that wowed me and add it to my own style of a cube with an added SD to it. Those 3 designers were: Andrew Crowell - Locked Cubes / Gregory Benedetti - Daedalus / Jerry McFarland.” He merged styles from them all into his own creation. “Mötley Cübe – it’s a sequential discovery cube puzzle and the objective is to release the ball bearing entirely from the cube and then you must reset the puzzle to its original state. I thought it was a different type of cube puzzle that I never solved before and with my love for music I thought of my first childhood band that I used to listen to called Mötley Crüe and thought hmm why not Mötley Cübe?”

I’m often impressed with the degree of skill achieved by some hobbyist woodworkers, who are often completely self taught. “It was a little challenging for me working with tiny 1/2” exotic wood cubes with a variety of hardness with each of them and there are multiple tedious cuts with little room for error on most of them whether it’ll be drilling and/or using the router on the majority of them so I wasted a lot of wood from chipping and cracking in the process but making some jigs was a must and helped along the way. I made a couple of slight minor changes after I made my first prototype and had it tested with the positive feedback.” James utilized prefab exotic wood blocks to achieve his vision (BAZ Building Blocks, made by Jeff Basladynski, a former protégé of Eric Fuller), including Cocobolo, Purpleheart, Kingwood, Wenge, Canarywood, Bloodwood, Maple, Redheart, Walnut, Padauk, Sapele, Leopardwood, and Oak. “I did multiple slot cuts using jigs on a router table, drilling a bunch of different size holes for the ball bearing to track through and rare earth magnets to press into and stainless steel rods to set in.

Everything is a learning experience for me when it comes to creating something and I try to test my abilities as much as I can with the equipment I have but life would’ve been so much easier if I had a CNC machine to do most of the work for me and save a bunch of time but it is what it is. Also it’s easier to make one puzzle but when you have to make multiples of the same thing, it could get a little difficult for me and a little burnt out so I have to give big props to those craftmen who make a bunch of the same puzzles for a release.” I asked James what’s next on his puzzling to do list. “I made four puzzles now for my personal self to test out, but this last Mötley Cübe I’ll be making only 8-10 of them to list one by one on the auction site as I put together each cube and finishing. I do have ideas that I’m testing out for other future puzzles which I’m excited about to try different avenues so stay tuned.”

The Mötley Cübe is a gorgeous little puzzle. James may be an amateur woodworker but the fit and finish are outstanding and the puzzle practically glows from the multicolored exotic woods. Granted the cubies came from BAZ blocks, but James did a great job constructing them together in the most intricate manner. There’s a lot going on in this little cube, with hidden movements which surprise and delight as discoveries and progress are made. Even without making any progress, the puzzle is fun to explore and doubles as a unique fidget toy. To work through the intricate solution requires a full understanding of the many obstacles, switchbacks and pathways cleverly built in and layered one on top of the other. Retrieving the steel ball is quite satisfying, challenging yet doable, and working out how each step works in order to fully reset things is another nice challenge. I’m delighted that James entrusted it to me to share with the world on these pages, and I’ll be passing it around everywhere I go.

I’m raising my glass to celebrate this colorful assortment of characters and cultures in a cübe, all aligned to one purpose in coordinated harmony. The analogy is by way of introducing the cocktail toast, which is not colorful at all, in fact, but is equally allied in purpose. The drink is an old fashioned style martini, by one of the great bartenders of the era, Hugo Ensslin, who was from the era when vermouth was embraced as an equal partner by gin, rather than scorned in quiet whispers like an embarrassing relative. His creation, found in his famous Recipes for Mixed Drinks, circa 1917, brings the World War I alliance of England, France and Russia together in one glass.

Allies cocktail recipe — You’re All I Need

England is represented here by British gin, and France by dry vermouth. The Russian ambassador is, however, the life of the party, and where things become quite interesting, contributing a dose of distinctive kümmel liqueur. Flavored with caraway, cumin and fennel, the liqueur dates back to 1503 and a knight of the Livonian Order. The spirit made its way from Scandinavia to Russia, where it was said to be a favorite of Tsar Peter I. Kümmel retains a following to this day in certain circles, as a digestive aid, or a niche elite spirit favored by golfers, and can be found in a number of fantastic cocktails. Like a recent batch of fennel liqueur, I infused my own homemade version, and so should yoü. Cheers!

Motley Cube puzzle and Allies cocktail — Home Sweet Home

Allies Cocktail by Hugo Ensslin

1 ½ oz gin

1 ½ oz dry vermouth

4 dashes kümmel

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coup. No official garnish.

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