King of Hearts

LCPP – Part XIII

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

- Lewis Carroll

“Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no [puzzles] or [cocktails] in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice “without [puzzles] or [cocktails]?” I couldn’t agree more, with Alice, or Lewis Carroll, on this sentiment, and indeed feel like a little picture book of puzzles and cocktails, based on Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, would be very nice. I have one here in fact, but it has been missing one particular puzzle, which had gone missing, until now. Gary Foshee’s contribution to the “Lewis Carroll Puzzle Project” set of puzzle boxes, which were to be housed inside the Jabberwock Chest, took a longer journey through the rabbit hole than the rest.

From Gary: “I joined the Jabberwocky Project in 2016 as a contributing designer and chose the King of Hearts as my character. I already had in mind a metal safe as my design, which required one of the three 4x4x3 compartments. Now I set to work building the safes. My shop has a small metal lathe and milling machine without any CNC or digital readouts. All work was done with manual controls and a micrometer. The safes were completed and sent … in June of 2017 to meet the original deadline. The safe itself turned out better than I had hoped, but the design called for puzzles in the safe to be solved in order to retrieve the token. These puzzles were poorly designed by my standards. I just ran out of time. For the next few years, I followed the chatter … and it was clear there were problems with the chest. Then contributors started asking for their puzzles back and I decided to redesign my puzzle with better puzzles inside the safe. I had an ambitious plan for the redesign and it is finally complete. The new King of Hearts is now something I am very pleased with and will be a challenging solving experience.”

milling machine at work
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, screamed “Off with her head! Off—”
“Nonsense!” said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.

turning a hex key
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

Gary’s King of Hearts is the only metal puzzle box in the set, which is not surprising given his history of puzzle making and prior puzzling creations. In fact, King of Hearts is Gary’s love letter to his own inventions over the years, an homage to many of his “greatest hits” which are present in overt or subtle ways here. Recognizable references include Jerry’s Den, a special commemorative gift he presented to Jerry Slocum at IPP 38; the Ring Box, his exchange at IPP 29; the Open (Transparent) Lock; and one of the original sequential discovery puzzles, his Tower Treasure, presented as the host gift at IPP 19.

early prototypes
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

Gary’s creations are special in many ways, not least of which is in the way they are actually crafted. Everything is made by hand, with no computer software or CAD equipment, using a simple metal lathe, milling machine and micrometer. In Seattle, a major center for the aerospace industry, he is easily able to source any size and shape of aluminum, which he then carefully turns to his puzzling specifics.

cylinder transformation
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

No two pieces are ever exactly the same, such that two different doors on the safes, for example, are not interchangeable. Inside the sneaky safe await an odd assortment of items, each with its own secrets to discover. One of the trickiest problems Gary faced was fitting all of these internal components inside, so they did not interfere with the safe mechanism. Of course, he solved this puzzle in a simple and elegant way.

turning the ring box
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

Gary likes to design his puzzles with the various audiences they may meet in mind. There are the “collectors”, the experienced solvers for whom this puzzle in particular was made. There are also the “friends of collectors”, other puzzle lovers who may enjoy and appreciate seeing the puzzle of their collector friend. Then there are the “dinner guests” – these are non-puzzlers who may be curious about their friend’s hobby. Gary likes to design his puzzles in a way that will be enjoyable for all of these different people. Tricky enough for puzzle collectors and enthusiasts who may stop by, but solvable during a single visit, and also clever in ways that unfold for a non-puzzler to experience with help and guidance from their friend.

coin box transformation
*photo courtesy of Gary Foshee*

For example in the King of Hearts, a non-puzzler would be encouraged to start with the straightforward “simple” safe and accompanying cylinder, and coached to examine everything, look here, look there, now what’s this! AHA, and so on. Gary enjoys the fun of walking someone else through his puzzles as much as the original experience, seeing it all as the journey of the solve. The King of Hearts has had its own long journey to get here, which is a nice metaphor to add to this puzzle box’s provenance. It takes you on a fantastic tour, replete with many nostalgic stops along the way, until you arrive, with quite a magical surprise at the end, to complete the journey through the rabbit hole.

It’s Safe to say this cylinder is also locked

The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said [to the queen] “Consider, my dear: she is only a child!” As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low voice, to the company generally, “You are all pardoned.” “Come, that’s a good thing!” she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered.

Of course the King of Hearts must have his own special toast to celebrate his arrival. All of the puzzle boxes from the Lewis Carroll Puzzle Project inspired their own variations on the classic Jabberwock cocktail, which can be found in the pages of Harry Craddock’s legendary Savoy Cocktail book from 1930. The original featured equal parts of gin, dry sherry, and a unique vermouth from South Africa called Caperitif with a dash of orange bitters. It is an elegant and oft overlooked classic. Caperitif was lost to history for a long time, after the original distillery went defunct. But like many lost spirits, it has been resurrected by a team of modern entrepreneurs and is now available again.

you’ll be pardoned for enjoying this one

If you have read the Alice in Wonderland stories, you will no doubt have noticed that the King plays a distinct foil to the queen, placating and pacifying the agitation she leaves in her wake. He is not entirely reasonable (no one who lives down the rabbit hole is, after all), and has the entitled and foolish air of a cartoon politician, but manages to be kind when required. I’ve taken those cues from his character to “soften” his cocktail, which is therefore the timid version of the Queen’s Jabberwock. For the Queen of Hearts cocktail, the original Caperitif vermouth was replaced by bright red, bold and bitter Campari. In the King’s version, the bitterness is dialed back with a much sweeter and more mellow spirit, Cardamaro, a mild amaro infused with cardoon and blessed thistle. And while the name refers to the cardoon plant, I hope you will pardon me for imagining it to be the amaro of the cards. You’ll be pardoned for enjoying this drink when you’re feeling magnanimous. Cheers!

King of Hearts

1 oz gin

1 oz Amontillado sherry

1 oz Cardamaro

2 dashes orange bitters

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a regal glass. Garnish with the King’s royal orb and scepter.

The Lewis Carroll Puzzle Project

LCPP – Part XIII

Old Blue Eyes

Ice Capades