Midas Touch

Robert Yarger’s Gordian Knot is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest hand crafted wood puzzle boxes ever made. Opinions about puzzle boxes are as subjective as art itself, and there are so many incredible, puzzling objects that could be included in a list of the best. Incredible for how they look, or how they work, or how they make us feel. Many collectors of this art love the natural beauty of various wood species, and are always drawn to pieces that exploit that beauty. When combined with satisfying secret mechanisms, something magical happens. I am always particularly thrilled when a puzzle’s secrets are sitting in plain sight, and yet cannot be seen. Gordian Knot utilizes this concept in a most effective way, weaving pieces of pretty wood in, out and around each other as they cover a cube. There are so many possibilities, and many, many hidden movements hiding in plain sight that are so hard to discover.

Rob seldom revisits a puzzle concept, and when he does, he brings something new and different to the story. A sequel to the Gordian Knot was certainly most welcome, and eagerly awaited. The new puzzle takes its name directly from the Greek mythology of the Gordian Knot, in which King Gordias of Phrygia ties his Ox Cart in the town square with the famous knot. Prophesy foretells it will only be untied by the future ruler of all Asia, whom history reveals to be Alexander the Great. Gordias’ son, Midas, takes over as King of Phrygia after his father, continuing the lineage of Phrygian Kings. The story of his golden touch has many variations, but most relate to a magical gift offered and bestowed by the god Dionysus. Midas thinks it would be nice if anything he touched turned into gold, and the god grants it. Midas quickly regrets that decision, once he understands he cannot eat, or drink, or touch anyone he loves, ever again. There’s more to the story, but you get the point that having a golden touch may be a blessing, or a curse. Robert Yarger has a golden touch with puzzles, and has created a worthy heir in this puzzle lineage. If there is any hidden curse with this gift, it may be in how long and painstaking a process is the production of these intricate puzzles.

Robert shared the story of his incredible creation. “They say necessity is the mother of invention. The Midas Touch Puzzlebox was born of necessity. As a puzzle run, it was also a “mother" to finish. I was working alongside of Craig Thibodeau on a particular furniture piece that required a special one-of-a-kind cube-shaped metal puzzle interacting display piece. The Stickman Gordian Knot puzzlebox came to mind as puzzle with the specific attributes required for this sculpture.

I have had numerous requests for a Gordian remake over the years, but these were limited in edition puzzles. I was unable to produce another copy of that design myself. But these were so popular that I had always planned a similar puzzle run. Craig's project required a metal puzzle, with a one-of-a-kind solution, but my thought at the time was that it might be time-effective to accomplish a run of wooden versions with different solution to run alongside it. The theory was that the same machine setups and jigs could work for both.

Similar to the Gordian, my shop at this time had also accumulated an excess stock of exotic wood scraps. These are impractical for most puzzle boxes, but perfect for such interlocking styles. As an added benefit, I figured I would be able to clear my shop from wood that I was otherwise going to have to get rid of.

Unfortunately, enough time had elapsed since I made the Gordians, that I forgot the amount of effort required in sanding and beveling so many sides, to so many individual pieces. I stopped counting as I was nearing 200 pieces per box. The inner corners of most pieces also required individual hand chiseling to get sharp and clean.

What started off as a brilliant idea to save time, ended up exceeding all project estimations. When dust settled, the run of 50 copies ended up taking 15 months to finish. This was a new record for me, and something I don’t care to repeat. But the resulting puzzles seemed to be well received.”

The aesthetics of Midas Touch are clearly reminiscent of Gordian Knot, with a riot of colorful exotic woods weaving all around again in a gorgeous chaotic display. This time, the surface is dynamic as well, bumpy and layered. The puzzle is significantly larger, too. I spent a long time trying to find anything that moved at all, and even after eventually discovering a few, could not progress. Similar to how personal impressions of art can be, impressions of puzzle complexity, difficulty and enjoyment are extremely subjective measures. For me, Midas Touch is a very challenging puzzle, in the best possible way. I put it down, and revisiting it, over a long period of time, enjoying the experience and journey. Eventually, something quite surprising is discovered, which challenges your notions of what to expect, and opens new avenues of exploration. Even so, I was stuck again for a very long time, and only managed to reveal the ultimate finale after a gentle nudge from Robert, who reminded me to think about what I had discovered so far, and why that might be the case. Sometimes the solution is right in front of you, if only you know how to see it.

The impetus for what became the Midas Touch was a beautiful piece of puzzle furniture, Craig Thibodeau’s “Puzzle in a Puzzle Display Cabinet”. The cabinet is a 64-inch-high display cabinet made of wenge and figured satinwood, with gold plated brass, designed specifically to hold a very special puzzle cube. The central idea of the cabinet is that it hides a drop mechanism, so that if you attempt to retrieve the puzzle cube, it magically disappears. The puzzle is then to retrieve it again. Craig mentions that it had the most complex mechanical system he had ever created.

Rob will be building off of the Midas Touch design to create a unique wood and metal version which will eventually find its home in the display cabinet. “The first, special, metal version of the Midas Touch that started it all. . . . well I am just now getting around to cutting pieces for it, so I suppose that even now this puzzle run is not entirely complete. However, it should look stunning when finally displayed replaces the generic wooden placeholder cube on top of Craig’s exquisite sculpture piece.”

Midas Touch cocktail by Sahil Mehta — Midas Touch by Sahil Mehta

Here’s an apropos toast to a man with the golden touch. It was created by Boston based bartender Sahil Mehta, who is known for his love of sherry and his creative use of it in many of his incredible cocktail creations. It features Barenjager Honey and Bourbon liqueur, which was a new product imported to the US from Germany in 2012. A common marketing strategy for new spirits distribution is to host a cocktail competition, and this is what led Mehta to invent the drink at the time. Barenjager (bear hunter) is a modern spiced honey liqueur which derives from Barenfang (bear fang), a spirit originally created by monks from 15th century Prussia. The “honey bourbon” label simply adds American bourbon to the mix.

Midas Touch cocktail — it’s got a touch of glass

Naturally, being the ascetic monk that I am, I mixed up my own version of spiced honey bourbon for this cocktail, but Barenjager is readily available as well. If you are feeling ambitious, combine a winter spice (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, citrus peel, vanilla) infused neutral grain spirit or vodka in equal parts with raw honey. Then mix equally again with your choice of bourbon. The final drink has a lovely sunny honeyed herbal flavor that is bright and perfectly balanced. It reminds me of the Loki’s Last Lie, a similar mead inspired Last Word variation I once made using aquavit as the main base spirit, or an herbal Gold Rush. The bourbon and sherry blend incredibly well in this drink. It’s simply golden. Cheers!

Midas Touch puzzle box by Robert Yarger and Midas Touch cocktail — get in touch with this pair

Midas Touch by Sahil Mehta

¾ oz Yellow Chartreuse

¾ oz Barenjager Honey and Bourbon

¾ oz Manzanilla sherry

¾ lemon

Pinch of salt

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Sprig of thyme garnish, recommended.

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