“Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered, weak and weary
…” – Poe
Ah yes, this indeed describes my sentiments well as I
attempted to open yet another fine puzzle padlock. Welcome back to “Locks and Libations”, the
erstwhile scribblings of a box collector who finds himself in possession of
something distinctly … not a box … yet wishes to share the wonderful prize with
the world, nonetheless. Plus I love to
highlight the brilliant work of my friend Shane Hales, that master of wood and
metal, and many other fancy titles which sound quite impressive. Shane’s puzzle lock series was inevitable,
since he is a master locksmith, a puzzle lock collector, and an admirer of the
inner workings of locks in general, both old and new. Add his penchant for puzzles and viola, the
Haleslock was born. Following up on the
Haleslock 1 and Haleslock 2 (which I have also featured here – Shane, when are
you going to make a puzzle lock puzzle box so I can stop pretending these are
boxes? I’m becoming the opposite of puzzlemad …) is the surprisingly named
Haleslock 3, which debuted as Peter Hajek’s exchange puzzle during IPP 37 in
Paris.
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Haleslock 3 by Shane Hales |
“Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore...”
- Poe
This lock certainly stands out from a crowd, with its
unusual shape and style. A key is
attached to a chain, which is shackled to the … shackle. There is a much more prominent lock plate on
the front of this padlock, with a pleasant little door which slides open to
allow the key entry. Not that it does
any good. I feel like I say that a lot
with these locks. Haleslock 3 is a modified old English lever lock, and
according to Shane it’s one of the oldest types of its kind still in
production, with little change to the inner workings in 200 years – that is,
until Shane got a hold of one. There’s definitely something moving around
inside, and a certain move seemed to be reproducible, which is not the same
thing as seemed to help, but that’s about all I could discover. I stared into the keyhole, looking for clues,
for a long, long time ….
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there
wondering, fearing …” - Poe
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Nevermore? |
I should learn my lesson with these puzzling locks, and
listen to the raven (“Nevermore”). But
there’s something so appealing about a secret lock which doesn’t open like it
should – I suppose it’s the same something that draws me to boxes that don’t
open the way they should, and hidden mechanisms in general. So I’ll ignore the raven, and raise a toast
to it, and this fine installment in the Haleslock series, instead.
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The Raven - a brooding, melancholy drink |
The “Raven” cocktail is my take on a recipe
from “Alison’s Wonderland Recipes”, a delightful blog whose author’s creations
are all based on works of literature. I
took the liberty of increasing the atmospheric melancholy and funk, if you
will, by using an agricole rhum, which is made from pure sugarcane rather than
molasses. The resulting “rhum” is
incredibly moody and delicious. Plus a
special dose of dark rum to really set the tone – Poe is rather dark, after
all. Finally my version needed a little amaro, that bitter Italian herbal
potion, to capture the bittersweet depths of despair evoked in the poem … fine,
and the lock, too. Thanks Shane, and
cheers!
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Locking at my chamber door |
The Raven – adapted from Alison’s Wonderland Recipes
1 ½ oz white rhum agricole
½ oz Plantation OFTD
1 oz fresh lime
½ oz pomegranate juice
½ oz simple syrup
¼ oz Averna
3 blackberries
Muddle the berries with the syrup and add the remaining
ingredients. Shake with ice and double
strain into a favorite glass. Garnish
with something apro-Poe …
For more about Shane Hales:
N.B. Special thanks to Jeff Aurand for reminding me about
this great poem …
I’ll drink to that!! Thanks again for side stepping the boxes to review a lock :-) I look forward to fooling you again soon with HalesLock............
ReplyDeleteHalesLock ... the box? I knew it was coming! Thanks Shane!
DeleteYou managed to solve it? Well done! I've not managed either of the latest 2 Haleslocks! I'm rubbish at puzzles.....It's amazing that I get away with writing about them!
ReplyDeleteKevin
Puzzlemad
Well, to be fair, Shane gave me a wee hint. And Jeff Aurand gave me a similar hint, albeit in the form of a riddle. Let's just say there's more to this post than meets the eye.
Delete