Nevermore

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“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. 

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

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.  

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!

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:

Halespuzzle

How to Hale a Billionaire

Locks and Libation

Fang’s A lot

N.B. Special thanks to Jeff Aurand for reminding me about this great poem …