Futility Closet

An idler's miscellany of compendious amusements

  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Contact

Liberty

Reader Derek Christie sent in this surprising curiosity after Wednesday’s post about Borromean rings:

Christie karabiner feat 1

Both the ring and the karabiner clip are attached to the cord and can’t be removed.

Now complicate matters by clipping the karabiner onto the ring:

Christie karabiner feat 2

Quite unexpectedly, the cord can now be just pulled away:

Christie karabiner feat 3

(Thanks, Derek.) (A related perplexity: The Prisoners’ Release Puzzle.)

August 12, 2024August 11, 2024 | Science & Math

Post navigation

← Step by Step
Reflections →

Explore

Random Post

Archives

Categories

  • Art
  • Crime
  • Death
  • Entertainment
  • History
  • Hoaxes
  • Humor
  • Language
  • Literature
  • Oddities
  • Podcast
  • Poems
  • Puzzles
  • Quotations
  • Religion
  • Science & Math
  • Society
  • Technology
  • Trivia
  • Uncategorized

Follow

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

Site Admin

  • Log in

Info

  • About Futility Closet
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Store
  • Chess notation
  • Contact/Submissions

ABOUT

Futility Closet is a collection of entertaining curiosities in history, literature, language, art, philosophy, and mathematics, designed to help you waste time as enjoyably as possible.

You can read Futility Closet on the web, subscribe by RSS, or sign up to receive a free daily email — see “Subscribe by Email” in the sidebar.

CREDITS

© Futility Closet 2005-2025