The Box of ZN is Randal's 3rd offering in the Quagmire puzzle box collection.

   If you are one of the lucky people who got his first box, the 1st edition Double Crossed Puzzle Box, or his second box, the Keepers Key Safe, we're betting you're a fan of his superb work.
The Box of ZN is almost a combination of both of these previous boxes, having both sliding top pieces and the unique "Quagmire Panel" move similar to the one present in the Keepers Key safe. It takes 29 moves in all to open this puzzle box. These moves vary, and require the opener to use logical thinking and imagination to solve them.

This puzzle box continues the "Quagmire" style of 100%Woodborne construction. The Box of ZN is built of Keruing and Bubinga of which are both very stable woods adding longevity to this unique box. Even the inlay is of solid hardwood Bubinga! These two woods accent one another very well, creating a warm tone and balance that adds to the theme of the design. The weight of this puzzle box is representative of its' solid construction. The lid uses a "double track" to insure a strong smooth movement. Randal finishes the wood with a specially mixed rubbing lacquer and is completed with beeswax, all done by hand. The Box of ZN, like all of Randal's boxes, is made with the high Quagmire Puzzle Box standards of quality and comes with the Cleverwood Life Time Guarantee. A Certificate of Authenticity and color solution brochure are included with each box as well.

When Randal was asked how he came up with this exceptional design, he said~

"I have been asked many times how I come up with my designs. This has been a rather difficult thing for me to describe. Maybe, by providing some idea as to how the process is motivated through me, I might explain this as best as I possibly can. With this box, I designed the puzzle before I designed the actual box. The puzzle named itself with its Z’s and N’s that can be seen in its design, thus the “Box of ZN”. At the moment that this name came to me, I had a vision that played out like an oriental version of the Hobbit. I built this box in every aspect of that vision. Within the “big screen of my mind”, I envisioned an old wise man, a grand wizard of sorts, with long white hair and beard carrying the Box of ZN by the handles at the ends of the box. Concealed within is the ancient knowledge collected over many years from it’s possessor through some ‘mystical ethereal’ means… a kind of akashic record in a box, if you will. The old wise man presents the Box of ZN to his apprentice whose task is to illustrate his own worthiness and wisdom by opening the box- blindfolded. The box, once opened, empowered its successor with the whole of its knowledge. My imagination plays on… and the Box of ZN is a manifestation of that fantasy and it lives on. I spared nothing to create this piece to be everything I imagined it to be. You can see and feel the 3 dimensional depth of the detail implemented in every aspect of this work of art. Solid hardwood construction, hardwood inlay, the sloping sides and raised inlay in the top are all aspects of this beautiful box. May the Box of ZN spark your own imagination and bring you a little wisdom in life as it did for the wise mans apprentice." - Randal Gatewood

In the pattern you can see both a Z and a N, depending on how you hold it.
To see this box opened, click here- then use your browser’s ”Back” button to return to this page. (Please note that the distortion seen in this picture is caused by the camera and is not the box itself.)