Created to amaze a certain female ruler, this hoax defeated an emperor, a great American statesman, and a host of efforts to explain it. During its tours of Europe, the U.K., and the U.S. (where a famed essay about it was produced by someone better known for the literary macabre), it proved itself adept at a puzzle that itself involves a roundabout journey. Eventually, it ended up in a museum founded by an artist. What was it, who wrote that famous essay, and what is the puzzle?

zbeckabee

The Turk was a fake chess-playing machine of the late 18th century, promoted as an automaton but later proved to be a hoax. Built to impress the Empress Maria Theresa. "The mechanism appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess against a human opponent, as well as perform the knight's tour, a puzzle that requires the player to move a knight to occupy every square of a chessboard once and only once." Edgar Allan Poe's Essay: Maelzel's Chess Player http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maelzel%27s_Chess_Player Sep 02 07, 4:31 PM

lanfranco

Not bad, zbeck, I'll give you a silver knight. Can you do the tour? 18th-century automatons were an interesting cultural phenomenon. Many years ago, I read a children's mystery on the subject, and I haven't been able to locate it since. (No, it's not "The Invention of Hugo Cabret.") If anyone can recall a book about two elegant, doll-sized, 18th-century automatons that could write and play a harpsichord, let me know. Sep 02 07, 5:00 PM