| | | | | For tie aficionados, knots are an art form—and a surprisingly difficult math problem. The many ways of tying a necktie have attracted the research interest of scientists and mathematicians, but one of the greatest innovators in the field turns out to be a doorman in the writer Matthew Hutson’s apartment building. Boris Mocka has been an art student, a weed-delivery guy, an underground kickboxer, a deli manager, and, beginning in his forties, the inventor of thousands of original knots—grand departures from the standard four-in-hand, Windsor, or Pratt. He calls one of his creations the Jawbreaker, for the jaw-dropping effect it has on those who encounter its unexpected shape and elaborate folds. Neckties are of special interest to those working in the field of topology, which explores fundamental properties of mathematical objects. A paper published in 2015 by a team of researchers titled “More Ties than We Thought” posited that there were 266,682 possible tie knots. But, after Hutson introduces one of the paper’s authors to Mocka, it becomes clear that the paper had undershot. As they look through a book of Mocka’s various knots, the mathematician announces, “I can already see things that are definitely not covered by the notation.” Through his expression of sartorial creativity, Hutson writes, “Mocka had effectively invented a new dialect, and its grammar was even more complex than the ones that professional mathematicians were using.” The real number of possible necktie knots, it turns out, might now stretch over a million. Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | | | | Susan B. Glasser | |  Source photograph by Adam Gray / Getty This was the week, to mangle a phrase, when people finally freaked out about Donald Trump becoming President again. “Whichever individual poll you choose to believe or not,” Susan B. Glasser writes in her latest column from Washington, “the data point overwhelmingly to Biden sitting at near-historic lows in popularity and being essentially tied with Trump, a man who is running on an explicit platform of revenge, retribution, and Constitution-termination.” Read more » | | | | From the News Desk |  Dispatch The Escalating Violence Between Israel and LebanonThere’s a sense of history repeating itself along the border, where tens of thousands have been displaced and the civilian death toll is climbing. By Rania Abouzeid | | | | | Daily Comment The Lessons of Ohio’s Abortion-Rights VictoryTuesday’s election results in that state and elsewhere offer fresh evidence of how the issue is likely to help Democrats in 2024. By Peter Slevin | | | | | Editor’s Pick |  Letter from the Southwest Surveying the Vintage Market at Texas’s Wildest Antique FairThe craze for old things reaches its peak of excess in Round Top. By Rachel Monroe | | | | |  | Get the New Yorker Puzzle Advent Calendar: Count down to Christmas with our limited-edition advent calendar! The calendar contains twenty-four miniature puzzles, each featuring a festive cover from the magazine. Order by November 24th to guarantee delivery by December. See more » | | | | | | Culture Dept. |  Notes on Hollywood Hollywood Faces Its Post-Strike FutureThe town can get back to work, but there is a lot of uncertainty in the air. By Michael Schulman | | | | | The Sporting Scene The Man Who “Completed Football”Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu, a central midfielder for Luton Town F.C., is the first player to rise from England’s lowest tier of professional soccer to its highest with a single team. By Simon Akam | | | | | Fun & Games Dept. | Daily Shouts I Have Found the Perfect SneakerIt’s a constant struggle to find an affordable, stylish, eco-friendly sneaker. By Tayo Falase and Carlos Greaves | | Crossword A Themed Puzzle Coming up empty. By Adam Aaronson | | Daily Cartoon Friday, November 10th By Ali Solomon | | | | | | P.S. Martin Luther was born on this day in 1483. As Joan Acocella has noted, his most famous act, nailing Ninety-five Theses to the doors of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, likely never happened. But his demands for reforms to Christianity, mythologized by that single moment, quickly took hold. “The fact that Luther’s protest, rather than others that preceded it, brought about the Reformation is probably due in large measure to his outsized personality,” Acocella writes. “He was a charismatic man, and maniacally energetic.” | | | | Today’s newsletter was written by Ian Crouch. | | | | | | | |
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