Added the beloved day of November 21, 2007

Everyone has a friend or family member who, although dearly loved, is so competitive that if their graces were ever redirected toward the greater good you'd expect their autobiography to be entitled 'That Mother Teresa Chick Better Suck Up to Me When I Get to Heaven.' So let them finally enjoy a gift of finger-fumbling humility: the ISIS.

Beautifully designed, and dubbed "the most difficult puzzle ever" by the Brits, the ISIS will keep your most competitive curmudgeon enraptured for quite some time. At stake are prizes like $1000 cash awards, electric scooters, massage chairs, etc., which can be won once the ISIS is unlocked.

Initially, you are given 10 encrypted clues to decipher when you register your ISIS. Then the challenge is to use these clues to help you position the hieroglyphic bands in the right combination to unlock the ISIS and gain access to the Awards Zone.

If your curmudgeonly genius succeeds, they may wallop you with the grandeur of their superiority. However, we have an inkling it's not called "the most difficult puzzle ever" for nothing. With this in mind, you might view the ISIS as a silvery orb of spiritual realignment; for, it just may de-curmudge that curmudgeon a smidge or two, which could be a pretty thing.

The ISIS is available at The Sharper Image and comes in two color schemes: titanium and silver (pictured because it's so pretty) and purple and gold (not pictured because it's truly garish).

- Buy The ISIS (SW700SIL) online