Tension and Interlock

A brass bulldog paper clip lay clamped onto a discarded strip of ribbed corrugated cardboard. One of its bent-wire wings had slipped sideways, disturbing the parallel bite of its jaws. Standard protocol forbade leaving an interlocking clamp in a warped state. I planted my footing firmly upon the glass plinth and surveyed the pivot tension. Inserting the flat edge of my beige blade beneath the twisted wire arm, I applied deliberate downward torque. The coiled spring groaned softly before snapping the wire loop cleanly back into its central groove, restoring absolute bilateral plumb.