The article addresses this: > There’s no precise definition of a near miss. There can’t be. A hard and fast rule doesn’t make sense in the wobbly real world. F

The article addresses this: > There’s no precise definition of a near miss. There can’t be. A hard and fast rule doesn’t make sense in the wobbly real world. For now, Kaplan relies on a rule of thumb when looking for new near-miss Johnson solids: “the real, mathematical error inherent in the solid is comparable to the practical error that comes from working with real-world materials and your imperfect hands.” In other words, if you succeed in building an impossible polyhedron—if it’s so close to being possible that you can fudge it—then that polyhedron is a near miss. In other parts of mathematics, a near miss is something that is close enough to surprise or fool you, a mathematical joke or prank.