I've never heard the IKEA metaphor before but it makes sense to me. There's really only one way to put any two pieces together. If they forgot to ship the rig

I've never heard the IKEA metaphor before but it makes sense to me. There's really only one way to put any two pieces together. If they forgot to ship the right bolts, you're SOL. Lisp is like a wood and metal shop. It may take a little more time to become proficient with the basic tools, but once you do, anything is possible. You don't hear Lisp programmers complain they can't do X with Y, and you don't hear builders complain they don't have the right piece to attach X to Y. If you don't have one sitting around, you take a few minutes and make one.