This is not a trick question. In my hands, I have a closed loop string with two foldback clips:
Is it possible, and if so, how can I remove one or both foldback clips from the closed loop string without cutting the red string with scissors nor removing the foldback clip handles from the black part?
I have seen too many seemingly-magical "remove trapped cord" videos that this problem might actually be possible.
It is
Not possible, I'm afraid, without forcing the string through the rolled bearing holding the handles (which would be impossible, and basically the same as removing the handles.
Consider, to make it easier,
Cutting each clip at the back, then cutting away every black part of the clip except where it connects to each handle, and a thin strip joining one leg of that side of the handle to the other. (We're not allowed to do this, but surely allowing ourselves to do it would make the problem easier, not harder.) Now bend each handle and its corresponding black strip into a circle.
Now what we have is
A simple loop, with four other simple loops attached to it. The red loop with each other loop is a simple two-link chain, which is of course not separable.
