Themistocles

 I cannot fiddle, but I can make a great state from a little city” - Themistocles. 

Mare's nest

Something imagined to be an extraordinary discovery but proving to be a delusion or a hoax: The announced cure for the disease was merely another mare's-nest. 2. an extremely confused, entangled, or disordered place, situation, etc.: We just moved in, and the place is a mare's-nest.

mare's nest  NOUN  1A complex or confused situation; a muddle: your desk’s usually a mare’s nest  illusory discovery: the mare’s nest of perfect safety  Origin  late 16th century: formerly in the phrase to have found a mare's nest, meaning 'to have discovered something amazing' (i.e. something that does not exist). 

Tease out

Tease out verb  1. (transitive, adverb) to extract (information) with difficulty tease out Lure out, obtain or extract with effort, as in We had a hard time teasing the wedding date out of him. This term alludes to the literal sense of tease, “untangle or release something with a pointed tool.” [Mid-1900s ]