Cool frustration: Engineering composition across a thin surface oxide layer of a metal particle, and stabilizing it with appropriate ligands, leads to a sharp surface stress that frustrates solidification. Chemical potential gradients from compositional variation and ligand inductive effects all contribute to stabilization of a metastable state. An undercooled liquid metal particle is formed, highlighting a new paradigm in engineering energy landscape of a material using thin surface layer, as described by Martin Thuo et al. in their Research Article (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202013489).