cryptex

plural cryptices · plural cryptexes

1. A puzzle box solved with a passcode.

   Morphing Morphology: This cryptex (a vault used to hide secret messages) allows visitors to turn five wheels to line up the various parts of eight different trees found in North America.

   2019 April 22, “Play your way through Reiman Gardens with larger-than-life toys and games”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 30 Jul 2021

   5 more examples

   Sophie was not surprised. Most of Leonardo’s unbuilt inventions had never been studied or even named. The term cryptex possibly had been her grandfather’s creation, an apt title for this device that used the science of cryptology to protect information written on the contained scroll or codex.

   [2003, Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code, New York: Doubleday, →ISBN, page 199

   With an embossed cover, vellum pages and brooding, mysterious artwork, this tome has a rich, premium feel. Careful readers can use the enclosed UV light and cryptex to reveal secrets that remain hidden from view.

   2015 December 28, Nino Kilgore-Marchetti, “Are Scotch Single Malt Tomes A New Trend? Perhaps”, in The Whiskey Wash, archived from the original on 30 May 2022

   Earl Sweatshirt packs so much into his verses that listening to one can feel like trying to crack a cipher. “Nowhere2go,” a track from his upcoming album, is one such emotional cryptex; it’s powerfully blunt about being plagued by depression and seeing death everywhere, but decidedly oblique about what comes after.

   2018 November 8, Sheldon Pearce, “Earl Sweatshirt “Nowhere2go” Track Review”, in Pitchfork, archived from the original on 27 Oct 2022

   Waters provided a journal containing riddles, clues, a compass and cryptex, and the birthday girl and her best friend set out on a hunt to find a treasure, leading them to different places like the library, her church and a park.

   2018 December 17, Sarah Berger, “This 32-year-old quit his job and turned an elaborate Reddit Secret Santa scavenger hunt into a full-time business”, in CNBC, archived from the original on 04 May 2022

   For immediate gratification, you can also hit up his Etsy Store; the Cryptex box (Note that it's for PLANS only, you'll need to cut and make it yourself) looks like a great gift for the smartest egg in your family.

   2019 March 4, Rob Beschizza, “Wooden fractal curve puzzles”, in Boing Boing, archived from the original on 23 Feb 2021