A puzzle box (also called a secret, or trick box) is a box that can only be opened through some obscure or complicated series of manipulations. Some puzzle boxes may require only a simple squeeze in the right spot, whereas others may require the subtle movement of several small parts, to open the box. Some puzzle boxes are comparable to burr puzzles.
The puzzle box originated in the Hakone region of Japan at the turn of the 19th century as the Himitsu-Bako, or Personal Secret Box. If opened, a puzzle box usually contains a sort of good luck charm. These boxes were made in various complexities, and consist of moves with a variety of twists to trick the person trying to open the box, but the real trick is finding the correct series of movements that can range from two to 1500+ moves.
Famous quotes containing the words puzzle and/or box:
“What are you now? If we could touch one another,
if these our separate entities could come to grips,
clenched like a Chinese puzzle . . . yesterday
I stood in a crowded street that was live with people,
and no one spoke a word, and the morning shone.
Everyone silent, moving. . . . Take my hand. Speak to me.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“A box of teak, a box of sandalwood,
A brass-ringed spyglass in a case,
A coin, leaf-thin with many polishings,
Last kingdom of a gold forgotten face,
These lie about the room....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)