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:
“—My good friend, quoth I—as sure as I am I—and you are you
—And who are you? said he.—Don’t puzzle me; said I.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“The quality of American life is an insult to the possibilities of human growth ... the pollution of American space, with gadgetry and cars and TV and box architecture, brutalizes the senses, making gray neurotics of most of us, and perverse spiritual athletes and strident self-transcenders of the best of us.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)