An online puzzle hunt launching on International Cryptex Day, Friday, March 1, 2019 at 9:00pm EST.
GRAND PRIZE: Nevins Line Bolivian Rosewood Cryptex® Security Box
Congratulations to the winner, Dan Katz!! Although the hunt is officially over, you can still play if you wish.
How to StartThis year, the puzzle hunt administration is being hosted courtesy of
No pre-registration is required, but you can download the app to your mobile device ahead of time.
Please register with an email account so we can identify you. If you register as a guest, then you are ineligible for the prize.
To FIND the Cryptex hunt, you will need the Hunt Code: CXHUNT
To START the Cryptex Hunt, CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MAGAZINE COVER.
There was an error on the last page, "How to Make a Cryptex". If you download the magazine again, it is updated to the latest version.
For clarification, here is an image snippet of the correct version:
This Cryptex Hunt is brought to you by these lovely people!
Creator of the first Cryptex® Security Box and has been making custom works of art like this full time since March 1, 2004. Escape rooms and puzzle hunts have become his new obsessions. Check out his products at cryptex.org.
This year, the helm of the Cryptex puzzle hunt is taken on by Darren. He and his wife, Melissa, have been hooked on escape rooms ever since they discovered them in May 2015. And now he designs and shares his puzzles online and you can find them at his site.
David, also known as Strype in our Slack chat, has been a stalwart foundation in making sure this hunt runs correctly. He has been with us since the very beginning and fixes all problems in our hour of need.
The platform for this year's puzzle hunt will be running on ClueKeeper thanks to Richard Bragg, one of the co-founders of ClueKeeper and also the primary creator of the Top Escape Rooms Project.
Sarah Willson is a writer, editor, and puzzle designer who delights in solving problems of all kinds. She has spotted typos in escape rooms, puzzle magazines, and the Ancient Hylian language in the background of a Zelda minigame-all of which she loves dearly, with or without perfect spelling.
Manpans is a designer of narrative and helped with the text and other beta testing of puzzles. She also helps run the podcast Room Escape Divas.
Errol's only responsibility is the art direction and he has contributed to just two puzzles, so anyone who has nightmares because of him can rest easy. You can find more of his stuff on The Codex.
Rita Orlov is a designer and maker of puzzles and objects of all sorts. An avid traveler, board gamer, and escape room addict, she has a background in art and woodworking and is the creator of PostCurious, an immersive tabletop puzzle game company.
Shannon McDowell is a board game and puzzle designer who is obsessed with escape rooms, travel, Disney, and cats. She does research on escape rooms at Wilfrid Laurier University and assists in the development of the Red Bull Escape Room World Championship.
Logan Giannini designs puzzles, games, and escape rooms from the snowy tundra of Minnesota where he lives with his wife and co-operates The Enigma Emporium.
Colin Sanders (DoctorXOR), the winner of last year's Cryptex Hunt, is excited to contribute to the future of Cryptexes. Armed with a background in electrical engineering, cryptography, and the Tim Tang Test, he plans to kickstart his own website of riddles during the next year.
Introduced by a mutual friend as the "two most competitive people" he knew, they decided to join forces before destroying each other. Known for creating Escape Room In A Box, they're now the Wild Optimists, creating the next generation of playful experiences as they gamify live events and design escape rooms and tabletop games.
There are some significant changes between this hunt and last year's hunt, so please read on.
Designed by master craftsman Justin Nevins, a Cryptex® brand security box is a self-contained cylindrical lockbox secured by a mechanically changeable code. Used in escape rooms or collected by fans, a Cryptex is a beautiful, functional, solidly constructed work of art.
See Cryptex.org for more info.
A puzzle hunt is a game where participants compete to solve a series of puzzles. The Cryptex Hunt is an online puzzle hunt that features Cryptexes throughout the experience.
See puzzlehuntcalendar.com for other puzzle hunts.
No, it is absolutely FREE with no "in-app purchases" or anything. The hunt will be run on the ClueKeeper platform, but that, too, is a free download.
We wanted to encourage as many people to play this hunt as possible and hopefully have a good time doing it! All time, effort, and costs have been donated in order to keep it free for the general public.
The Cryptex Hunt will start on March 1, 2019, which is a Friday, at 9:00pm EST. The puzzle hunt will be available as a single event so that you will have access to all the puzzles at once, and the first to finish all the puzzles with no hints will be the Grand Prize winner.
The puzzle hunt will remain online through the month of March for those who want to play at a more leisurely pace. Everyone who completes the whole hunt by March 31 will be eligible to participate in the Draw Prize drawing.
The Cryptex Hunt will include many different types of puzzle designed exclusively for this event. Exploring and discovering the exact nature of these puzzles is part of the challenge for the players. All of the puzzles will resolve to a word or short phrase that you will need to enter to progress.
These puzzles are designed for this event - you won't be able to Google the solutions. However, you are welcome to use Google or other tools to help you as you work on them. In fact, you more than likely will need Google to help you solve puzzles. Many Internet tools exist that may be useful for working puzzles.
Every person who wishes to play will register and play the puzzle hunt as an individual. However, you are certainly welcome to play together, share answers, and operate as a team.
Please note, however, the final prize will be awarded to the owner of the qualifying winning user account.
The puzzle hunt will not be as hard as last year, but will still be harder than puzzles found in an escape room. If you are familiar with Puzzled Pint, the puzzles will be of similar difficulty.
GRAND PRIZE - Nevins Line Bolivian Rosewood Cryptex® Security Box. For first registered account to complete the entire hunt without hints.
SECOND PRIZE - Standard 5 Code Ring Cryptex® Security Box. Winner's choice of colors. Random draw from pool of all registered accounts to complete the entire hunt by March 31st.
We do too. Hah. Sorry. Please stay tuned as this will be updated periodically. If you desperately wish to know something, find us in the Escape Room Slack Channel. You can register for an account at The Codex.
Gaze into Justin's eyes for guidance.
"Morse" tells you what to do. "Start here" tells you where.
Note the layout; does it remind you of anything?
"Give us a call..."
The number of Cryptexes is important; the color gives the order
Some of the phrasing is unusual; read it carefully for direction.
Pay close attention to the next-to-last paragraph.
Go line-by-line, not by sentence or paragraph, as printed on the page.
Note the layout; does it remind you of anything?
Tallying your thoughts should help you calculate the answer.
An ancient device might help calculate the answer; treat each shelf independently. Imagine each bookcase rotated to the left (counter-clockwise).
Have you visited the location of the tour? Notice anything on the wall? Make sure the photographer was named Simko.
The image of the runestone isn't just there for decoration. Find out where it leads.
You need a couple of web sites to solve this puzzle, neither of them Postcurious.
When you identify what's different, it will help you identify what you need.
The intro should guide you how to use what had been taken out. Don't worry, you don't need to know the people on a first-name basis
Go "over the years", and use the size of what's been taken away (replaced) along with the characters' last names.
What stands out? Every phrase has a purpose.
Pay close attention to the final phrase.
Arrange the phrases one-per-line, what do you notice "first"? Then "last"? Now get the "top ten" and arrange them.
Think of it like TriBond or "Four Pictures One Word".
Golf, motor. fundraiser, car, road...
If you catch a Cryptex unawares, it might tell you something.
These Cryptexes are seen from behind; what's on the other side?
Make sure you include "The" only on those things that are proper titles. Arrange them by what you got from the Cryptexes.
Note that both puzzles are the same size.
The puzzles relate to each other row-by-row.
Pay attention to the highlighted columns in the sudoku; each row references the corresponding row in the crossword.
The highlighting tells you which are the important numbers in the sudoku. those numbers tell you which letter on the corresponding row of the crossword is relevant.
If you've "red" the message carefully then you have all the tools you need in your (8-bit) box.
Instead of seeing I's and O's, consider them 1's and 0's.
The second to last reply has no mistakes in it.
Have you heard of a lipogram?
Those symbols are less alien than they seem...
Some of the symbols align with the text.
Each picture has something in common.
Initially, the intro might help you find what you need.
Use the two-letter code.
There are three shades of gray/black used in the separators.
The gray block separator before each interview question has two parts.
*Base*d on those bars with three shades of gray/black, you ought to be able to get something out. Don't forget the Editor's note at the end.
If two values (black/white) is binary, what might three values indicate?
If you're searching for a sign, think of when it begins.
Look to the final sentence to light your way.
Wikipedia is your friend; check out the Zodiac page.
The length of each dragon's favorite word(s) is given in parentheses.
For the 7 questions, the option letters (A-E) aren't relevant. Make sure you're being very specific, as each dragon also has a favorite number.
Look at the bonus question's choices; you might want to read them aloud to see what it refers to. Then relate that to the 5-letter word you got from the dragons, and Google if you need to.
All of these "movies" reference a common event.
You need to relate the movies to the event; each poster refers to a specific item.
Each of the posters has one or more numbers on it. You'll need to refer back to the page for the final answer.
The borders are important.
The top and bottom borders highlight an important letter.
Connect the left and right lines. Erase all the non-important letters.
This is a metapuzzle. Three of things you need will have a place, but not an orientation. The end is easy as ABC ... and ACE, and PAL?
All of the puzzle answers need to be fit into the grid, horizontally. No intersecting or overlapping answers. After you make your Cryptex, the final password is IN BETWEEN letter pairs.