After getting a taste for code breaking after my Bletchley Park challenge the other day, I remembered I had a kit on how to make a cryptex, hidden away in the cupboard. This kit was aimed at kids, but it looked like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, plus it promised that I’d be able to hide my pocket money and sweets from any adults!
A cryptex is a little like a portable safe, the secret inside only unlocked when the the letters and/or numbers from the passcode are lined up in the correct order. I didn’t actually realise until researching it’s origin for this post that although they look like they’ve been around for thousands of years, the cryptex concept actually came from the mind of Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, and the first physical cryptex was only made in 2004. I really do learn something new everyday doing this challenge!
Anyway, the kit was a DIY deal that was quite easy to assemble, providing you remembered the code you were setting! The box also came with a few helpful code keys so you could try and see if your friends could break the code and access the treasure inside. After assembling my cryptex relatively quickly, I wanted to test it out, and set a cryptic code for my husband to try and access.
He managed to unlock it and found my secret treasure…a 1 euro coin! This was a bit of silly fun, but it I enjoyed making something a bit different and playing around with the codes again.
New Day, New Thing 