Can you crack this Cryptex®? is a metapuzzle and the finale of the 2022 Cryptex Hunt.
Solve Paths
As the meta, the solutions from the previous puzzles are used to fill in the blanks on the cryptex image found on the second page of the pdf. The answers for the clues from the first page will hint to how the solutions will fit in the cryptex blanks. However, note there are only 10 clues, while there are 20 solutions. Sometimes, the answers to the clue will span two solutions. Furthermore, solutions from the same puzzle are always coupled together.
The answers to the clues are as follows:
OXEN
IRL
SLY
MALLS
ANTS
AH
SWAT
RUNOFF
ALT
ION
The below image shows where the solutions will fit on the cryptex. The words highlighted in blue are the answers to the clues from the first page.
Once the cryptex is filled in, the answer to this puzzle is the 'hidden word' as indicated on the first page. The phrase 'hidden word' is the same colour as the grey boxes on the first page. If the first page is used as a grille, these grey boxes line up exactly with specific letters on the cryptex.
Lining these letters up to the filigrees, as you would do on a normal cryptex, will give you the final answer to the first part.
Part 1 Final Answer: Click to revealSHIFT.
When the final answer to part one is lined up to the filigree, the grey boxes highlight another set of letters:
When this set of letters is lined up to the filigree, it shows: INCRE. Continuing this pattern will reveal the following set of letters:
INCRE
MENTA
LLYNE
XTSET
RYDWN
This is a sentence which spells out: SHIFT INCREMENTALLY NEXT SET. The next set of letters it refers to is RYDWN.
To shift incrementally would be to shift each letter incrementally, such that:
