Meaning of puzzle box | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A box that cannot be opened by the usual obvious means, and therefore challenges a person to find the correct way to open it.
2. A similar device or cage that can be opened by means of levers, latches, etc., used to test the learning behaviour of animals.
3. Something that is puzzling; an enigma; (narratology, also attributive) a complex story that is gradually revealed, often driven by a central myth.
   figuratively
4. A box containing a jigsaw puzzle.
   literally

Equivalents

Examples

“"Jest like⟳ the Injian puzzle-boxes, ain't they?" said Dan, as the one boat dropped into the other.”

“They walked about this town and found their own⟳ house, just as before, and went in, and there was the toy town on the floor; and you will see⟳ that they might have⟳ walked into that town also, but they saw⟳ that it was no good, and that they couldn’t get⟳ out that way, but would only get⟳ deeper and deeper into a nest of towns in libraries in houses in towns in libraries in houses in towns in … and so on for always—something like⟳ Chinese puzzle-boxes multiplied by millions and millions for ever and ever.”

“That’s where Osvath’s ravens come⟳ in. His student Can Kabadayi trained the birds to open⟳ a baited puzzle box by putting a stone of particular weight and shape⟳ into a tube.”

“puzzle box show⟳”

“puzzle-box plot”

“Now the band has released its most po-mo puzzle box of anguish yet. Stickles has described The Most Lamentable Tragedy as a rock opera and has annotated the lyrics at Genius.com; judging by the band’s Twitter feed⟳, which is filled with retweeted praise⟳, the ambition has gone over quite well with its biggest fans.”

“The movie’s narrative structure⟳, which moves both forward⟳ and backwards, is a puzzle box that hard-core Nolan fans will probably enjoy⟳ taking apart and putting back together, but it may be excessively inscrutable for a lot of viewers.”

“But Memento is one of his finest efforts, a brilliant film that reveals new layers on every rewatch thanks to its puzzle-box plot structure⟳.”

“The world is the geologist's great puzzle-box; he stands before it like⟳ the child to whom the separate⟳ pieces of his puzzle remain⟳ a mystery till he detects their relation and sees where they fit, and then his fragments grow⟳ at once into a connected picture beneath his hand.”

CEFR level