One in Ten Thousand
Not being able to resist a game, I played the Google/DaVinci Code contest/promotion vehicle to the end. As luck would have it, I was one of the first 10,000 to finish the puzzles, which scored me this DaVinci Code schwag - a replica cryptex.
It's metal and it does work. When you align the wheels to say 'grail' it opens up to reveal a compartment with a rolled up note from Google congratulating you on your success so far. On the 19th, the 10,000 cryptex winners get to compete for the Grand Prize (which is a ton of stuff too long to mention). The person who completes the puzzle the fastest wins. There are probably groups of people who have gotten together to pool their entries; figuring out the puzzles with the early entries and then posting a killer time after they have all the answers.
Checking out Ebay, there are close to 100 of these cryptex out there already. That's the realist prize.
Technorati Tags: photo, cryptex, DaVinci Code Contest, Google contest
