Kickstarter’s project of the day: A clock that hides a book

Of interest to book lovers and riddle solvers: the Midnight Clock.

On Tuesday, Kickstarter featured the Midnight Clock as its project of the day. Kickstarter, of course, is the micro-funding site where anyone can contribute to a project in progress.

This project is a wall clock designed in Pittsburgh. Constructed of birch or bamboo, it includes a riddle on the front. Solve the riddle, and the clock opens up to reveal a book hidden inside. What book? Well, that’s up to the hider.

Creator Devin Montgomery explains in his video about the project that he was inspired by the riddles and secrets that characters in fiction encountered in their physical worlds: the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia,” the rune-covered door in J.R. R. Tolkein’s “The Hobbit,” and the many puzzles in the Harry Potter stories.

When the Midnight Clock’s puzzle is solved -- and its name is a hint -- the clock face is removed and straps draw up a book hidden inside. Montgomery suggests that other books could be placed there over time, or that it could be used as a child’s hiding place. He was inspired to make something that combined books and puzzles and the physical world after the birth of his son.

Kickstarter projects include rewards for contributors if they’re fully funded. Backers of the Midnight Clock will get thanks or an edition of the clock itself. When the project is done, the clocks are expected to retail for $105 to $125.

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