cryptic
KRIP-tikadjMeaning mysterious and hard to understand
Memory hook CRYPT = hidden: a note in CODE. Pip finds a note that says only “ZEBRA AT NOON, UNDER THE SECOND MOON,” and no one can work out what it means; it is cryptic.
Grandpa left a cryptic note on the fridge: “Look where the moon sleeps.”
In context The treasure map’s directions were cryptic; instead of plain steps, they gave riddles about crooked trees and a rock that “laughs at the sea.”
Similar mysterious, puzzling, enigmatic, obscure
Opposite clear, plain, obvious
From Late Latin crypticus, from Greek kryptikos, “hidden,” from kryptein (to hide). A crypt is a hidden room.