She sent him an e-mail message with a few cryptic lines from Dante about a bird having difficulty flying.

Bowman's last transmission before his disappearance was the cryptic line "My God!

The typed memo under the cryptic lines above was proof of that.

The chase ends tragically, with a cryptic line of dialogue.

In "Pale Fire," the cryptic lines become "pity to learn but not grow old with an answer till a far foreign land tale told."

"The employee who installed it confessed," reads the cryptic line, "but was not prosecuted by the government."

Tyson had never forgotten that cryptic last line: Everything is pre-forgiven.

By hindsight, one understands why incessantly cryptic lines are set up.

Her personal website became devoid of all content save one cryptic line: "See you at the next stage."

There were also a few highly cryptic lines distilling the art and science of navigation.