artifice vs contrivance

artifice

noun
  • A trick played out as an ingenious, but artful, ruse. 

  • A strategic maneuver that uses some clever means to avoid detection or capture. 

  • A tactical move to gain advantage. 

  • A crafty but underhanded deception. 

verb
  • To construct by means of skill or specialised art 

contrivance

noun
  • Something overly artful or artificial. 

  • A means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective. 

  • A (mechanical) device to perform a certain task. 

How often have the words artifice and contrivance occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )