cancel2 2022
Canceled
Director of GCHQ sent out the brain-teasing puzzle in his Christmas card
Around 30,000 people have come close to solving the five part puzzle
Participants have to fill in a grid-shading puzzle to unveil a picture which is just the first of a series of increasingly complex game challenges
There are just three days to go to the deadline and no-one's solved it
Instead of the traditional Father Christmas and reindeer image emblazoned on the front, last year Britain's intelligence and security agency designed a card featuring a cryptographic challenge. But more than a month since Christmas, no-one has managed to solve the tricky puzzles. More than 30,000 have come close to cracking the code and there are just three days left to give it a final try. The agency has even encouraged people by saying the answer is 'not as abstract as you think'.
The puzzle, which was released on a Christmas card by GCHQ's director, Robert Hannigan, shows a grid. Participants have to fill it in to unveil a QR code, which is the first in a series of increasingly complex challenges. The code can be scanned with a phone which will take participants to the next round.
Part three consists of four questions. The answer to each puzzle is a single word, which can be used to create a URL. One example is:
'Complete the sequence: Buck, Cod, Dahlia, Rook, Cuckoo, Rail, Haddock, ?'
FIVE PARTS OF THE PUZZLE
Part one: Participants have to fill in a grid to reveal a QR code that will take them to the next level of the puzzle.
Part two: They have to solve six multiple choice questions to progress.
Part three: This part consists of four questions. The answer to each puzzle is a single word, which can be used to create a URL needed to tackle part four.
Part four: A similar challenge where participants have to solve three number sequences to make an IP address.
Part five: The part that has so far stumped all participants.
It is thought to contain pictograms, but with unclear instructions people have to work out the questions, as well as the answers.
Part four is similar, in that the answers to three questions can be combined to make an IP address.
But part five features pictograms without any instructions, meaning participants are not sure what is required, or if they have answered in full.
GCHQ told The Telegraph the puzzle is not impossible, but admitted it had been set by its top cryptographers, who may well think in a different way to the rest of us.
'There are solutions which are not immediately apparent,' a spokesman said.
'You don't necessarily know if you have got all the answers or if there is something you have missed.'
GCHQ has said that that although approximately 30,000 players have reached the final stage, none of them have managed to complete the brain teaser.
The closing date for entries is midnight on January 31 and the complete solution to all stages of the puzzle will be published on the GCHQ website in early February, after all entries have been received and the competition has closed.
GCHQ's website attracted unprecedented levels of visitors eager to take the challenge over the Christmas period.
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