GCHQ Christmas challenge: Can you solve the puzzle?


GCHQ, the UK’s national spy agency, has released a new Christmas challenge for 2021. The challenge is incorporated into the agency’s annual Christmas card, which is sent by the agency’s director, Anne Keast-Butler. It challenges the public to decode the names of UK landmarks, testing skills like codebreaking, maths, and lateral thinking. The tasks require ingenuity and perseverance, and the card includes extra layers for those who want to challenge themselves further, with additional elements hidden within the code.

The first challenge features five images, representing the names of places in the UK, and participants are asked to decipher each location. One of the tougher puzzles asks participants to calculate how far off from writing the numbers 1-20 the puzzle setters were. GCHQ’s Chief Puzzler, known only as “Colin,” has described this year’s tests as “fiendishly enjoyable.”

GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler said, “The challenge has been designed for a mix of minds to solve, so is best tackled in groups of classmates, families, or friends. Whether you have an analytical mind, a creative brain, or prefer engineering, there’s something for everyone.” “Colin” reiterated this, stating, “You can see from the range of puzzles that some parts are trickier than others. However, you do not have to be a genius or top of the class to solve them – you just have to be able to work in a team and embrace the mix of minds and approaches teamwork brings.”

The annual GCHQ Christmas puzzle has become a holiday tradition, one that stimulates and challenges the public’s mind. The full challenge can be viewed on GCHQ’s website

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