Fancy yourself as a bit of a Christmas code cracker? Well, now's your chance to put your egg-noggin to the test!
UK intelligence agency GCHQ has released its annual festive code-cracking challenge and is inviting people from Gloucestershire and beyond to have a go at completing it.
This year, the puzzle focuses on the sweeping geography of GCHQ, which may come as a surprise to some as the agency spans far beyond its famous doughnut-shaped Cheltenham headquarters.
Contained in a Christmas card sent by GCHQ director, Anne Keast-Butler, the challenge is made up of a series of seven puzzles, ranging in difficulty and designed to test different puzzle-solving skills.
Anne said: 'Puzzles have always been at the heart of GCHQ, and the skills needed to solve them are just as relevant in 2024 as they were over 100 years ago.
'The puzzles are aimed at teenagers and young people, but everyone is encouraged to give them a try — they might surprise you.
'As a mathematician, I'm also passionate about STEM subjects and encouraging young people to give them a try. I hope the card will inspire young people to explore these STEM subjects and to consider what a career in cyber security and intelligence might have to offer.'
Masterminded by a team of GCHQ puzzle experts, including chief puzzler, Colin (whose surname is kept underwraps in true spy style), this year's puzzle also includes three additional elements hidden within the card for smarty-pants who want to take on an extra challenge.
Colin said (and there may be a clue hidden in his quote): 'We are delighted to be launching the 2024 Christmas Challenge aimed at young people, and we hope you find this year’s set of puzzles as challengingly fun as ever.
'This year as usual we’re encouraging teams to work together to tackle the challenge.
'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. This is exactly how we work at GCHQ.
'We also hope to show young people through this challenge that thinking differently is a gift.'
Last year's Christmas card puzzle was downloaded a whopping 138,000 times, with this year's edition able to be downloaded from the GCHQ website.
