GCHQ - The GCHQ Puzzle Book II

The GCHQ Puzzle Book

GCHQ

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THE GCHQ PUZZLE BOOK II

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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published 2018

Text copyright Crown Copyright, 2018

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library delphi macrobiota mariachi multiply parvenu pepsi scampi taxi taffeta

ISBN: 978-0-241-36545-8

1 2 3 4 5 8 55 144 233 377

2 3 4 6 9 15 55 90 200 1010

3 6 7 10 21 22 30 33 35 36

1 4 5 8 10 23 46 61 84 5000

To the hard-working people of GCHQ past, present and future

When we launched our first Puzzle Book in 2016 we wanted to share the talents of the amazing people in GCHQ, inspire the next generation to test their puzzling skills, and raise funds for the mental health charity Heads Together. We knew it was good and hoped it would prove successful. However, none of us predicted the way in which it would capture attention, top the bestseller lists, and provide so much financial support for a brilliant cause.

It proved so successful that we decided to produce a second version. Our objectives remain the same. GCHQ has been at the heart of the nations security for a hundred years. It is a world-class intelligence and cyber agency full of fantastically committed people using their ingenuity to keep the United Kingdom safe. We want to give you a further taste of how their minds work and how they go about solving the seemingly impossible. We have included some stories to bring this to life and, in so doing, we hope to provide greater insight into our history and the challenges we face as we approach our second century.

In GCHQ we know that even great minds need support. We are proud of the way in which GCHQ has always valued difference and different ways of thinking. We have a long history of nurturing talent. We understand that as the world changes and the pressures on us increase, we have a fundamental responsibility to create a supportive environment where we can be ourselves at work every day.

So, it is a particular privilege to support Heads Together, the mental health initiative run by the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, that spreads this message to organisations and individuals across the nation. Funding from the proceeds of this book will support this vital work.

I want to thank their Royal Highnesses for their patronage of this cause and their support to GCHQ. I would also like to thank all of those involved in creating this book. They have dedicated their time to this project on top of their important day jobs. For obvious reasons, they cannot be named, but I am in awe of all that they and the rest of the GCHQ team does to keep the country safe.

I wish you luck in tackling these puzzles. You will need to use all of your ingenuity to think around the problem. You may need to work in teams to get the answer. And you will have to draw on the reserves of your integrity to avoid peeking at the answers. In other words, you will have to deploy the same values we have in GCHQ to tackle the most serious cyber, terrorist, criminal and state threats. If at the same time we encourage you to briefly reflect on this essential work, and even to pause on whether you could be part of this mission, we will have succeeded again.

Thank you for taking up the challenge!

Jeremy Fleming

Director GCHQ

Cheltenham, August 2018

Well, here we are again. Normally if a member of the intelligence agencies writes a bestselling book they are pursued by the courts but in this case we were pursued by the publisher. Indeed after the publication of the first GCHQ Puzzle Book those of us most involved found ourselves thrown into the world of the media, not a place that GCHQ employees have traditionally found themselves!

So, first, thank you very much to all of you who bought The GCHQ Puzzle Book. By doing so, you propelled us into the bestseller lists and contributed to the 330,000 that we have donated to Heads Together in the first two years since publication. That money has helped continue the campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health.

We now need to thank you again, of course, for buying GCHQ Puzzle Book II, and again contributing to the work of the charities that make up Heads Together.

There was a competition in the first Puzzle Book, and we were delighted that this got much attention. Most of the competition was in the book, but the answers led to a webpage address and a password, where there was a further puzzle. To get to this stage required a high level of puzzle-solving skill, and we were impressed that we had over 150 entries. The entrants who provided the best answer to the final puzzle then took part in a Tiebreaker, which was deliberately made extremely hard so that we could separate them! We have reproduced that Tiebreaker in this book () for everyone to enjoy!

The winner of the competition was Angus Walker. Second was Jessie Wheat. The competition prize was a wonderful glass trophy created by sculptor Colin Reid, which was deliberately based on the design of his Cipherstone the art piece that can be found at the entrance to GCHQs main building. Naturally we had Colin etch a puzzle into the glass photos of the trophy, and close-ups of the puzzle, can be found in the second colour section. It was a delight to meet Angus and present him with this trophy last year.

It was the unprecedented level of interest in our Christmas Card Puzzle that led to the idea for The GCHQ Puzzle Book, and it was the fantastic success of that which has led to GCHQ Puzzle Book II. Like the first book, this one contains a whole range of different puzzles set by people who work at GCHQ.

We hope you enjoy it.

The puzzles in this book range in difficulty but we hope there is something for everyone. It can be hard to judge difficulty but we have attempted to do so, and throughout the book you will find Starter puzzles (marked by ), some Hard puzzles (marked by ) and everything else in-between is unmarked. Remember that in multi-part questions later parts tend to be harder than earlier parts. The Starter puzzles are intended to be easier than others, but that doesnt mean they are easy so solving one is still an achievement!