{"id":448793,"date":"2023-12-14T13:25:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T13:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/?p=448793"},"modified":"2023-12-14T13:25:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T13:25:57","slug":"gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/","title":{"rendered":"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> The annual GCHQ Christmas brainteaser is here \u2013 and it&apos;s harder than ever. <\/p>\n<p>Every year, the government office releases a series of puzzles designed for 11-18-year-olds. Over 1,000 secondary schools across the UK signed up for this year&apos;s code.<\/p>\n<p>It&apos;s based on a Christmas card sent by director of the intelligence agency Anne Keast-Butler. Each challenge is harder than the last as it&apos;s designed to test mathematical and analytical skills.<\/p>\n<p><b> READ MORE: Join the Daily Star&apos;s WhatsApp for the sexiest headlines, showbiz gossip and lots more <\/b><\/p>\n<p><b> You can read more lifestyle stories from Daily Star here. <\/b><\/p>\n<p>All seven questions have a one-word answer that can follow &quot;Christmas&quot;. So let&apos;s see if you can you crack the festive code!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31673214.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GCHQ-Christmas-Card-Challenge.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The first challenge shows four clocks at different times which is apparently a four-letter word. Then the second question asks kids to solve a riddle.<\/p>\n<p>In the riddle, it asks: &quot;What breaks but cannot fall, can leap but never crawl, can be seized but never gripped, often present, never skipped.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Code three states nine gifts have been jumbled up. These are: Declan, Beverley, Jasmine, Pudsey, Penny, Pitch, Scarborough, Sirius, and Sticky.<\/p>\n<p>You must split them into three groups and find the one word that links each group. Now onto the fourth one, people need to solve an equation.<\/p>\n<p>If MI X MI = MAA, TI+TI=RA, and DO-SO+TI-MI=RE. What does RExRE =? Remember, you&apos;re looking for a collection of letters that once again form a word that can come after &quot;Christmas&quot;.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31673210.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GCHQ-Christmas-Card-Challenge.jpg\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<figure data-mod=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk\/incoming\/article31671578.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458\/1_Sexpert-reveals-trick-to-catch-cheating-men.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p> &apos;I met lad on app but something was fishy \u2013 one trick proved he had wife and kids&apos;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/s2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/@trinitymirrordigital\/chameleon-branding\/publications\/dailystar\/img\/logo-schema-dailystar.png\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, which pair of letters come next after the following sequence:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>TH, RD, ND, ??<\/li>\n<li>ET, EL, PM, ??<\/li>\n<li>WU, SQ, OM, ??<\/li>\n<li>WR, AP, PI, ??<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Onto the sixth question, there is an image with four bars of music on \u2013 which is secretly concealing a word. Using 1s and 0s as well as the numbers 16,8,4,2,1 \u2013 can you discover the hidden word?<\/p>\n<p>Lastly (kind of) is a message you need to decode to find out the secret four-letter word:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agklq ldhum qom ndem<\/li>\n<li>Gembqgax c 4-hmqqmk vdke<\/li>\n<li>Hddp mumkxvomkm<\/li>\n<li>Ycxim gg&apos;l umkx diugdsl<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Colin, a chief puzzler at the spy agency, said: &quot;Like the work at GCHQ, solving the puzzles on the card requires a mix of minds, and we want to show young people that thinking differently is a gift.&quot;<\/p>\n<p> You can download the Christmas Challenge 2023 on the official GCHQ website. <\/p>\n<p><b> <i> Want all the biggest Lifestyle news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Hot Topics newsletter <\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailystar.co.uk\/real-life\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-31673206\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The annual GCHQ Christmas brainteaser is here \u2013 and it&apos;s harder than ever. Every year,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The annual GCHQ Christmas brainteaser is here \u2013 and it&amp;apos;s harder than ever. Every year,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Totalcelnews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GCHQ-Christmas-brainteasers-leaves-Brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/\",\"name\":\"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lifestyle\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/category\/lifestyle\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Totalcelnews.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"mediabest\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mediabest\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com","og_description":"The annual GCHQ Christmas brainteaser is here \u2013 and it&apos;s harder than ever. Every year,","og_url":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/","og_site_name":"Totalcelnews.com","article_published_time":"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00","author":"mediabest","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GCHQ-Christmas-brainteasers-leaves-Brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mediabest","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/","url":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/","name":"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles - Totalcelnews.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-14T13:25:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/lifestyle\/gchq-christmas-brainteasers-leaves-brits-baffled-with-seven-codebreaking-puzzles\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lifestyle","item":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/category\/lifestyle\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"GCHQ Christmas brainteasers leaves Brits baffled with seven codebreaking puzzles"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/","name":"Totalcelnews.com","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"mediabest","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mediabest"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448793"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totalcelnews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}