GCHQ's Christmas Card 2023

[Black Hole]

 

[prpr]

So far I've done 1 and 5 part 4 without too much trouble, and 4 after a little bit more thought.
Edit: And 5 part 1, then 7. Then 5 part 3, and (working backwards) 5 part 2.

 

[EEPhil]

Don't think I'll be applying to GCHQ. Managed 1 - a bit too easy maybe. The rest have me baffled!

 

[prpr]

Finally got 2, duh! Only decoded part of 3 but enough to take a punt.
Guessed more at 6, without working it out. Then fitted it all together and got the final answer, which made sense, so must have been right!

 

[Black Hole]

The answers are published today, but I won't be looking! I haven't tackled the puzzle yet, not been "in the right space". A mate gave me the GCHQ puzzle book several years ago, and we're working our way through it over the occasional pint.

 

[EEPhil]

The answers are published today, but I won't be looking!

Where am I likely to find those answers. I will be looking, to see if there is the remotest chance I might have made sense of the questions. They're all, but one, too difficult for me.

Edit: Answering my own question, I tried looking on the GCHQ site and found that the image posted in #1 is missing something in Q6. No wonder I couldn't make sense of it!

 

[Black Hole]

Oh. You mean the actual scrap of paper? Perhaps you would kindly post it up, to avoid the risk of me seeing the answers.

The answers are in the paper today (Mail), but I skipped over that page. There might have been an erratum.

 

[prpr]

I tried looking on the GCHQ site and found that the image posted in #1 is missing something in Q6. No wonder I couldn't make sense of it!

I suspected as much, given there is almost nothing else to go on.

Spoiler

(I didn't know this before, having never received post from the USA, but they really do stamp "Happy Holidays" on the mail. I thought it was just a cheesy spoken phrase!)

 

[prpr]

This is the correct image, as downloaded from the source, which helps quite a bit:

 

[Foxtrot204]

The key point here is to ask the pertinent question, and that is , how many currently serving GCHQ employees are able to solve the puzzle, the general public don't need to concern themselves with solving meaningless BS, only then knowing the answer to that question, we all would sleep more soundly in our beds knowing full well, that all these very bright puzzle-solving chaps and chapesses are keeping us all safe.

 

[Luke]

The key point here is to ask the pertinent question, and that is , how many currently serving GCHQ employees are able to solve the puzzle,

That is at odds with what GCHQ has stated on its web site for this year's Christmas Challenge and teamwork.

 

[Foxtrot204]

I stand corrected.

 

[Black Hole]

The answers are published today, but I won't be looking! I haven't tackled the puzzle yet, not been "in the right space". A mate gave me the GCHQ puzzle book several years ago, and we're working our way through it over the occasional pint.

Well, just got around to a pie and a pint with my friend and broke out the puzzle. As a collaborative effort:

1 easy.
2 straightforward.
3 had us scratching our heads for a while, although I spotted places in Yorkshire, which then suggested pudding as the overall answer and then reverse-engineered the remainder (with a bit of googling to discover there is a footballer and a Harry Potter character to complete the pattern).
4 is a logic/arithmetic problem so fell straight into my lap.
5 part 1 and 4 fell out, which provided enough to guess the answer, but with no idea how parts 2 and 3 worked (until we looked at the answer).
6 straightforward.
7 no idea, and the published "solution" doesn't help at all.
8 (final challenge) far too obscure.

There is a fuller explanation than GCHQ's provided solutions here: https://iamkate.com/games/gchq-2023/

I think last year's was easier than this! IIRC we worked it all out.

 

[prpr]

7 no idea, and the published "solution" doesn't help at all.

It's a fairly obvious letter substitution based on knowledge of English words, so without too much difficulty:
m -> e
c -> a
gq'l -> it's

which gives:

.i.st s...e t.e ...e
I.e.ti.. a 4-.ette. ....
.... e.e....e.e
.a..e it's .e.. ...i..s

Then you can do:
h -> l
k -> r

After that it's fairly easy:
a -> f
d -> o
u -> v
o -> h
e -> d
n -> c
b -> n
x -> y
v -> w
p -> k
y -> m
i -> b
s -> u
and then read down the first character in each row.

Number 8 is just picking the letters out of the answers, once you've assigned an answer to a symbol. Start with the long ones and then work out the possible letters in the other positions. Drops out fairly easily.

The only remaining question is where did you get the original image without the music?

 

[Black Hole]

It's a fairly obvious letter substitution based on knowledge of English words, so without too much difficulty:

We were trying letter shifts. I thought the "4-" and the ' were a clue, but the penny did not drop.

Number 8 is just picking the letters out of the answers, once you've assigned an answer to a symbol. Start with the long ones and then work out the possible letters in the other positions. Drops out fairly easily.

!

The only remaining question is where did you get the original image without the music?

Daily Mail (not the Guardian)!