GCHQ releases ‘toughest’ codebreaker Christmas card puzzle

Spy agency GCHQ has launched its annual festive challenge, testing the codebreaking and maths skills of schoolchildren across the country in seven increasingly complex puzzles.

This year’s Christmas card is fronted by a rare image of a snow-covered Bletchley Park and was sent to more than 1,000 secondary schools on Thursday.

The card encourages pupils to work as a team to reveal the final festive message and includes a maths-based bonus puzzle, which has been described as the toughest to date.

Bletchley Park was the wartime home of GCHQ and the featured image, taken in January 1940, was discovered in the personal family album of Joan Wingfield, who worked on breaking Italian naval codes.

GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said: “Puzzles have been at the heart of GCHQ from the start.

“These skills represent our historic roots in cryptography and encryption and continue to be important to our modern-day mission to keep the country safe.

“Our puzzlers have created a challenge which is designed for a mix of minds to solve. Whether you are an analyst, an engineer or a creative, there is a puzzle for everyone. This is one for classmates, family and friends to try to solve together.”

Now in its third year, the challenge, which is available on the agency’s website, aims to provide an insight into GCHQ’s work and inspire young people to study Stem subjects.

Colin, chief puzzler at GCHQ, said: “Our mission relies on people thinking differently and finding inventive ways to approach challenges.

“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.”