Could you spy for Britain? Take the fiendishly tricky test set by GCHQ’s codebreakers in a new book
Solving puzzles for a living doesn’t sound too hard a job. The ‘spooks’ at GCHQ in Cheltenham, one of the UK’s most secretive organisations, keep our country safe by cracking the most fiendish of codes. In their new book, Britain’s cleverest codebreakers have set their own puzzles for you to try. Test yourself and see if YOU have got what it takes to be a spy…
Boffins at GCHQ have produced a quiz book ahead of Christmas to raise money for charity
1. The early bird
What connects Skipper, Mumble, Wheezy, Pinga, Tux and Feathers McGraw?
CLUE: Think of the publisher.
2. Jane’s Novelty Decorations
Last night Jane was decorating an unusual birthday cake. Her ingredients were 3oz marzipan, 6 juniper berries, 5oz mayonnaise — and 4 of what sort of fruit?
CLUE: Begin by using a calendar.
Michael Caine starred in this memorable movie
3. Bravo for the movies!
Complete the following:
a) The Grand Budapest _____
b) A Passage To ______
c) The Treasure Of The ____ Madre
d) ______/Victoria
e) ______ Doodle Dandy
f) ______
a-e did. f didn’t. What?
CLUE: It’s as easy as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie
4. Divide into pairs
Pair the following:
AN, BLACK, EX, LIVER, NEW, NOR, OX, PORTS, SOU, TOR, WAT, WEN
CLUE: Try using a map.
5. What the . . ?
Which is the odd one out?
Bleak, Great, Hard, Little, Twist
CLUE: It was the best of puzzles, it was the worst of puzzles.
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6. A gimme
Does your mother know why:
Ring + Money = I Do?
CLUE: Mamma Mia. Here we go again.
Agnetha Faltskog, pictured, on stage during the 1970s with her Eurovision-winning band
7. Three’s a crowd
Arrange into pairs:
BLIND, CIRCUS, DAY, EVENT, FRENCH, HENS, ISLAND, LEGGED, LINE, MICE, MILE, MONKEYS, POINT, RACE, RING, TURN, WHIP, WISE
CLUE: Actually two’s company — three’s a red herring.
8. Tickets
If a train ticket from Wigan to Ripon costs £1, a ticket from St Ives to Tiverton costs £4 and a ticket from Hove to Sevenoaks costs £5 then how much is a ticket from Poole to Aylesbury — and why might going by road seem more appropriate?
CLUE: It looks like the Romans have left something in all these towns.
9. Mssng vwls
Divide the following items into 7 sets of 7:
BL CLSSS CNDL
FRC FRDY FRTN
FRTYNN FRTYTW GRN
GLTTNY GRD GRDNS
KLGRM KLVN LGHTHS
LST ML MNDY
MPR MSLM MTR
NDG NRTHMRC NTRCTC
NVY PRD PYRMD
RD RNG RP
S SCND SLTH
SNDY STHMRC STRDY
STRL STT SVN
THRSDY THRTYFV TMPL
TSDY TWNTYGHT TWNTYN
VLT WDNSDY WRTH
YLLW
CLUE: You could sing a rainbow to find one of the groups.
10. The pick of the litter
What connects:
A capital city in Oceania?
A European country bordering Turkey?
A river flowing through Colombia and Venezuela?
A Channel Island whose capital is St Anne?
CLUE: Underground, overground.
11. Some sums
a) If R + B = P and R + Y = O, then B + Y =?
b) If R + B = M and B + G = C, then R + B + G =?
c) If Y + Y = B, Y + G = B, R + P = B and G + B = B, then R + R =?
CLUE: Try colouring in the letters.
12. Odd one out
What word or phrase is the odd one out in each group?
a) Disappear, Grapple, Peace, Pondicherry, Sublime
b) Crewe, Hootenanny, Kitchen, Nightmare, Tomato
c) Firenze, Gilead, Jargon, Marigold, Pumpernickel
d) Catwoman, Deus ex machina, Parishioner, Pyromania, Scuba
CLUE: It is the beginning of the end.
13. Superman
If I shrivel up in Trowbridge and find connections in Lincoln, idiots in Reading and smart young men in Aylesbury, where might I sleep?
CLUE: You can ‘county’ on us for a clue!
14. Doors
Divide the following words into two sets:
AB, COP, FANCY, FLUX, HIDE, KING, RAG, VEST, WARD, WIPE
CLUE: Think about the ins and outs of the puzzle.
15. What’s the answer?
a) What is the first letter of the Greek alphabet?
b) What sort of rain did Guns N’ Roses sing about?
c) What Spanish word means a range of mountains?
d) What are Ardbeg, Glenfiddich and Talisker?
e) Which nymph faded away until all that was left was her voice?
f) Which Shakespeare character completes this answer?
CLUE: It’s still as easy as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie.
16. Sequence
What word could follow:
SQUABBLE, ANECDOTE, WAVEFORM, TOUGHEST, DEMIJOHN, RECKLESS?
CLUE: It’s not the beginning or the end.
17. Chickens in the gallery
The dog’s in the canal, the cat’s on the fell and the sheep is over there. Is the pig in the cellar, the larder or on the porch?
CLUE: Don’t wh-ine, it’ll be f-ine.
Taken from THE GCHQ PUZZLE BOOK II, published this week by Penguin at £12.99 © Crown 2018.
To order a copy for £9.74 (offer valid to November 3, 2018; p&p free on orders over £15), visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640.
Funding from the proceeds of this book will support the mental health charity Heads Together, headstogether.org
So did you crack the Cheltenham code?
1. They’re all fictional penguins, from Madagascar, Happy Feet, Toy Story 2, Pingu, Linux and The Wrong Trousers.
2. Apricot. The ingredients start with abbreviations for months corresponding to the associated number: MARzipan, APRicots, MAYonnaise, JUNiper berries.
3. The answers are all letters from the Nato phonetic alphabet, and given in alphabetical order:
a) The Grand Budapest Hotel
b) A Passage To India
c) The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
d) Victor/Victoria
e) Yankee Doodle Dandy
f) Zulu
a-e all won Oscars.
4. These are UK towns with the endings missing. The words are paired if they share the same missing part: (AN, WEN)DOVER, (OX, WAT)FORD, (EX, PORTS)MOUTH, (BLACK, LIVER)POOL, (NEW, TOR)QUAY, (NOR, SOU)THAMPTON.
5. Twist. This is the second word in the title of a Dickens novel. The others are first words: Bleak House, Great Expectations, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Oliver Twist.
6. Repeated words in ABBA song titles: Ring Ring (2) + Money Money Money (3) = I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do (5).
7. The words form pairs that can be preceded by THREE:
THREE BLIND MICE; THREE DAY EVENT; THREE FRENCH HENS; THREE LEGGED RACE; THREE LINE WHIP; THREE MILE ISLAND; THREE POINT TURN; THREE RING CIRCUS; THREE WISE MONKEYS
8. £50. The cost is derived from the Roman numerals that appear in the names of the towns:
£1: wIgan — rIpon
£4: st Ives — tIVerton
£5: hoVe — seVenoaks
£50: pooLe — ayLesbury
The last remark refers to Roman roads.
9. Seven Deadly Sins: Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Wrath.
Colours of the rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
Ancient Wonders: Colossus, Gardens, Lighthouse, Mausoleum, Pyramid, Statue, Temple.
Multiples of seven: Seven, Fourteen, Twenty-one, Twenty-eight, Thirty-five, Forty-two, Forty-nine.
SI Units: Ampere, Candela, Kelvin, Kilogram, Metre, Mole, Second.
Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America, South America.
10. The Wombles: Wellington, Bulgaria, Orinoco, Alderney.
11. a) G — red mixed with blue makes purple; red mixed with yellow makes orange; blue mixed with yellow makes green.
b) W — red light mixed with blue light makes magenta; blue light mixed with green light makes cyan; red light mixed with blue light and green light makes white.
c) Y — In snooker: yellow + yellow = brown; yellow + green = blue; red + pink = black; green + brown = black; red + red = yellow.
12. a) Peace. It starts with a vegetable; the others end in fruit: disapPEAR, grAPPLE, PEAce, pondiCHERRY, subLIME.
b) Tomato. It starts with a male animal; the others end in female animals: crEWE, hooteNANNY, kitcHEN, nightMARE, TOMato.
c) Firenze. It starts with a classical element; the others end in modern elements: FIREnze, giLEAD, jARGON, mariGOLD, pumperNICKEL.
d) Parishioner. It starts with a capital city; the others end in a country: catwOMAN, deus ex maCHINA, PARIShioner, pyROMANIA, sCUBA.
13. Bedford. Clues refer to abbreviations of the counties for which the town is the county town. Trowbridge is in Wilts, Lincoln is in Lincs, Reading is in Berks, Aylesbury is in Bucks and Bedford is in Beds.
14. The words can be preceded by IN or succeeded by OUT: inFANCY, inFLUX, inKING, inVEST, inWARD, ABout, COPout, HIDEout, RAGout, WIPEout.
15. The answers spell out ANSWER in Nato phonetics:
a) Alpha
b) November
c) Sierra
d) Whiskey
e) Echo
f) Romeo
16. E.g. CHIMNEYS, FIRMNESS or CALMNESS. The sequence is formed of eight-letter words, containing AB, CD, EF, GH, IJ, KL and finally MN as the two middle letters.
17. The pig is in the PORCh. The dog is CANine, so is in the CANal. The cat is FELine, so is on the FELl. The sheep is Ovine, so is Over there. The pig is PORCine, so is in the PORch.
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