• GCHQ Monday Puzzle

    From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to All on Mon Feb 10 08:59:23 2025
    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on their
    X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 10 10:55:17 2025
    On 10/02/2025 08:59, David Entwistle wrote:
    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on their
    X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    "I have guessed the correct answer without understanding the
    problem." - Richard Tobin, re Mathsbombe

    I have guessed the correct answer without looking up the relevant
    numbers." - Richard Heathfield, re GCHQ

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Mon Feb 10 12:18:12 2025
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:55:17 +0000, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    I have guessed the correct answer without looking up the relevant
    numbers." - Richard Heathfield, re GCHQ

    Hmmm... That does seem uncharacteristically easy this week. Perhaps last
    week's puzzle is more of a challenge?

    Which is the odd one out?

    ALTERNATIVE, BENIN, PANNIER, PARIAH, PARTNER, STACKABLE

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Doc O'Leary ,@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 10 18:20:05 2025
    For your reference, records indicate that
    David Entwistle <david.entwistle@btinternet.com> wrote:

    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on their
    X account. For any that don't:

    Yay, more driving Usenet towards “social media” . . .

    --
    "Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
    River Tam, Trash, Firefly

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to All on Tue Feb 11 08:00:08 2025
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 18:20:05 -0000 (UTC), Doc O'Leary , wrote:

    Yay, more driving Usenet towards “social media” . . .

    Hi Doc,

    I'm no fan of social media either. I don't have accounts for any of the platforms.

    The GCHQ puzzles are now available without an account. There was a time
    when that wasn't the case and I didn't access them then. Generally,
    excluding the last, I find the GCHQ puzzles amongst the most challenging.
    But, of course you can avoid them if you wish.

    Best wishes,
    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 17 11:54:32 2025
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:59:23 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on
    their X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    This week's....

    Don't hit the Snooze button on this week's #GCHQPuzzle

    What do you think the answer is?

    ENIGMA RATING 1

    Which country fills the gap?

    NOM, SUET, ? , HURTS,
    FIR, SUTRA, NUS

    #GCHQPuzzle



    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 17 12:48:11 2025
    On 17/02/2025 11:54, David Entwistle wrote:
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:59:23 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on
    their X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    This week's....

    Don't hit the Snooze button on this week's #GCHQPuzzle

    What do you think the answer is?

    ENIGMA RATING 1

    Which country fills the gap?

    NOM, SUET, ? , HURTS,
    FIR, SUTRA, NUS

    #GCHQPuzzle


    These are for 12-year-olds, I take it?


    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 17 16:33:09 2025
    On 17/02/2025 16:15, David Entwistle wrote:
    On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:48:11 +0000, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    These are for 12-year-olds, I take it?

    :o)

    Have you been doing the GCHQ puzzles for a while?

    I've done the two you've posted. That's a while, kindasorta.

    They are rated, in
    difficulty, from 1 to 3. This is a 1...

    They exaggerate. But of course there is a place for easy puzzles,
    and I presume that's precisely the place they're aiming at. I
    have a puzzle book by GCHQ, and by the above 1-3 scale many of
    its puzzles rate a 50-odd..

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Mon Feb 17 16:15:55 2025
    On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:48:11 +0000, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    These are for 12-year-olds, I take it?

    :o)

    Have you been doing the GCHQ puzzles for a while? They are rated, in difficulty, from 1 to 3. This is a 1...

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Mon Feb 17 18:14:30 2025
    On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 16:33:09 +0000, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    They exaggerate. But of course there is a place for easy puzzles,
    and I presume that's precisely the place they're aiming at. I have a
    puzzle book by GCHQ, and by the above 1-3 scale many of its puzzles rate
    a 50-odd..

    Oh, Richard, you need to work on your grumpiness. I was looking forward to saying 'Ooh You Are Awful... But I Like You!".

    I've got a couple of GCHQ puzzle books. I rate GCHQ as second-to-none when
    it comes to setting puzzles (no offence to anyone here).

    Take them for what they are, easy or hard, and lets enjoy every one that
    comes along.

    Best wishes,
    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Mon Feb 17 18:57:26 2025
    On 17/02/2025 18:14, David Entwistle wrote:
    Oh, Richard, you need to work on your grumpiness.

    I practise for several hours a day. What more do you bloody want?

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Wed Feb 12 09:43:29 2025
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:18:12 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    Which is the odd one out?

    ALTERNATIVE, BENIN, PANNIER, PARIAH, PARTNER, STACKABLE

    Answer (ROT13):

    CNAAVRE

    Vg unf n zhfvpny (NAAVR) va vg ehaavat sbejneqf, gur bguref unir; RIVGN,
    AVAR, UNVE, ERAG naq PNGF onpxjneqf.

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Tue Feb 18 19:01:00 2025
    On 17/02/2025 18:57, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    I practise for several hours a day. What more do you bloody want?

    :o) Good enough.

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Tue May 6 06:02:07 2025
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:59:23 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on
    their X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    There's been no GCHQ Puzzle this week - Monday was a bank holiday in the
    UK. This one is from the excellent GCHQ Puzzle Book 1.

    125. Number Sequence IV
    (a) 7, 8, 5, 5, 3, 4, 4, ?
    (b) 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, ?
    (c) 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, ?

    I think I know (a) and (c), but not (b), as yet.

    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Tue May 6 07:36:14 2025
    On 06/05/2025 07:02, David Entwistle wrote:
    On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 08:59:23 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    I'm sure many of you know that GCHQ publish a puzzle each Monday on
    their X account. For any that don't:

    https://x.com/GCHQ

    There's been no GCHQ Puzzle this week - Monday was a bank holiday in the
    UK. This one is from the excellent GCHQ Puzzle Book 1.

    125. Number Sequence IV
    (a) 7, 8, 5, 5, 3, 4, 4, ?
    (b) 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, ?
    (c) 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, ?

    I think I know (a) and (c), but not (b), as yet.

    You do know (a). Even /I/ know (a).

    You may well know (c), although I can't see it myself.

    (b), however, is just one of their 'read my mind' puzzles that
    they love to waste people's time with. A good cryptographer tries
    not to leave any hooks you can pick at. A good puzzle setter
    tries to be fair to the solver by leaving at least /one/ hook.
    GCHQ is packed full of good cryptographers.

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Tue May 6 14:37:16 2025
    On Tue, 6 May 2025 07:36:14 +0100, Richard Heathfield wrote:

    (b), however, is just one of their 'read my mind' puzzles that they love
    to waste people's time with. A good cryptographer tries not to leave any hooks you can pick at. A good puzzle setter tries to be fair to the
    solver by leaving at least /one/ hook. GCHQ is packed full of good cryptographers.

    Yes, I can't get DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI out of my head now, but it isn't
    that. For (b), there are ten in the series, which may suggest number
    digits, but I haven't been able to progress that anywhere.

    (c) is related to last week's puzzle, if you tried that.

    I remember reading somewhere "If Britain ever faces a puzzle based threat, we're in good hands".



    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From David Entwistle@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Wed May 7 08:03:50 2025
    On Tue, 6 May 2025 06:02:07 -0000 (UTC), David Entwistle wrote:

    There's been no GCHQ Puzzle this week - Monday was a bank holiday in the
    UK. This one is from the excellent GCHQ Puzzle Book 1.

    125. Number Sequence IV (a) 7, 8, 5, 5, 3, 4, 4, ?
    (b) 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 4, 2, 3, ?
    (c) 1, 2, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, ?

    ANSWER
    NSWER
    SWER
    WER
    ER
    R

    (a) 6. The sequence is the number of letters in the names of months.
    August has 6 letters.

    (b) 8. The sequence is the number of letters in each word of 'To be or not
    to be that is the question'. 'Question has 8 letters.

    (c) 3. The sequence is the length of the Roman numbers. XVI has length 3.



    --
    David Entwistle

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  • From Richard Heathfield@21:1/5 to David Entwistle on Wed May 7 09:24:59 2025
    On 07/05/2025 09:03, David Entwistle wrote:
    (b) 8. The sequence is the number of letters in each word of 'To be or not
    to be that is the question'. 'Question has 8 letters.

    Hypothesis confirmed. That's not a puzzle; it's an exercise in
    telepathy.

    --
    Richard Heathfield
    Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
    "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
    Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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  • From Carl G.@21:1/5 to Richard Heathfield on Wed May 7 09:13:19 2025
    On 5/7/2025 1:24 AM, Richard Heathfield wrote:
    On 07/05/2025 09:03, David Entwistle wrote:
    (b) 8. The sequence is the number of letters in each word of 'To be or
    not
    to be that is the question'. 'Question has 8 letters.

    Hypothesis confirmed. That's not a puzzle; it's an exercise in telepathy.

    "This is why I usually don't even attempt this kind of puzzle."
    (4, 2, 3, 1, 7, 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, 2, ?)*

    In the future I plan to use the following sure-fire method to solve
    similar puzzles:
    1. Make a list of all well-known quotes in all common languages.
    2. Create number sequences based on the number of letters in each
    sequential word.
    3. Check the puzzle's number sequence to the sequences in the list.
    4. If a match is found, I've solved the puzzle!
    5. If not, I'll try using the number of letters in every other word in
    the quote.
    6. If that doesn't work, I'll try other patterns (like every third word,
    words in a Fibonacci sequence, alternating between two quotes, etc.).
    7. If that still doesn't work, I'll convert Wikipedia's text into
    numbers and scan for correlations.
    8. If that still doesn't work, I'll let someone else (like Ilan Mayer)
    post the solution, and pretend that I "Just about figured it out".

    --
    Carl G.


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