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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

December 19th, 2015, 6:29 pm

The final part is in the attachment (it's a zipped pdf).Hmm... attaching files doesn't seem to work (amended, but I wonder if this file upload script is injection prone).
Last edited by katastrofa on December 18th, 2015, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

December 31st, 2015, 5:30 pm

I must say I'm a bit impressed with some of those puzzles. It took some brains to compose them. Maybe those GCHQ people are not that stupid after all...
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

January 8th, 2016, 11:46 pm

 
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Traden4Alpha
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

January 8th, 2016, 11:58 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaI must say I'm a bit impressed with some of those puzzles. It took some brains to compose them. Maybe those GCHQ people are not that stupid after all...That's what they want you to think!In reality, they have one clever person who devised one clever stratagem:1. Post a code puzzle on the internet.2. Kidnap the winners.3. Make them create next year's puzzle.4. GOTO 1
Last edited by Traden4Alpha on January 8th, 2016, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

January 9th, 2016, 12:55 am

I couldn't work in such an atmosphere. Here's how it must look like:Now, spot the difference:
Last edited by katastrofa on January 8th, 2016, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

January 31st, 2016, 10:49 pm

Well, you still have 10 minutes :-)BTW, can you also see the penis in the stereographic image of 2D Fourier transforms of the GCHQ crests? OK, that probably means that I should give up at this point.Shall I post my answer and Python scripts used to solve the puzzles?
Last edited by katastrofa on January 30th, 2016, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

February 2nd, 2016, 4:47 am

I solved the entering puzzle by hand too! (I killed that script after 2 hours afair and I'm not even sure if it was correct.) I meant the final, Part 5 puzzles -- have you seen them? I've spent almost all my January Saturday evenings on them, but it was quite fun (even if I didn't want to know what a "turkish bear" was and I hope karma will get the person who made me "ECHO" the word "URANUS")...Puzzle 1--------------------"Where"This question consists of a list of 55 words, plus one lone word. You have to work out where the lone word slots into the list. Each of the 56 words can be associated with another word (or partial word) and this second set of 56 words are in alphabetical order. The second set of 56 words divide up into seven sets of eight words, with the seven sets representing seven methods of pairing.Where does the word CYBER fit into the following list? The list reads from left to right, top to bottom.CAN BANDIT TRACT HOLE TROUTMIDDLE TED CLONE SEA SWOOPSALLY CONSTANT DESERT ADAMS SLITWONDER TOWN RUSSIA LINCOLN ARCHIPELAGOFRONTAL DOVE BAND NIGHT LEICESTERDADA STAND OIL ZONE BOUGHTAUTO PRIM BLAISE SECRET ICECAPON CHIC MONTY HONOURABLE FITHE DELIGHT TREADING MISSION CAIMANPERFECT SON SHERINGHAM PONY DELICATEICE STREET HERO FILCH NIPThe answer needs to be entered as three words, in this order: the associated word of the listed word that precedes CYBER, CYBER s associated word, and the associated word of the listed word that follows CYBER. The three words should be entered as a single string of text with no spaces.--------------------I got MARKET (from "bear" set), MEN (from "Dr Who villains") and NADA (from "zeroes"). It didn't feel like the only possible solution though...
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

February 2nd, 2016, 8:22 am

Congratulations! Which one have you won?The complete GCHQ quiz is under this link: http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/diffe ... part5.html (in that case I won't be posting my/the? solutions in case you wanted to try)
 
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katastrofa
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

February 2nd, 2016, 10:10 am

I think I've heard about that Dutch quiz. It's like a general knowledge multiple choice test or something? I believe someone once asked me a question about particle physics (?) which came from it, but I may be wrong...The GCHQ puzzle is more abstract. My cat submitted the answers, but I think there was some final answer to bind them all that we haven't managed to find due to time limitations :-)
 
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Traden4Alpha
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GCHQ Christmas Challenge

February 2nd, 2016, 1:49 pm

Yes, the Dutch quiz is general knowledge but often involves reasoning about physical systems, intuitive vs. counterintuitive outcomes, and interactions between theoretical and empirical results.