The Turing Challenge

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Mick Norris
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Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

The Turing Challenge

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:51 am

GCHQ
To celebrate Alan Turing featuring on the new £50 banknote, we’ve created our hardest puzzle ever in his honour.

The #TuringChallenge requires you to solve a string of puzzles which get increasingly difficult. Crack the answers to the first 11 puzzles which should give you 11 single words or names which you’ll need your very own Enigma simulator to decode!
Anyone having a go at this?
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Kevin Thurlow
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Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:03 pm

"Anyone having a go at this?"

Might do - the first one looks ok! But they will get harder. I wonder if "Cracking the Cryptic" will have a go.

Kevin Thurlow
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Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:44 pm

I think I've done the first one, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with the next one...

(Edit - not understanding the question probably means I'm not cut out to be a cryptographer...)

Matthew Turner
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Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Matthew Turner » Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:56 pm

Kevin,
The code below the picture is a reproduction of the text above. Solve it to read what the last two code words are.

Matthew Turner
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Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Matthew Turner » Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:04 pm

Sorry, I have looked again and scratch the second part above

"The code below the picture is a reproduction of the text above"

should lead you to the answer, which I think is one 9 letter word.

Matthew Turner
Posts: 3600
Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 11:54 am

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Matthew Turner » Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:20 pm

You've got me hooked now.

Mick Norris
Posts: 10310
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:05 pm

Ok, so that's puzzles 1 & 2 solved
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5803
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:04 pm

Thanks to Matt, me too...

" I wonder if "Cracking the Cryptic" will have a go."

Yes - they did the lot in 2 hours and will probably broadcast their solve of interesting ones at some stage.

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5803
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:20 pm

And sure enough... "Cracking the Cryptic"'s youtube channel has

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TnmcBhncM4

Mick Norris
Posts: 10310
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Bolton, Greater Manchester

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:33 pm

Thanks for that Kevin, I'd have never got near the answer
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Kevin Thurlow
Posts: 5803
Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:28 pm

Re: The Turing Challenge

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:02 pm

"Thanks for that Kevin, I'd have never got near the answer"

Having failed miserably with some of the middle ones, I got one of the later ones quickly. I did spot anagram possibilities when the answer to Q2 appeared, but I have to confess to not having heard of a couple of the corrected answers in the last bit. Anyone either young or foreign might struggle with some of the easy ones!

CTC has been a great companion over the last year, and I find sudoku with knight's move restriction fun, and not so difficult as some of the others. But I guess I have spent my entire life thinking of knight moves...

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