Did you crack the code? GCHQ reveals puzzle answers

Hidden within the puzzle are thirteen clues of letters which can then be brought together to spell out a message. Credit: PA

The UK's intelligence, security and cyber agency GCHQ has released the answers to a puzzle they created to get the attention of potential new recruits.

The visual puzzle, released on Thursday, asked people to identify the letters contained in the picture before putting them together to reveal a hidden message. There are 13 elements, each representing letters of the alphabet.

Created with Manchester-based artist Justin Eagleton, GCHQ said the puzzle has been designed to appeal to people who "process information differently and possess strong lateral-thinking skills".

The agency has also said it was releasing the puzzle to mark the launch of its page on LinkedIn.

GCHQ said it's new LinkedIn page is to "recruit a mix of minds to tackle the toughest challenges facing the UK and counter real-world and online threats from nation states, criminal groups, terrorists and individuals".

GCHQ's headquarters in Cheltenham. Credit: ITV News

But did you crack the code?

The answers

10 of the 13 clues are images representing the phonetic alphabet and homophones for letters in English or French.

The remaining three are representations of braille, British Sign Language and Morse code.

The letters can be rearranged to spell "Journey to GCHQ".

J: Juliet (in window)O: French bottle of water (eau)U: The ewe in the roadR: Romeo (looking up at Juliet)N: November, on the 2024 calendarE: British Sign Language on top of the buildingY: The braille representation in the TV carried by the helicopter

T: Cup of tea in the shop windowO: Morse code in the road

G: GolfC: The sea at the bottom of the imageH: The hotelQ: The queue of cars

The phonetic alphabet clues are Romeo (R) and Juliet (J) in the central block of flats, November (N) on the calendar, hotel (H) for the right-hand building and the woman playing golf (G) to the right of the top-secret stamp.

The homophones are a French bottle of water (O, for eau), the ewe (U) on the road, the cup of tea (T) on the café window, the sea (C) at the bottom of the picture and the queue (Q) of cars.

The braille for Y is carried by the helicopter, the British Sign Language for E is at the top of the building and the highlighted three dashes in the road are Morse code for O.


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