The tale behind the challenges

[Cipherkings]

Hi Harry,

If this information is not too secret STRAP3B, can you tell us what inspired the story spread throughout the Challenges – is it an original tale, or based on a true story?

The story belongs entirely in the world of BOSS, but some of the facts in it are true. Kate Warne really was an American detective (the first ever hired by Pinkerton). The Koh-i-Noor diamond really was taken in tribute from the young Maharajah Duleep Singh, and he must have struggled with that. There really was disappointment in the appearance of the diamond – cut in the Asian fashion it was not as bright as Westerners were used to, and in the end it was decided to cut it in the European style to increase its brilliance. It lost much of its mass in the process, and the cutting might have been a further insult to its original owners. The use of tallow as a grease on rifle cartridges was offensive to the Hindu Sepoys who served in the imperial armies, and eventually led to an uprising, several years after the story is set. There were several attempts on Victoria’s life, and some of the establishment were afraid that there would be another at the World Fair. The quote from King Ernest was genuine and some tried to persuade Her Majesty not to attend the opening, though in fact she and her family attended many times without incident. Oh, and the three needle and six needle telegraphs were certainly implied by the design of Wheatstone and Cooke, but I don’t think they were ever made. Certainly not marketed by them. Harry.

PS, Babbage and Dickens really were friends and did campaign to remove buskers from London Streets, but not successfully during Babbage’s lifetime.

 

[Author]

Posts