Yet another 10B post
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Posts
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Nevermind Harry I solved it1
Well done! That is excellent news. Harry
Wait I can’t find the typo… can you help, Harry?
[Edited by Harry]
remove this btw thx
I have just switched on feedback, so maybe you can try again and see if it helps? Harry
HARRY WE SOLVED IT!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!! THAT TOOK FOREVER! We were on the verge of giving up, but the efforts really paid!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH I AM SOOO HAPPYYYYY 🥳🥳🥳
( I am so sorry to everyone else reading this, this is a really stupid thing for me to post on here, but I just can’t contain my excitement! So sorry, I am not useful at all! )
Good luck to those still doing it! One advice I would say, is keep going even if you think you aren’t correct, cuz there ALWAYS is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! 🌈
Well done, that is amazing!! Thanks for letting us know! I am sure it will just encourage the others. Harry
FINALLY!!!!! The case has been solved. Thank you so much Harry and Jodie, this challenge (the whole competition, but especially 10B) has been phenominal, and really got me hooked on ciphers. I’d say the difficulty was correct in the end – but I probably wouldn’t have said that last week! For those of you who are going to solve it tomorrow or the day after (you will get there in the end) here is my advice: follow the clues in the news exactly. Don’t overcomplicate it (like I almost did) by trying whacky things not mentioned in the news – just do what it says, and you will crack the code. Believe in youselves!
To everyone who made this competition possible, I’ll always be grateful, hope you all had a very happy Christmas and New Year, see you next September!Thank you! We are very glad you made it! Harry
Hi Harry!! Thx!! I really enjoyed this challenge and I look forward to doing it in future years. A lot of thought must have gone into this, I really appreciate that and I also want to thank Harry for helping us all with useful hints along the way!!
Really excited for next year’s challenge. 😉Us too! Lots of you have said very kind things about the challenge and we are very grateful. Do keep in touch! It makes a huge difference to all of us in the Maths department at Southampton Uni and our supporters at GCHQ, Trinity College Cambridge, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Bluesky Foundation and Northrop Grumman to know that their efforts and ours are worthwhile. Wishing you all the best, Harry
Made it!! Finally!! THANK YOU very much, Harry – it has been so much fun!
Yay! Congratulations and thank you!! Harry
Not until the final day of the challenge did I notice that there were clues in the news. I am so glad that I managed to solve the final one (on the very last day) after putting so much time and effort into it. The design of the puzzle is such an elegant and genius idea, especially about the “wall”. I was not aware that the key length is 7, with the “bricks” staggering rather than piled neatly with a key length of 21. I had great fun throughout the challenges; this is definitely a highlight of mine in 2024!
Thank Harry and the staff in this event for the intriguing puzzles and stories, this wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of all of you!Thank you, really glad you made it. Even more fun without the hints! Harry
YES
31 hours from the final gong.
I still have a few neurons left.This was my 1st time participating in National Cipher Challenge. I finally managed to submit the solution for 10B – thanks to cases files information and how to break guide posted by organisers and posts on forum that kept me pushing for solving it. Thank you so much for incredible challenges and hints provided throughout the competition. Your dedication and effort in creating such engaging and thought-provoking challenges is truly inspiring. The experience has not only been enjoyable but also immensely educational. Thank you for all the hard work and creativity that went into organising this event. I look forward to participating in future challenges and continuing to learn and grow through these exciting opportunities.
Thank you too, we really enjoy it, and it is great getting to know you all a little! We look forward to seeing you back here next year. Harry
Can people over the age of 18 still enter the competition, just without winning prizes?
Yes they can! Thinking of coming back? Harry
A three needle telegraph can only hold six characters (as per the clue) and the only six character cipher I can fin is the ADFGVX cipher. But surely this can’t be as this cipher was discovered after Ada and Charles’ time. And assuming the three needle telegraph follows the same logic as a six needle or five needle one which letter is /// pointing to? My confusion cannot be put into words. I really must complement the difficulty of this years challenge seeing as it only took me till quarter past eleven (painstakingly close to the second deadline) on the Thursday of release last time.
Thanks for the compliment! As you now know, the 10B cipher this year was inspired by the ADFGVX cipher, but it wasn’t exactly that and could have been discovered by our protagonists. The ideas of substitution and transposition were know to them, as was the Polybius square. Indexing the rows and columns by the 3 needle telegraph code would have been a natural idea. We have never insisted on strict historical accuracy with our choice of final challenge ciphers, not least because you lot would find that far too easy! In any case, while it was inspired by the ADFGVX cipher, it was different. We often design our own ciphers to keep things interesting and make you think and that is what we did this time.
By choosing to index the rows and columns with a three needle code instead of using two needles we introduced a weakness while disguising  the frequencies. The third needle ensured that every character in the cipher text appeared with exactly the same frequency. that slowed a lot of you down for a long time. But it also introduced a check sum which meant that you could use the local distribution of characters to determine the transposition used in the first stage of the encryption. You will be able to read how the winners used that when we publish their accounts for the prize giving.
Went on here for a final time, didn’t solve it but I’m so happy for the people who did – congratulations!!! 🎉🎉 I don’t know if I was just going in the wrong direction this whole time, but honestly it has been a blast, and definitely something to keep me entertained during the holidays. Thank you so much Harry and all the sponsors for organising this event, I really am looking forward to next year’s challenge! Happy New Year!
Thank you too! Really glad you enjoyed it. Won’t be long before we start planning the new Challenge! Harry
Wow, this years 10B was a ‘corker’ – been a long time since we saw the forums so
alive and buzzing with calls for help, and those giving hints, mostly in vain for a
handful, but by shear determination and staying power some got there before time up, just!Yes, I struggled too! I am not in the competition just here for the fun of it.
Well 10B: I mean not only a mixed up ciphertext but a mixed up needle board too
and on top of that a keyed ADFGVX matrix, so a nice hard one, cipher setter.I’m sure Harry will join me in saying
Well done all who submitted before time up, and to those that tried, until next year ***stay curious***Again, the pain then the ecstasy, terrific fun ‘but should come with a mental heath warning’
To everyone who solved 10B, how did you do it??
Check the news.
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