RULE REMINDER: Rapid fire multiple submissions put an unreasonable load on the servers and make it difficult for others to submit. Anyone who makes an unreasonable number of submissions will be open to disqualification. In the first instance this will mean that anyone who submits more than 20 times in 10 minutes will be disqualified.
First time here? Your task is to try and decipher the text below. There are two parts to the Challenge, part A and part B, and you should try to decipher both of them, but you will get a score for each one, so don’t worry if you can’t break one of them this week. We are still in the practice rounds, so your score won’t count for the overall leader board until Challenge 4. The text you can see below is part A of Challenge 2, so spend a little time trying to break it, and when you have, then you (or your team captain if you are not the captain of your team), should paste your solution in the box at the bottom of the page and press the submit button.
Don’t forget to take a look at part A if you haven’t done already, it contains useful information about part B!
Our mutual friend
As we mentioned above this is where you can submit your solution. Since this is a practice challenge we will give you feedback for your submission so you can try to improve it if it is not quite right. If there are too many mistakes then we won’t do that, as we don’t want to encourage you to just guess!
Top Secret: For your eyes only
My dear Grenville, I must apologise for Charles, he is a good man, but can be irascible, and travel really does not suit him. I read his letter to you with some concern (thank you for sending me a copy), seeing that it demonstrates a lowness in his spirts, but I can assure you that he intends only the best for our endeavour. It took the combined efforts of myself and Lord Derby to convince him of the rightness of our plan, but while he is fully committed to our cause, he is not entirely at ease with our methods. I have continued to solicit support for your proposal on this side of the Atlantic, and I am confident that my own small contribution can play an important part in its success. I trust that your group remains confident that it can deliver on its promise. With the support of the British and American governments I think we could build something entirely new and extremely powerful, however the true potential can only be met if we can ensure total secrecy, and I will have to rely on you to persuade Charles not to speak of our designs with anyone outside of our circle. For his own part, Charles is chiefly interested in the success of his tour, and while he will play an important role in persuading investors to join our scheme and politicians to support it, it is important that he is also able to enjoy the fruits of his reading performances. He invests much of himself in those readings and is inclined to overtire himself. I trust that you and your friends will offer him the support that I would offer if I could be there with him. Without that support I fear that he will have no energy left to promote our project. Your friend, Charles BabbageThe thief of time
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As usual, paste your decrypt here and press submit to get some feedback. You can see your scores and download certificates from your account area on the website.
Top Secret: For your eyes only
For the attention of General Dodge Mr Dodge, while I cannot claim to have recovered fully from the rigours of my journey, I have now adjusted to your climate and have begun to establish my routine. I hope you will not take it badly that I am reluctant to agree to your request to expedite my visit to Washington, but I am no longer a young man, and my performances require considerable energy from me. Age is the thief of time, and none of us know how quickly it is stolen from us. I must do what I can to martial that most precious resource. Our mutual friend, Mr Babbage, has commended you to me, and our own prime minister has taken pains to explain to me the importance of your mission, however I fail to see how rearranging my schedule will do anything much to speed the progress of what must necessarily be a long-term investment of capital and resources. I have promised that I will do what I can to assist you, but I must consider my own health and welfare if I am to complete this tour. May I also remark that if the work on which you are embarked is truly as secret as you and Babbage seem to believe, then the use of ancient ciphers does not meet that need. I have taken the liberty of using something a little more appropriate in this letter and would suggest that perhaps we use this method for our future communications. Yours sincerely, Charles DickensThis challenge closed on 22/10/2025. Please click the Official Decrypt button above to see the correct answers.
RULE REMINDER: Rapid fire multiple submissions put an unreasonable load on the servers and make it difficult for others to submit. Anyone who makes an unreasonable number of submissions will be open to disqualification. In the first instance this will mean that anyone who submits more than 20 times in 10 minutes will be disqualified.