Answers to the 2011 GCHQ Challenge This describes how you might solve the whole GCHQ Challenge

if you are really very good at puzzles. In practice, most people will go backwards and forwards a lot more (several puzzles use things from earlier ones, and this can sometimes give hints to previous puzzles on which you have been stuck). Some of the puzzles were invented entirely for the Challenge, but others were based on existing puzzles. We wont give explanations of how to solve common puzzles theres plenty of guidance on the Internet. When you first look at the Challenge, although its obvious that there are lots of puzzles, its not at all clear how you should begin. The best thing to do is probably to dive straight in and hope things become clearer.

Part One The first puzzle is called Anagrammatic Pairs and consists of 6 sentences. Looking at the first, we might think that from the east means oriental. Anagramming oriental gives relation which is obviously a family member. So thats how it works! Doing the same for each of the other sentences (some of which are not as obvious) yields:
From the east comes a family member Oriental Relation Smooth peaches have briefness Nectarine Transience Grave messages are the most cheerful Epitaphs Happiest To disturb leads to being peaceful Fluster Restful Excessive suaveness causes omissions Oiliness Elisions Being dismounted results in preparation for burial Unhorsed Enshroud

So weve got 12 rather odd words in 6 pairs, but its not obvious what we should do with them. If you look closely you might notice something, but if not itll become clear later.

So lets move on to the next puzzle, Where am I? This appears utterly incomprehensible at first glance. But if you do an Internet search on Titus and World Heritage youll find out about Saltaire, a model village on the River Aire and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Blairs Road could be A Journey (which hadnt been published when this puzzle was written), but is actually George Orwell (real name Eric Blair) and his Road to Wigan Pier. Wigan Pier is also on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. If you look for more information about this canal it turns out that all the bridges on the canal are numbered, and that Saltaire is at bridge 207A and Wigan Pier is between bridges 50 and 51. That looks like we know how to solve it, and the full answer is as follows:
If Paul Weller is recording at 2A Stanley Road Changeline Bridge No 2A molesworths friend (his pater is a general) is at 40 Gillibrand Bridge No 40 Blair's road finishes between 50 and 51 Wigan Pier is between Seven Stars Bridge No 50 & Pottery Changeline Bridge No 51 a great physicist is at 164 Newton Bridge No 164 an adjacent equine is at 180 Horse Close Bridge No 180 200 is 2 more than 201 Five Rise Locks Swing Bridge No 200 and Three Rise Locks Swing Bridge No 201 Titus' world heritage site is at 207A Saltaire Bridge No 207A where is Lanehouse (it moves)? Lanehouse Swing Bridge is Bridge 189

So the answer is Lanehouse Swing Bridge No 189. But the question is posed entirely in terms of just the numbers. Perhaps the answer is 189.

Lets move on to the Wordsearch. Looking at the grid we find a few obvious words GODEL running across at the right hand end and TWOWAY running down. Trying to match these with the clue they are presumably the mathematician and bidirectional. There are a few letters crossing at the end of GODEL that look a bit word-like and turn out to be ENTABLATURE running upwards. That is the architrave, frieze and cornice that finishes the recipe. So the definitions appear to be in order. Knowing all that, and hunting out an obscure Scottish word for equipment we end up with the recipe translated as follows:
Whiten largest Egyptian ruler; finely chop temporary bidirectional bleach biggest pharaoh mince interim twoway amphibian apeman; ground (scottish equipment) mathematician, newt yeti earth graith godel architrave, frieze and cornice. entablature

And the answer is:

P H A R A O H R J K D E S M F

M G J Z L L C D W X I Y Y T M

Y E O T L R A D K C U A T T W

C L B I G G E S T I M B T Z K

V G J P Z A L T J P A B H F S

I M R N W N B H I N T E R I M

F Z D E K V W Q T N N N Z E I

N I S W E L E J E Y D C Q P N

Y S B T W O W A Y R H D E C C

Q T S G Y C P T H H O C J I E

Q Q H T I A R G Z D U Y P R A

F O T V S T V O R B S O Y Y W

B F R U X D V D K S M U L P C

T W A U O E O E O O Q X K H M

P W E R U T A L B A T N E G H

Standing back a few feet, we can see that this is just a big three digit number 429. We noticed earlier that the answer to the second puzzle might be a three digit number as well. This sounds promising, but what about the first puzzle? Look at the initial letters of the words and youll see they spell out: ONE FOUR THREE. Thats our final three digit number. So the answers to Part One are: 143, 189 and 429. We seem to have discovered that each puzzle gives us a three digit number. We dont know what to do with the numbers yet, but its a good start!