Log Date
The Challenger Dispatch is your source for all news and information about WIRED UK's Enigma Challenge.
The Enigma Challenge is a series of puzzles, tasks and games designed to test your ingenuity, brainpower and creativity.
From June 7-19th we'll have daily game updates, so make sure you follow @WiredUK and check here regularly. The Challenge ends on July 7th, with the top 10% of players eligible to win a brand new, shiny 32GB 3G iPad.
Find a task. They're in the Wired UK Magazine July issue, on this site, and via @WiredUK.
Complete the task. Solve a puzzle. Make a video. Whatever it is, get it done.
Tweet your answer. Each task has a unique #hashtag. Tweet this hashtag, along with your answer to @WiredUK. The instructions for each task will specify what form your answer should take. You can also use our quick-submission boxes on this site for each task.
Earn points. We track your points via Twitter on our live leaderboard. Be the first player to solve a puzzle, or submit one of the best entries to a task to earn extra points.
Play in teams. To create a team to play with your friends, just add any hashtag - like #london or #teamblue - to your answers.
Notification
It is my pleasure and duty to inform you that today’s task will be thrillingly live and excitingly time-sensitive. The task will commence at 17:00 BST, and no answers will be accepted beyond 19:00 BST.
The task will not require your participation for the entire period, but it will require your ingenuity, curiosity, and creativity. Prepare yourselves, candidates, your citizenship is at stake!
I am, as ever, your supervisor and servant,
Charlton Rice-Laurie
On Points, Grading, and Fluctuation
We have recently received several questions regarding our method of tracking your progress through the Ministry of Immigration, Naturalisation and Citizenship Joint Citizenship test, and we would like to address the confusion.
Given that all success is relative, and that we can only allow the very brightest of Britons to become proud citizens of both Britains, many of our testing procedures are graded in an hierarchical fashion. In these cases, the players who have the highest rated submissions receive bonus points towards their grade, with the top submissions receiving a largest bonus. Given this state of affairs, should your submission be surpassed by one of your peers, your bonus will drop to a lower level, and s/he will claim the greater prize. This will, as has been recognised, cause some fluctuation in your points total, and should drive you to seek new ways to impress our Board of Judgement, that you might reclaim your rightful place at the top of our estimations.
A Summary, diagrammatically
10:00AM
Distance
It is natural for a true Briton to wish to serve his Sovereign however he can, whether that be with his mind, his strength, or his courage. Is that not the stirring we feel when we hear the rousing notes of Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory? And, should it be necessary, is it not every Briton’s honour to lay down his life for his country?
There are countless examples of such brave self-sacrifice throughout our Empire’s proud history, but special mention will be given here to famed explorer and pioneer James Cook.
Nathaniel Dance’s Iconic Portrait of Captain Cook
His discoveries were the pride of the Empire, but he died and was buried far from his native soil, and far from his King. We would like you to find out exactly how far apart their burial monuments are, as a tribute to a great patriot and his Sovereign. Round your answer to the nearest 100 miles and send it via twitter to @WiredUK with the designation #distance
Postscript
It has been brought to my attention that this question may be ambiguous. For clarity: We are asking about the ruling monarch at the time of Captain Cook’s death
On the live testing period
My dearest candidates - I hope this past weekend has provided you with an opportunity to rest your weary brains and restore your spirits to their fullest, as today sees the commencement of our live testing period.
Between today and next Friday the 19th of June, we will be providing you with new tasks in your quest to become joint citizens of the United Kingdom and His Majesty’s British Empire. Tasks will be published to this site in the morning of each day, and submissions for these challenges will be accepted until the 7th of July.
In some cases, however, the tasks will take place under time constraints - either undertakings which require some simultaneous actions to be taken by a number of candidates, or tests with a timed component. With these tasks, sufficient warning will be given before any timed or live actions are required. You are advised to follow the @WiredUK twitter feed in order to remain fully informed of such situations.
And now; on to our first task!
Harmony
Across the globe, His Majesty’s Empire is considered synonymous with great technological innovations; Analytic Engines, Autogyros, the emerging science of Reprophonics - all have changed our world for the better. But an oft-overlooked group has done just as much for the strength of our mighty Empire: its philosophers.
Without Bertrand Russell’s revolutionary A Vindication of Mechanical Sentience, which brought the idea of Analytic Intelligence to public notice and acceptance, it might not have been possible for His Majesty King George VI to take power. Without John Stuart Mill’s views on liberty and society, Britain might not have evolved into the free, fair culture we enjoy today. And without Emerson’s Nature, and the deep respect for our planet which it planted in the heart of British society, we might have sacrificed the well-being of our mother Earth for the sake of our industry. Instead, we live in careful balance with our planet, ensuring our technological advances never outstrip the ability of the Earth to support them. It is this harmonious relationship which we celebrate with today’s Citizenship Test.
Instructions
All across the Empire, we are surrounded by examples of Man’s Progress integrated seamlessly with Nature’s Bounty. It is your task, today, to provide photographic evidence of such a relationship in your society. We wish to receive single photographs containing as many of the following elements as possible:
Farewell for the week
My dearest candidates, it has come time for me to bid you adieu for the weekend. In a scant ninety minutes time, I will step back through the Aetheric Portal, experiencing only the briefest period of disconcert before finding myself back on the soil of my dearest Empire, there to spend a glorious weekend with my wife and three young children on our Hampshire estate. My heart soars to think of the shade beneath our apple trees and my wife’s sweet company.
You must forgive my outburst. It seems that the gifts of Aegletes, those rays of fair Apollo, have rais’d in me quite a youthful spirit.
In any case, I will leave you with the news of the day and my fondest wishes.
Roll of Honour - Week One
It is my pleasure to draw to your attention those candidates who proved themselves pioneers this week. Now that all currently available tasks have been completed, I bring you the proud list of those ingenious individuals who were the first to complete each.
Watching the clock
Candidates, I hope you are as scintillated as I am by the rapid approach of this Monday the seventh of June; for that day brings us the commencement of live testing. From Monday, we will be bringing you new tasks to complete daily, with each bringing your goal of joint citizenship ever closer. My anticipation could not be more palpable.
A Message from International Babbage Machines
Our friends at International Babbage Machines would like me to bring some technical issues to the attention of those candidates who are accessing the Ministry of Immigration, Naturalisation and Citizenship Helpline. His notes follow.
To all users of our INC helpline:
I am ashamed to say that I failed to comprehend a word of that, but I hope it has been instructive to you. In your continued quest to join the Empire, I wish you nothing but Good Luck.
I am, as ever, your supervisor and servant, Charlton Rice-Laurie
It is a great pleasure to see so many of you keenly pursuing joint citizenship, and with such creativity and aplomb. It would, however, be remiss of me not to spur you on in your quest; there are tasks still unsolved, and many still to be revealed, dear candidates. In a mere five days - on Monday the 7th of June - we will begin the active testing. Each day from thenceforth, I will be posing you new tasks, the better for you to prove your worth for the Empire. Be prepared!
It has come to our attention that several candidates have been completing our tasks using less than honourable methods. To these creatures I address the following:
You are observed, sirs. Your actions are noted, and your reputations diminished. This test, above all else, is one of character, of those qualities which the Empire values, and deceit is not amongst them. You will not profit from these methods.
On a lighter note, I have included below, for your entertainment and inspiration, several of our most inventive and impressive responses to the League of Extraordinary Tea Drinkers’ call for submissions.
Submitted by tonytlwu - Taking pictures of hot beverages into the third dimension with style.
Submitted by nicklockey - An imaginative use of perspective and pirates.
Candidate nyami overcomes a fear of wasps for this extraordinary beverage.
Take these valiant, inventive submissions as your inspiration, go forth, and continue the good work! I await your responses with pleasure.
I am, as ever, your supervisor and servant,
Charlton Rice-Laurie.
To All Subjects of HIS MAJESTY
You Are Cordially Reminded that, upon Saturday the 12th of June, our Great Nation will unite to celebrate Tea Day, in recognition of the anniversary of that great event, LORD SHACKLETON’s conquering of the Southern Pole, and his now-famous tea party there with the bested AMUNDSEN. In respect of his courageous achievement, this next fortnight will be given over to the taking of Extraordinary Tea by the British Public. Whether you choose the back of an autogyro, the roof of your home, or the belly of a whale as your venue, take your tea in an extraordinary fashion - and remember LORD SHACKLETON!
Links to photographic or videographic evidence of your accomplishments will find our attention at @WiredUK with the hashtag #LXT.
This notice was originally printed in WIRED UK’s July Issue
At first glance, the “Kinaesthetically Integrated Messenger” from I.B.M might seem complex and intimidating, with its gesture-based controls and locus-dependent syntax. However, once one understands the root of the system is its modular lexicon and begins to apply its principles to the comprehension and composition of K.I.M transmissions, mastery is not far distant.
To illustrate K.I.M’s unique language, we will use one of the shortcuts we presented in our magazine feature on the device; to discover the location of an acquaintance, the following shortcut is used:
Grasp your hat-brim with your right hand, and your right wrist with your left, before uttering the name of <X>, the companion you wish to locate.
This action breaks down into the following individual gestures:
The vocal component of the message allows the second person command to be linked to a specific personage.
By combining these two gestures and the vocal component into a single gesture, you instruct the K.I.M to parse them as a single command, rather than a phrase to be communicated on your open channel.
In a similar manner, combining individual gestures allows you to merge their meanings, providing the facility for modification and an endless variety of communications using a few basic items of vocabulary.
We have provided below a beginner’s lexicon, as recommended by International Babbage Machines.
Nouns and Persons
Some Basic Verbs
Modifiers and Miscellaneous Concepts
By combining these gestures, it will be possible to convey a wide variety of sentiments and messages through your K.I.M interface. For a wider lexicon, please consult Kinaesthetically Integrated Communication: Vocabulary, Grammar, Syntax by Professor Christopher Jarvis of International Babbage Machines.
To practice your new-found understanding, please view the video above; it contains three messages being conveyed through the K.I.M. All three messages are quotations from the same popular film. Decode the messages, find the common factor, and send the name of the film to @WiredUK , designated #KIM.
These instructions follow on from the tips presented in WIRED UK’s July Issue.
