The Alan Turing Cryptography Competition

2020 edition. From the people behind the MathsBombe Competition.
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Chapter 5

Mike and Ellie were gathering their thoughts on the train back to Manchester.

"OK. We know where the last drum is located, but this is starting to make less and less sense. I'm not sure that Alan Turing would really have written this doggerel," said Ellie.

"Don't forget that somebody thinks it's important enough to hurt Barquith," replied Mike. "We're so close to the final clue. Don't you want to know what's going on?"

Arriving back at Manchester Piccadilly station, Mike and Ellie started to make their way to the exit when suddenly.

FLASH!

"Hello again."

"How does she keep finding us?" said Ellie.

Mike looked up from his phone guiltily. "Oh that might be my fault. I've been geotagging all my chirps. It helps my coterie know where I am."

Ellie just rolled her eyes.

"I'm really sorry about earlier," said Noma. "I wasn't myself. I wanted to solve the mystery on my own and write the exclusive story. It's going to be my big break."

"How did you even know about the clues in the drums?" asked Ellie.

"Well I saw the paper fall out of that first drum that Mike knocked out of the Bombe. I thought that Barquith might know something about it. You talk about him so much in your chirps Mike. I've been following you for years. I feel as though I know you all very well. When Barquith showed me that drum I couldn't resist the chance to get involved, so I took it. I'm sorry, I really wanted to talk to you about it, but you kept refusing to talk to me."

Mike and Ellie could only smile and nod as the words streamed out of the young reporter.

"I took the drum to my office and found the clue inside. I wasn't very careful so I ripped the paper when I was taking the paper out and I didn't manage to get it all back in the drum. I was going to take it all back to you I promise, but you arrived and took it before I got the chance. I think that the missing piece of paper is important because it had some writing on it."

"Can we see it?" said Mike.

"Ah, well that's where I need your help," admitted Noma. "We've been encouraged to go paperless, so I took photos of the paper and then recycled the original."

"What?" said Ellie. "You just threw it away."

"Well I had a copy, so I thought it would be fine."

"Anyway, it's on my laptop with all my other research, but here's the problem. I can't get into it. I know it was silly. Somebody sent me an anonymous e-mail promising information about the clues in the Bombe drums. I clicked on the link and then my computer just locked up. Please can you have a look at it?"

The group headed for a quiet corner of the station and sat down on a bench. Noma opened the laptop.

Below is the screen displayed on Noma's laptop. Enter the password in the box below.

If you cannot see the video above, try this version on Google Drive or try downloading the video file (AVI format).

Alan Turing Cryptography Competition 2020 is organised by the The Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester.
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