Every December, as twinkling lights illuminate the UK and festive cheer fills the air, a different kind of challenge emerges from the heart of British intelligence. On December 10, 2025, GCHQ, the United Kingdom’s renowned intelligence and cybersecurity agency, unveiled its annual Christmas card – not just a simple holiday greeting, but a cryptic gauntlet of seven brainteasers designed to test the mettle of aspiring codebreakers, math whizzes, and puzzle enthusiasts across the country.
This year’s edition, however, arrived with a twist. For the first time in the decade-long tradition, the designs for the card were crafted not only by GCHQ’s in-house experts but also by the imaginative minds of schoolchildren aged 11 to 18. According to BBC News, hundreds of students from across the UK entered a spirited competition, submitting their vision of what GCHQ might look like on Christmas Day. The brief asked for more than just artistic flair: students were challenged to embed hidden codes and ciphers within their artwork, making the very design of the card a puzzle in itself.
Three winners were ultimately chosen, each representing a different age group. Mariia, a Year 10 pupil from The Henry Beaufort School in Winchester, was lauded for her depiction of a ginger cat at a ‘top secret’ computer, surrounded by Christmas lights and Morse code. Haoran, a Year 8 student from Wilson’s School in London, impressed judges with his charming, puzzle-laden design, while Amelie, a Year 12 student at South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury, produced a striking digital card described as “chock-full of puzzles.” As Daily Mail reported, these designs were praised for their “equally impressive” artistic and puzzle elements, with the winning trio’s work forming the backbone of this year’s challenge.
But what exactly awaited those brave enough to tackle the GCHQ Christmas card? The seven puzzles, crafted by GCHQ’s own “in-house puzzlers,” were engineered to test a range of skills, from intuitive reasoning and lateral thinking to pure mathematical analysis. The questions themselves were as varied as they were fiendish:
First, solvers were asked to uncover a unique seven-letter word hidden somewhere on the card – one with no repeated letters and no letters adjacent in the alphabet. Next came a riddle involving the placement of driftwood in streams, followed by a logic puzzle about a robber navigating a house without passing through the same colored door twice or moving against directional arrows. Another challenge required identifying a missing wrapped gift from a set, while a mathematical brainteaser tasked participants with decoding the values of letters in “TWO UV PAIRS,” each representing a different digit from 0 to 9. The sixth puzzle involved cracking a code filled with four-letter words, and the final task was to deduce an appropriate seven-letter word based on positional clues.
Participants were not expected to go it alone. As GCHQ emphasized, these puzzles “aren’t meant to be solved alone,” echoing the agency’s own reliance on teamwork to tackle the world’s most complex security threats. “We believe the right mix of minds means we can solve seemingly impossible problems,” the agency stated. This collaborative spirit was further encouraged by the launch of the “Top Secret Puzzle Club” on GCHQ’s Instagram, where entrants could share progress, ask for hints, and even boast about their triumphs. The agency’s Chief Puzzler, known only as Colin, explained to The Telegraph, “We want groups of classmates, families and friends working together, combining their different strengths to reveal the final festive message.”
The annual puzzle tradition is more than just a seasonal diversion. As GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler – the first woman to lead the agency – told GB News, “Puzzles are at the heart of GCHQ’s work to keep the country safe from hostile states, terrorists and criminals; challenging our teams to think creatively and analytically every day.” She added, “I hope this Challenge inspires the next generation to explore STEM subjects and consider the rewarding careers available in cybersecurity and intelligence. Who knows – some of these talented schoolchildren might be solving our own puzzles in the future.”
The reach of the Christmas Challenge is considerable. Since its inception a decade ago, tens of thousands of people worldwide have downloaded the puzzles. Last year alone, the challenge was downloaded 143,166 times by schools and the public, according to Daily Mail. The puzzles have become a festive staple, bringing together families, classrooms, and communities in a shared quest for answers. “With over 140,000 downloads last year, we know these puzzles bring people together over the festive period. All ages are encouraged to give them a go and remember puzzle-solving is often better as a team effort and more fun too!” said Colin, GCHQ’s Chief Puzzler.
For those who might find themselves stumped, there’s no shame – the puzzles are intentionally tough. “Some will suit analytical minds; others require creative leaps of perseverance,” Colin explained. “That’s entirely intentional – we want groups of classmates, families and friends working together, combining their different strengths to reveal the final festive message.” The answers, GCHQ promised, would be revealed on the evening of December 10, 2025, giving everyone a fair shot at cracking the code before peeking at the solutions.
This year’s challenge also served as a showcase for the creative and analytical talents of young people. The competition to design the card’s cover, judged by Director Keast-Butler and Chief Puzzler Colin, asked children to imagine the inner workings of GCHQ during the holidays – and to sneak in as many hidden puzzles as possible. The result? A set of cards that were not only visually striking but also intellectually demanding, with layers of codes and ciphers waiting to be unearthed.
As BBC News observed, the puzzles are more than just games; they’re an invitation to explore the world of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and a gentle nudge toward careers in cybersecurity and intelligence. The agency hopes that by engaging young people’s curiosity and ingenuity, they’ll inspire the next generation of problem-solvers – perhaps even future GCHQ recruits.
So, as the answers are revealed and solvers across the UK (and beyond) celebrate their victories or vow to try again next year, one thing is clear: GCHQ’s Christmas card is more than a seasonal diversion. It’s a celebration of teamwork, creativity, and the enduring power of a good puzzle to bring people together – and maybe, just maybe, to inspire the codebreakers of tomorrow.
