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The National Archives and Britain’s leading puzzle masterminds, Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, have drawn on five centuries of British spycraft and cryptography to compile an unputdownable history of real-life codebreaking and espionage through a series of addictive puzzles.
Using original documents, maps, ciphers, plans, letters and telegrams from plots and espionage relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, the Gunpowder Plot, Mata Hari, Agent Zigzag and dozens more, Spydle’s puzzles are based on real codes and conundrums.
Packed with fiendish puzzles covering over 500 years of espionage, could you be a code-cracking spymaster and untangle history’s most cryptic mysteries?
We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.
Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95
Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.
Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas. Christmas 2024: The last recommended order date for UK orders is 14 December. The last recommended order date for all international orders is 23 November.
Delivery Worldwide
We can also ship to selected countries worldwide.
For full details, including prices, click here.
Custom Prints
Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.
Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).
Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.
Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.
If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.
For further details on returns click here.
Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.
Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!
To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.
"Solution - Puzzle #4: Codes and Ciphers
The sizes of shift, and the revealed codenames, are as follows:
+3 – FRENCH HEN
+2 – TURTLE DOVE
+6 – GOOSE
+4 – CALLING BIRD
+7 – SWAN
+1 – PARTRIDGE
All of the codenames are birds which appear in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. In addition, the shifts applied to each bird name correspond to the number of that bird that are given on that day of Christmas, according to the song’s lyrics.”
Manufacturer/Publisher: Penguin
Binding: Paperback
Author: The National Archives, Gareth Moore, Laura Jayne Ayres
Pagination: 352p
SKU: 9781405969017
The National Archives and Britain’s leading puzzle masterminds, Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, have drawn on five centuries of British spycraft and cryptography to compile an unputdownable history of real-life codebreaking and espionage through a series of addictive puzzles.
Using original documents, maps, ciphers, plans, letters and telegrams from plots and espionage relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, the Gunpowder Plot, Mata Hari, Agent Zigzag and dozens more, Spydle’s puzzles are based on real codes and conundrums.
Packed with fiendish puzzles covering over 500 years of espionage, could you be a code-cracking spymaster and untangle history’s most cryptic mysteries?
We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.
Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95
Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.
Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas. Christmas 2024: The last recommended order date for UK orders is 14 December. The last recommended order date for all international orders is 23 November.
Delivery Worldwide
We can also ship to selected countries worldwide.
For full details, including prices, click here.
Custom Prints
Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.
Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).
Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.
Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.
If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.
For further details on returns click here.
Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.
Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!
To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.
"Solution - Puzzle #4: Codes and Ciphers
The sizes of shift, and the revealed codenames, are as follows:
+3 – FRENCH HEN
+2 – TURTLE DOVE
+6 – GOOSE
+4 – CALLING BIRD
+7 – SWAN
+1 – PARTRIDGE
All of the codenames are birds which appear in the song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. In addition, the shifts applied to each bird name correspond to the number of that bird that are given on that day of Christmas, according to the song’s lyrics.”
