BBC: The Code

[+milvus-milvus]

Congratulations to Helen from Worcestershire - would you care to share your geocaching identity?

 

I was hugely impressed with the team effort to solve this. I had hoped to be able to contribute something - but the sheer scale of the task was rather daunting...

 

Good luck in the finale!

Baz.

[+HazelS]

That's an easy one!!

 

It's the very lovely Helen from Dobunnis - made up of Helen and Carolyn!

 

Congrats and good luck Helen!!

[+pklong]

So what's this The Code program anyway?

[+Simply Paul]

Excellent! Good luck Helen. I'll be tuning in

[+Geocass&Andy750x]

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=b4648867-3942-48b8-bdb4-0d170d819c5e

 

EDIT: Ah, notice HazelS got there first!

Edited September 7, 2011 by Cassandy

[+milvus-milvus]

So what's this The Code program anyway?

 

Basically a Maths programme shown last month on BBC2, with an accompanying puzzle challenge on the website. Fairly lightweight, but still good to see some Maths on the Telly. And the main puzzle that followed (and in which Helen was one of 3 "winners") was anything but lightweight! Follow the link in my original post to the BBC website, which will tell you more about it.

 

I'll be tuning in

 

Too late! It was only a 3 part series (though I'm sure it will be repeated at some point). And there is some word of them filming at least part of the "finale", I believe.

Edited September 7, 2011 by milvus-milvus

[+Dobunnis]

Thanks for the best wishes. In the event I came last of the three in the finale and while I could make excuses (I already knew I would probably not do well because of the sprint format, the nature of the puzzles and quite early on realising I left the recognition centre of my brain at home), I was beaten fair and square and can take nothing away from the eventual winner, Pete, and the other finalist, Dave. In the end I am frustrated with myself but satisfied as I managed to solve the puzzle book (the route to being one of the three finalists) before anyone else (if only by a few hours) and managed the last few stages of solving it without discussion.

 

It was certainly a good experience and a pleasure to meet the team involved (including Marcus du Sautoy) and the other two finalists. You can still see clips of the TV show online and go through the first stages of the puzzle solving process. They will be releasing an updated (error-free) version of the puzzle book PDF with a short online film of the finale (which I am not really looking forward to seeing to be honest because I think I will come out looking stupid!) in the coming weeks. I would expect the 3 TV shows to be repeated at some point.

 

I even managed some caching in the half an hour I had spare near London Euston before the (sort of unexpected) train ride to Bletchley, including a puzzle cache solved the night before of course

 

Helen

Edited September 12, 2011 by Dobunnis

[+Dobunnis]

If you want to see the film of the finale (with Marcus introducing and describing the puzzles along with a number of shots of face-pulling while solving them) then you can see it at www.bbc.co.uk/code. It has been chopped so much that you cannot see how things went (apart from Pete winning) but as I said previously that just saves me some blushes of embarrassment,

 

Helen