Can you solve the GCHQ Christmas challenge?

Latin dancing, Indian butter and American soldiers are some of the clues for this year's cryptic Christmas challenge set by the national spy agency.

GCHQ's annual brainteaser comes in the form of a Christmas card, sent by Director Anne Keast-Butler.

This year's puzzle challenges the public to decode the names of UK landmarks, testing skills including codebreaking, maths and lateral thinking.

The deceptively tricky tasks require ingenuity and perseverance, GCHQ said.

The 2024 card also includes extra layers for those who want to challenge themselves further, with additional elements hidden within the code.

GCHQ's chief puzzler, known only as "Colin", described this year's tests as "fiendishly enjoyable".

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, he said a third of secondary schools across the country had already downloaded them.

The first - and easiest - challenge features five images, representing a place name. Quizzers are asked to decipher the location.

One of the tougher puzzles asks would-be spooks to calculate how far off from writing the numbers one to 20 the puzzle setters were.

Ms Keast-Butler, GCHQ's director, said: "The challenge has been designed for a mix of minds to solve, so is best tackled in groups of classmates, families or friends.

"Whether you have an analytical mind, a creative brain or prefer engineering, there's something for everyone."

Meanwhile, "Colin", who could not be shown on camera, told the BBC that the challenge was created "partly for fun" - but also because the kind of thinking required to solve it "replicates" the kind of work done in GCHQ "defending the nation."

"We require a mix of minds and a mix of approaches to solve real world puzzles and because of that we encourage diverse thinking and that embraces neurodiversity," he said.

Asked whether he would recommend a career at GCHQ for school children who find they can do the puzzle relatively easily, the agency's chief puzzler said such "intelligence" is exactly what the department is after.

He added that, with secondary schools downloading the tests, "a very large number of school children will see this and hopefully be inspired".

The full challenge can be viewed below or on GCHQ's website.