There has been much speculation about Harry's Game and we are at last able to reveal what it is about. This is a big, bold experiment and we are looking for a bold response! We have no idea how it will work out, but as you will see, that depends very much on you.

Have you ever thought you could do a better job than Harry? Or wanted to find out what it is like to wear his hat? This could be your chance to find out.

On Monday the site will open with a new look and a slightly modified layout together with the first part of a new Cipher Challenge. It should be pretty easy to crack! We will be monitoring the submissions and choosing one of the first teams to get it right and inviting them to write the second part of the Challenge. If you get one of these special invites and don't want to or can't write Challenge 2, that is fine, just reply and let us know and we will offer the opportunity to someone else. You will either be invited to write part A or part B, and as usual we would like part A challenges to be a bit easier. If you have been taking part in the competition this year (or in previous years) then you should have some ideas of what to do. We need a short text and an encrypted version, and you will be able to upload them by pasting text into boxes on a special web page using a link we will send you. If you accept and then have trouble just get in touch and we will do what we can to help. The fastest teams in each round will be put into the draw for authorship in the next round. Don't worry if you don't know much about codes and ciphers yet, if you are only managing part A you won't be asked to write a part B challenge.

We are really looking forward to seeing how the story turns out and finding out how good you are at designing challenges as well as cracking them! As designer of a challenge you will also become a moderator for the forum dedicated to it so you can log in and give as many hints as you like. You become Harry for that round! Feel up to the Challenge? 

All the best, Harry.

We are excited to announce that the writer James Cary and the star Robert Bathurst of the Radio 4 comedy Hut 33, based at Bletchley in the war, both plan to be at the Prizegving ceremony in March. The events will include a lunch for our three main prizewinners and guests, followed by an afternoon of lectures and a tour of the museum. Our speakers for this year's event will be John Haigh and Rob Eastaway, the authors of "Beating the odds: the hidden mathematics of sport". I know John personally and I am sure many of you will have heard of Rob in his fantastic schools outreach programme. It makes a marvellous afternoon out and we will have a small number of tickets available for schools and competitors who wish to attend. Details of how to get the tickets will be announced soon, so keep your eyes open to find out how. I look forward to meeting them and some of you on Friday March 26th at the event. Harry