Undercover Arlington puzzle

This Character May Help You Beat All the Other Spies at the Ball

You’ll find the answer to Clue 11 in the answers to Clues 1-10. Don’t remember them? We’ll recap:

• Clue 1: venonA project
• Clue 2: ramon gaRcia
• Clue 3: the illEgals program
• Clue 4: aUton and Dunlop
• Clue 5: agent 123 and aGent 202
• Clue 6: Fort upton
• Clue 7: the peNtagon
• Cule 8: aldricH ames
• Clue 9: Deep throaT
• Clue 10: vladimIr ismaylov

 

Eleventh Clue Rules:

• Don’t submit your answer online
• Do hang onto your answer, and bring it to the Lit Up Ball, on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Artisphere.

 

We look forward to seeing you at The Lit Up Ball!

 

All proceeds from the Lit Up Ball support the Library’s early literacy program, 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten.

 

This Soviet recruiter must not have been very good at his job…

One of his targets had suspicions about his motives from their very first meeting and enlisted the FBI to set a successful and elaborate plan to trap him.

Hint: Julius Caesar often gets credited with inventing this kind of code. The key to unlocking this one is to work in reverse.

 

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

The man behind this pseudonym brought down a president.

Hint: Despite a common name for this cipher, you don’t need to wallow in the mud to solve it.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Money was this spy’s motivation–and his eventual downfall.

Hint: Despite a common name for this cipher, you don’t need to wallow in the mud to solve it.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

 

This home to many clandestine activities has become a symbol of the U.S. military.

Hint: This cipher was once (or maybe still is) used by the Freemasons.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

 

 

This location was utilized at different times by opposing sides during the Civil War because it was ideally suited for one purpose: to keep an eye on Washington.

Hint: These kinds of puzzles derived from the stories told by carefully selected images in medieval heraldry.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

 

This pair of traitors used a variety of secret codes and ciphers for nearly 30 years before they were caught.

Hint: You’ll want to number your ABCs with this kind of code.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

 

The men behind these aliases won a bet–but lost their lives.

Hint: Lewis Carroll once called a more complex version of this cipher “indecipherable”. The key to this one is to work backwards.

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

 

 

You could probably solve this code pretty quickly if you had worked for this decryption program:

Hint: Despite a common name for this cipher, you don’t have to mind your X’s and O’s to solve it.

 

Instructions

• Decode the puzzle.
• Submit your solution (one per person).
• Find out if you were correct!

 

Your Answer

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Find the Spies and You Could Win Tickets to the Lit Up Ball

The theme for this year’s Ball is Ian Fleming’s “James Bond: From Russia with Love,” so to get you in the mood we’re holding an espionage-in-Arlington puzzle contest!

Starting Wednesday, July 16, we will publish a new Undercover Arlington puzzle each Wednesday for 10 weeks. Each clue will be given in a different style of cipher. Use any and all clues or hints you find – we won’t lead you astray (but we can’t guarantee that someone else won’t…).

Submit answers to all of the clues, and you will be entered to win a pair of tickets to the Lit Up Ball on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Artisphere. Contest participants will also receive a code for a discounted entry to the International Spy Museum in Washington DC.

 

How to Play Undercover Arlington:

1. Check our website each Wednesday from July 16 – Sept. 17 for a new puzzle.
2. Use a combination of your wits, the library, and the internet to break the code. Work as a solo agent or with a partner or partners (the Library does not take responsibility for misinformation provided by double agents).
3. Submit your answer to each puzzle.
4. Answer all 10 puzzles by Oct. 1, and you’ll be entered to win a pair of tickets to the Lit Up Ball.

And keep your eye out for signs of an 11th puzzle…

 

Special thanks to the International Spy Museum and the Center for Local History.