No! We’re not giving away a free iPad!
Firstly, that would be weird. We’ve said it often enough ourselves: “There’s no free iPad.”
Secondly, why win an iPad when you could win a Lego Mindstorm instead?
(That’s a largely rhetorical question. We know that the iPad helps you teach your children to understand the intricacies of consumer society, whilst the Mindstorm is just science-fiction-inspired frippery; that the iPad is a serious business device, whilst the Mindstorm is a frivolous electronic indulgence; and that that the iPad makes a much better drinks tray.
But you can’t program the iPad to BRING you a drink, can you?)
So, we’re running a two-stage competition with a Dragon Tattoo flavour.
Stage One is a simple 24-character code.
Here it is:
=ImYndmbn1ieiBnLmJWdjJmZ
All you need to do is to figure out how to transform this code into a URL.
Then follow your nose to the next stage.
Stage Two is a bit tougher. It doesn’t require cipher-cracking skills (though they might come in handy). Instead, a bit of lateral thinking should get you to the solution.
There are three Mindstorms to be won.
But be quick. We’re giving them as Christmas presents, so time is limited.
You need to solve the puzzle before midnight on Wednesday 21 December 2011, New York time.
(To clarify that further: by 4pm on Wednesday in Sydney, by 5am Wednesday in the UK, and by 7pm on Tuesday in Hawaii.)
Watch out for the hashtag #sophospuzzle on Twitter, or email [email protected] for hints.
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