# Hern 2014: Cicada 3301: I tried the hardest puzzle on the internet and failed spectacularly > Alex Hern, 2014. 18 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The most detailed named-author account of the puzzle mechanics and the leaked… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D7R6TEA53N5/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) --- [Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)Hern 2014 **0** # Cicada 3301: I tried the hardest puzzle on the internet and failed spectacularly Alex Hern, 2014. _The Guardian, 10 January 2014_. A technology reporter's account of the first three rounds: the January 2012 image on 4chan; clues drawing on a medieval Welsh manuscript and a William Gibson poem issued on floppy disk; GPS coordinates leading to QR-code posters on lampposts in five countries; a final Tor site that closed with "We want the best, not the followers"; a second round from 5 January 2013; a third from January 2014 via Twitter, using OutGuess steganography and a book code keyed to Emerson's "Self-Reliance". Quotes a leaked 2012 email from Cicada describing itself as an international group opposed to censorship; counts physical artefacts in 8 countries and 11 US states. **Cicada 3301** Web pageChecked against the original0 ## What it's used for here The most detailed named-author account of the puzzle mechanics and the leaked self-description. ## Cited by on this site 18 records [A private international group of privacy and anti-censorship technologists, recruiting like-minded people for…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R70206BSD/a-private-international-group-of-privacy-and-anti-censorship) Answer ANS [Some genuine Cicada material (images, posters, book pages) was never signed and must be authenticated another…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R75NP5AGT/some-genuine-cicada-material-images-posters-book-pages-was) Answer ANS [The signed texts are the work of a single writer.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R76D438D8/the-signed-texts-are-the-work-of-a-single-writer) Answer ANS [The texts were written by several people.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R76MY2V3Y/the-texts-were-written-by-several-people) Answer ANS [The unsolved pages need a key or text that was given only to finishers or never released.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R73Z07WJC/the-unsolved-pages-need-a-key-or-text-that-was-given-only-to) Answer ANS [A leaked 2012 email describes an international group with no name, opposed to censorship and committed to…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R709T4EMF/a-leaked-2012-email-describes-an-international-group-with-no) Evidence EVD [Agencies have recruited through puzzles, but GCHQ's were openly branded; a service would hardly recruit on…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R71925VA1/agencies-have-recruited-through-puzzles-but-gchqs-were) Evidence EVD [Cicada ran for three years without revealing a product, unlike ILoveBees, which ended after three months with…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R720G7VWT/cicada-ran-for-three-years-without-revealing-a-product) Evidence EVD [Each round ended with private contact for a few finishers, who have kept silent.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R746T6MR3/each-round-ended-with-private-contact-for-a-few-finishers) Evidence EVD [Earlier Cicada puzzles used classical ciphers and book codes solvable with published material.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R73Q61RNR/earlier-cicada-puzzles-used-classical-ciphers-and-book-codes) Evidence EVD [Hern concludes from the physical spread and resources that Cicada must be more than one person.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R76WR2ETT/hern-concludes-from-the-physical-spread-and-resources-that) Evidence EVD [Physical posters and image puzzles carried clues rather than signatures and were reached through the chain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R75XG5E7B/physical-posters-and-image-puzzles-carried-clues-rather-than) Evidence EVD [The operation needed money and coordination: artefacts in 8 countries and 11 US states, phone numbers,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R70SE02XK/the-operation-needed-money-and-coordination-artefacts-in-8) Evidence EVD [The second round begins with a new image on 4chan](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/events/EVT0D7R6XVP5JZQ/the-second-round-begins-with-a-new-image-on-4chan) EVT [The third round begins on Twitter](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/events/EVT0D7R6Y3G6P2J/the-third-round-begins-on-twitter) EVT [Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301) The mystery article MYS [Were the signed texts written by one person or several?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/questions/QST0D7R6ZT63GW1/were-the-signed-texts-written-by-one-person-or-several) Question QST [Who set the Cicada 3301 puzzles, and why?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/questions/QST0D7R6Z2R63QN/who-set-the-cicada-3301-puzzles-and-why) Question QST ## Cite it ``` Hern, A. (2014). Cicada 3301: I tried the hardest puzzle on the internet and failed spectacularly. The Guardian, 10 January 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/10/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and-failed-spectacularly ``` [Read it free at theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/10/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and-failed-spectacularly) Key **SRC** 0D7R6TEA53N5 Kind Web page Rights The publisher's Kept 29 Oct 2026, for editors Checked Against the published original Added by [apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo) The record Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS. [CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D7R6TEA53N5/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and/csl.json)