Three Co Derry hairdressers have just won a prize of £100,000 after breaking a code that stumped Mensa members, British ministry of defence boffins and even the actor who plays James Bond.
It took Noleen Duffy, Priscilla Morrow and Nicole Brady from Uni Trim hairdressers in the University of Ulster, Coleraine, one year, four attempts and many sleepless nights to crack the code, which was devised for a competition sponsored by hair care and beauty product manufacturer ghd.
Ghd weaved the cryptic puzzle into their product guide through a complex maze of 10 hidden clues. Competitors began work on the code online, and were given snippets of information on their progress. The cryptic clues were buried within pages of copy, written in reflective writing which could only be seen in certain lights, and even written backwards.
After claims that the code was impossible to break, ghd enlisted the brain power of Mensa and ministry of defence codebreakers. Even the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, gave it a go but to no avail.
"The secret was that no matter how much you believed that you had the right answer, you had to keep an open mind that it could be wrong," said Ms Duffy last night.
"We had sleepless nights, and took photocopies of the book home with us after work. The fact that people told us that we could never do it made us want to show them that we could."
Yesterday the three had their spending plans ready.
"Priscilla wants to pay off the rest of her mortgage and her car and go on holiday to Florida; Nicole is car mad and so will be buying herself a new motor; I'd love to do the salon up and maybe invest in another house," Ms Duffy said.