Fiendishly difficult brainteaser tests even the best minds at GCHQ

The taxing brainteaser asked people to come up with a fourth answer after publishing a list of three consecutive words. Puzzlers were left scratching their heads for the answer

A brainteaser has left those who are fans of anagrams scratching their heads.

The puzzle was posed by men's magazine GQ and asked people to come up with a fourth answer after publishing a list of three consecutive words. A question mark asked what was the next word which followed and the mind-bending anagram challenged quiz fans to find out. The teaser asked: "What completes the list?" and gave three words which were unusual in the first place. The words were not well-known and were challenge themselves. But people were left to wrestle with them in the first instance, before they came up with the correct answer.

The sequence clues were:

Sore

Keel

Koshmark

?

The final question mark left many quizzers stumped and scratching their heads about the puzzle.

One asked: "Can you complete the list for this week's GCHQ puzzle?!" And some time passed before the anagram answer was given by the publication which left participants on tenterhooks. A person called Roi was flummoxed by the teaser. He said: "Had no clue about this one, not very familiar with UK's symbols" Another user said: "Thank god you gave us this answer. I was tired of waiting but you guys decided we didn't have to wait any longer. Great puzzle.X" Several days passed since the challenge was set on September 30 with the solution to the anagram finally given when puzzlers discovered the answer.

GCHQ finally posted a response after several people on ;X' were left in suspense not knowing what it could be. It read: "The words are anagrams of ROSE LEEK, SHAMROCK and THISTLE, which are the symbols of parts of the UK."

The Mirror posed another taxing teaser last month for those with sharp eyesight. As autumn kicks in we are closer to Halloween and got into the mood with a spooky puzzle? Created by Lords and Labradors, you're asked to spot the bat among the row of black cats. It will seriously put your skills to the test as the bat cleverly blends in among the cats. On average it takes people 28 seconds and it tested how good your eyesight is and if you're brainer than most.

In just 28 seconds, people needed to spot the bat amongst the cats with time running out. They were urged to grab friends and family and get competitive to see who has the sharpest eyes and who can spot the bat first? The image should be broken break into sections to ensure searches are more focused. Quizzers were asked to look in the top left of the image, then the bottom left, and so on, until their eyes have been cast over the whole image. The whole task was made more difficult because it was against the clock.