The UK’s top intelligence agency has apologised after using an offensive word in an online quiz.
GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is a security body known for its code-breaking prowess, which was vital to uncovering Nazi messages during World War Two.
However, the intelligence organisation had a slip-up on Tuesday when it tweeted a puzzle which contained a swear word in the answer.
In the puzzle, which was captioned "This week's #GCHQ puzzle was out of this world", the fourth letters in the names of planets Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Neptune were underlined.
The tweet was deleted 20 minutes after it was posted.
A GCHQ spokesperson said: “We apologise for any offence inadvertently caused by this morning’s post. We deleted it as soon as we became aware of the issue.”
A different version of the puzzle, without the swearing, was later posted online - underlining the fourth letter in the names of all eight planets in the Earth’s solar system instead.
Although the original tweet was swiftly deleted, Twitter users shared screenshots of the post, mocking the error.
One person shared the picture, adding: “I wonder why this GCHQ puzzle has now been deleted."
Another wrote: "GCHQ have deleted their… see you next Tuesday tweet”.
“I hear the bureaucrats secretly giggling,” another person tweeted.
