Are you an expert codebreaker?

Are you a master at cracking codes? Prove your ability with this hand-picked selection of science-themed puzzles from Conundrum by Brian Clegg (£8.99, Icon Books).

So, grab a pen and paper and give your brain a workout. Challenge your friends and remember to let us know how you did on Twitter at @sciencefocus .

Try more quizzes:

Are you smart enough to be an ISS astronaut? Can you solve these deviously difficult Stephen Hawking-inspired questions? Can you crack the code?

Are you an expert code-breaker? Prove your puzzle-solving skills with these science-themed ciphers from Brian Clegg's book Conundrum .

The self-eating snake

German chemist Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz (known more compactly as Kekulé) literally dreamed up the structure of the compound benzene. The ring structure came to him as snake-like chains of atoms danced around in a dream: ‘But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of its own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes.’

A chemist had the cunning idea of using a set of benzene ring diagrams to encipher a message as:

LEI KEDYTS LVRWEF EOE

This message contains the level key word. What is it?

Hint: Find a way to slot the text into the diagrams, then read off the decrypted message.

Elementary

MI6 suspects a chemistry professor of espionage. He has sent the formula for a compound which is clearly a cryptic message – but when does it tell us to make the grab?

NArHHe CPArAlScMgH CaPAlPArArPV

Hint: We need to go from atomic number to letter number.

Morse Menagerie

A message from an agent seems to be a list of some of the exhibits at the zoo.

Platypus, bat, rhinoceros,

Ant,

Porcupine, ape, aardvark, elephant,

Mole, bear,

Cat, dog, seal,

Pangolin, giraffe, bushbaby, armadillo, pig

We know she also had a Morse code chart (see above). Unfortunately, our cryptologists haven’t managed to find the actual message. Can you find the key?

Hint: The agent once observed that she thought a long animal name had to have more than four characters.

Organic oddities

Organic compounds (chemical structures of the types found in living things, though some are artificial) and genes sometimes have very silly names. Out of this list, how many are fake?