In Urbe
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© The Classical Couple. Licensed for single-classroom/purchaser use only — not for resale or redistribution.
Before dawn, a crowd of clients gathers outside a great man's door in the city — the daily salūtātiō. Each one hopes for a word of favor from his patrōnus, or better still, a small gift to carry home. Today, one client has waited longer than anyone.
Seven puzzles stand between you and his patron's answer. Solve one, and the morning comes into focus — until, at the end, one final word reveals what the patron finally does.
Crossword — the vocabulary of patrons, clients, and the morning greeting.
Anagrams — unscramble seven words from a life spent earning the patron's trust.
Cipher — decode a message, then answer the riddle it asks.
Matching — one verb, ōrō ("to beg"), active and passive, in every tense you know.
Picture Count — reassemble a scattered scene, then count what you see.
Odd One Out — find the mismatched word in each row to reveal what the patron finally does, then answer questions about it.
Final Rebus — one clue from every lock. Their first letters, rearranged, spell the final word.
Every answer box checks itself instantly. Spelling and capitalization are forgiving — macrons are never required.
Fifteen words from the morning greeting. Every clue gives the English meaning; you supply the Latin. Fill the grid — every crossing letter must agree both ways. Five cells are marked in red: once the grid is solved, their letters unscramble into one more word.
The grid is correct. Unscramble the five red letters:
Seven words from a life spent earning the patron's trust. Unscramble each one.
A message has been shifted 3 letters forward through the alphabet. Shift each letter back 3 to decode it — the message speaks for itself. Answer the question it asks, in Latin.
Decode the message — it already asks its own question at the end.
One verb, ōrō, ōrāre ("to beg") — exactly what every client does at his patron's door — in every tense you know, active and passive. Drag each English meaning onto its matching Latin form.
The picture below has been scattered into 24 pieces — click two to swap them. Each piece locks in place once it's correct. When the whole picture is assembled, five counting questions will appear — in Latin, they ask quot ("how many") of each thing you can find.
Click two pieces to swap them. Correct pieces lock in place — keep going until the whole picture is assembled.
In each row, three tiles belong together and one doesn't. Drag out the odd tile. Find all 15 to learn what the patron finally does.
Now that the story is whole, answer these in Latin:
One clue from every lock you solved. Answer each in Latin — the first letter of each answer will reveal itself, in the order the locks appeared.
You're almost there! Arrange these letters to make a word.
The password was:
dōnāre — "to give." From a master's first gift to a client's last, this whole season has come down to one simple word: giving.