Latin IV

The Harvest Home

Rus

Seven locks. One family, one country villa, one vintage worth celebrating. Bring in the grapes before the new wine waits.

🔊 Turn your sound on for the full effect.

© The Classical Couple. Licensed for single-classroom/purchaser use only — not for resale or redistribution.

Briefing

Home for the Vintage

The family has left the city behind for their villa in the country — the true meaning of rus. The baskets are heavy, the granary waits, and the whole household has turned out for the harvest that caps the whole year.

Seven puzzles stand between you and the new wine itself. Solve one, and the vines empty a little more — until, at the end, one final word names the person this whole harvest belongs to.

How To Play

Seven Locks

1

Crossword — the vocabulary of a Roman country villa.

2

Anagrams — unscramble seven words for running a country estate.

3

Cipher — decode a message, then answer the riddle it asks.

4

Matching — one verb, colligo ("to gather"), active and passive, even the future.

5

Picture Count — reassemble a scattered scene, then count what you see.

6

Odd One Out — find the mismatched word in each row to reveal how the vintage went, then answer questions about it.

7

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.

1

Crossword

Verba Reticulata

Fifteen words from a Roman country villa. Every clue gives the English meaning; you supply the Latin. Fill the grid — every crossing letter must agree both ways. Six cells are marked in red: once the grid is solved, their letters unscramble into one more word.

Across

5. A basket.
6. A field.
7. A bird.
9. An estate, a country property.
13. Duty.
14. A farm-overseer.

Down

1. A fatherland, a homeland.
2. Work, labor.
3. A house, a villa.
4. A countryman, rural.
6. A tree.
8. Business.
10. The countryside.
11. A plain, a field.
12. A neighbor.

The grid is correct. Unscramble the six red letters:

2

Anagrams

Verba Mixta

Seven words for running a country estate. Unscramble each one.

OBLOCIRIVS
to forget
MSNNOLUIIHI
nevertheless
CAFEPRUTES
a commander
CPLLOIORE
to promise
OCNUOCD
to hire
UOTMSPER
alarmed, disturbed
NDIDTIEME
repeatedly
3

Cipher

Littera Mota

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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C
LQ YLOOD VXP GXOFH VXP GRPLQXV PH LQ PHQVD SRQLW RPQHV PH ELEXQW TXLG VXP

Decode the message — it already asks its own question at the end.

4

Matching

Verbum Ūnum

One verb, colligo, colligere ("to gather") — the whole point of a grape-harvest — in every tense you know, active and passive, even the future. Drag each English meaning onto its matching Latin form.

5

Picture Count

Numerī

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.

A Roman family feast in an autumn courtyard, with a laden table, wine jugs, a grape cart, and two dogs

Click two pieces to swap them. Correct pieces lock in place — keep going until the whole picture is assembled.

6

Odd One Out

Verbum Dīversum

In each row, three tiles belong together and one doesn't. Drag out the odd tile. Find all 15 to learn how the vintage went.

_____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.

Now that the story is whole, answer these in Latin:

7

Final Rebus

Verbum Ultimum

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.

Vindemia Fēlīx

The Harvest Is Home

The password was:

VICTOR

victor — "winner." The baskets are full, the new wine is safe, and the whole family has won the year's last harvest.