Cloisters March 2006

This month's puzzle will appeal to the wordy worthies among you. We are looking for the two words with the reverse order vowels for our winner. The winner's name will be drawn out of a hat on 15th April and they will get a free course of their choice as prize. This can be used by the winner or given to a loved one. In the event that nobody gets the two words, we'll award the prize for one word. So enter anyway. All entries should be sent, using the form below, before 15th April.

Uoiea

Colonel Hartington-Smythe (retired) was sitting in the Old Colonial Club enjoying a brandy, when he spied young Nigel Windroses. 'I say, Windy,' called the Colonel, 'they tell me you're a bit of a wordsmith.'

'Well, my surname is an anagram of...', he began, but the Colonel interrupted.

'When I was in Poona I was asked a puzzle about English words. The question was “Can you think of a word containing all the vowels, once each, in alphabetical order?”.'

'Facetious or abstemious,' replied Windy, 'although I have to confess that I've heard that one before.'

'Exactly,' snorted the Colonel, 'and you can even add '-ly' onto either if we count ‘y’ as a vowel. But can you now think of a word with all 5 vowels in reverse alphabetical order, each vowel appearing just once?'

'Unless I am much mistaken, the word you are thinking of is descriptive of the country where you were stationed.'

'You've guessed it!' said the Colonel, more than a little impressed, 'but there is another one.'

'And does this one have a ‘y’ in it?' asked Windy.

'Well yes, but since its in the wrong place, let's just stick to the vowels “uoiea”.'

'I assume that people do not have very nice things to say about this word.'

'Good Heavens, man,' said the Colonel, 'you've guessed that one as well. You certainly live up to your anagram.'

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