Caerleon Trail Mail

Welcome to your next Trail Mail challenge! This week, we're heading to Caerleon (Caerllion) in South Wales, where we'll roam with the Romans and solve some sneaky clues.

This is the second instalment of the 2023 Trail Mail Challenge. For information on the prizes, the leaderboard and past puzzles, visit the main page here.

There are three clues set on the following image - one easy peasy, one mind twister and one brain buster. How many can you solve?

Top tip: Open the image in a new tab or save it to your device so you can zoom in.

Image: By Chatsam - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6106426

Using the English alphabet (26 letters, A-Z), how many letters do NOT appear on the whole plaque?

Find the longest word in Welsh and the longest word in English. What two letters do they share?

The same two letters can be found together, in reverse alphabetical order, in only two other words on the plaque. What words are they?

Triangles – Welsh = 10

English - Latin = 15

(Welsh + English - Triangles) x Latin = ?

The closing date for Caerleon Trail Mail entries was Friday 5th January 2024.

You can find the answers for the Caerleon Trail Mail challenge by clicking the button below.

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Caerleon, known as Caerllion in Welsh and called Isca by the Romans, is a town rich in history and legend. The Roman heritage is hard to ignore, with fantastically well-preserved ruins of the Roman fortress and ancient amphitheatre. While it may be known best for its history today, the town is also associated with the mythical King Arthur... Could this be Camelot?!

On the Caerleon treasure hunt Trail, you'll weave your way through the fantastic Roman ruins, including the amphitheatre, fortress baths and barracks, and wander beside the River Usk while searching for the long-lost treasure. 

When Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain in the 12th century, he named Caerleon as a very important city. Why? Well, because he believed this was the site of the legendary King Arthur's first court. He even suggested that the amphitheatre could be the remnants of the famous Round Table!

Caerleon is just one of the many places thought to be Camelot, though, with potential sites scattered from Cornwall to Scotland and even over in France. But, with so many retellings mentioning Caerleon by name, it's hard not to wonder...