A look back at our favourite previous solutions, and a little bit of trivia to take with you!
noun. An area of open uncultivated land, especially in Britain, characterised by heather and coarse grasses.
The heath is heavily romanticised in British literature. It serves as the deeply atmospheric setting for the eerie moors in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and is the famous meeting place of the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth.
noun. A hard, stony substance secreted by certain marine polyps as a skeleton, typically forming large reefs.
Despite covering less than 1% of the Earth's ocean floor, coral reefs are incredibly vital ecosystems, supporting an estimated 25% of all known marine life!
noun. A peculiar behavioural habit, or a strange and unexpected occurrence.
Beyond human habits, "quirk" has a very specific meaning in classic architecture. It refers to a sharp, V-shaped groove used to separate a bead or other piece of decorative moulding from a flat surface.
noun. A mythological subterranean creature typically portrayed as a small, bearded man.
The concept (and word) was popularised in the 16th century by the eccentric Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. He classified gnomes as "earth elementals" whose primary job was guarding buried treasure underground.
noun. A dome-shaped shelter, historically built by the Inuit from blocks of solid snow.
In the Inuit languages, the word iglu simply translates to "house" or "building". This means that a modern brick apartment block is technically still considered an igloo!