Isabelle Micallef Grimaud, a 51-year-old teacher of English, is the winner of The Times word game series, which ended on September 30.

The winning nine-letter words were sandpiper, turbulent, insolvent, reduction/introduce, eventuate and beanstalk.

The prize is a Mondial tour to Austria and the Czech Republic visiting Salkammergut, Mondsee, Linz, Vienna, Cesky Krumlov, Salzburg and Steyr, among other places.

Ms Micallef Grimaud, a mother of two, has always played the word game. She said it is the first thing she looks for when purchasing the newspaper on Saturday morning. She has expressed her interest in puzzles saying: "Sometimes the answers just leap out at you but with others you have to struggle a bit".

Having worked as a travel agent and travelled several times in her childhood and teens with her family, she has a keen interest in agro tourism and rambling. Her ideal holiday is somewhere quiet in the countryside where she, together with her husband, can take walks. In fact, the last trip was to Tuscany, where she lived in a farmhouse and enjoyed the scenery. Although she loves the greenery, she confessed that cities make her appreciate the food, culture and architecture of the countries she visits.

The trip will take Ms Micallef Grimaud on an excursion to the Salkammergut area where the film Sound of Music was shot, Mondsee to see the parish church where the wedding in the film was filmed, St Wolfgang to visit a pretty village on the lake, Linz which is the capital of Upper Austria and is built on both banks of the river Danube, a full-day optional excursion to Vienna, Cesky Krumlov, where she can appreciate the South Bohemian countryside, Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, and an optional half-day excursion to Steyr, the third largest town in Upper Austria, among others.