Reader's Digest

Spymaster 2856
Difficult Deduce a secret number made of four 1257
different digits from 1 through 9. The chart shows

(SPYMASTER) FRASER SIMPSON; (SPEEDY SPOILAGE) SUE DOHRIN; (RUBBER ROOM) DARREN RIGBY; (BREAD IMAGE) ISTOCK.COM/MARIATKACH four guesses at the number and a score for each 3941
guess, represented by marbles. Any digit that

appears in the secret number in the same position 2639
as in the guess is scored with a black marble. Any

digit that appears in the secret number in a different position than in the guess is

scored with a white marble. Any digit that does not appear in the secret number

doesn’t get a marble at all. What’s the secret four-digit number?

Speedy Spoilage Rubber Room
Easy You baked a Difficult This otherwise empty room contains an
500-gram loaf of undisclosed number of rubber bumpers that cross
bread, but sadly, it some of the squares diagonally from corner to corner.
went mouldy before Each of the numbers outside of the grid indicates how
you had the chance many times a ball rolled away from that wall would hit
to start eating it. a bumper and change course by 90 degrees before
Mould colonies grow colliding with another wall. The example to the right
nearly exponentially: shows what that could look like. The bumpers do not
to keep things section the room off into two separate spaces. Where
simple, let’s say the are they located?
amount of mould
doubled every three 2123 3
hours. If it finished 22 3
spoiling your loaf at 13
around 2 p.m. on 15
Tuesday, 72 hours 22
after you first baked
it, when was half of 2152
the loaf spoiled?

For answers, turn to PAGE 103

rd.ca 99

reader’s digest

TRIVIA the New Zealand storm
petrel are all examples of
what kind of animal?

BY Paul Paquet 11. Although Bea Arthur
hated cheesecake, what
1. Acrylonitrile butadiene 6. Besides his most TV show’s cast ate some
styrene (ABS) is a very famous portrait, what 100 of them on camera?
sturdy plastic. That’s artist also painted others
why it hurts to step on that included Lady With 12. Which Disney charac-
what Danish-designed an Ermine and Ginevra ter’s family name is Fa,
ABS toys? de’ Benci? even though it was Hua
in the source material?

2. You may know her bet- 7. Greta Thunberg’s 13. By what name is the ISTOCK.COM/FKDKONDMI
ter as a nurse, but who mother, Malena Ernman, Sveriges Riksbank Prize
became the first female represented Sweden at in Economic Sciences
member of the U.K.’s Royal what event in 2009? better known?
Statistical Society in 1858? 14. In early 2020 in Hong
8. What former German Kong, armed men stole
3. Who described Simon chancellor gave Angela 600 of what coveted item?
Bolivar as “the dastardly, Merkel her first cabinet
most miserable and position—and the rather 15. Who’s won two
meanest of blackguards”? patronizing nickname Grammys for comedy
“mein Mädchen” recordings and three for
4. What movie star’s first (my girl)? playing the banjo?
claim to fame was being
part of a hip-hop duo 9. Not counting cheese
called DJ Jazzy Jeff and the or tomato sauce, what is
Fresh Prince? by far the most popular
pizza topping among
5. According to peer- Americans?
reviewed research, wear-
ing what colour might give 10. Omura’s whale, the
an advantage to boxers? Lord Howe stick insect and

Answers: 1. Lego. 2. Florence Nightingale. 3. Karl Marx. 4. Will Smith. 5. Red. 6. Leonardo da
Vinci. 7. The Eurovision Song Contest. 8. Helmut Kohl. 9. Pepperoni. 10. They’re “Lazarus
animals,” meaning they were thought to be extinct only to be rediscovered. 11. The Golden Girls.
12. Mulan. 13. The Nobel Prize for Economics. 14. Rolls of toilet paper. 15. Steve Martin.

100 september 2020

WORD POWER

Certain otherwise obscure words show 11. stoa—A: guard who
up repeatedly in crossword grids because remains immobile so long
they’re short, full of vowels or both. Take as there’s no threat.
B: covered walkway
your solving skills to the next level by supported by evenly
studying some crosswordese. spaced columns.
C: unit of 100 soldiers.

BY Samantha Rideout 12. eke—A: frighten
someone without
1. aria—A: plot of land. C: sourdough starter left- intending to. B: sneak
B: circle of refracted sky over after baking. past someone. C: make
visible to underwater something last by using
divers. C: opera song for 7. ilia—A: bacteria capa- it frugally.
one accompanied voice. ble of causing sickness.
B: large bones in the 13. etui—A: accusation
2. erne—A: tall vase on upper half of the pelvis. of betrayal.B: musical
a pedestal. B: sea eagle. C: ear-shaped seashell. composition for improv-
C: white fur made ing finger dexterity.
from ermine. 8. arid—A: very dry. C: small ornamental case.
B: void of air.
3. tsar—A: emperor of C: solid as a rock. 14. épée—A: fencing
Russia. B: traitor. C: suc- sword with a bowl-
cessful entrepreneur. 9. pica—A: tiny fish shaped guard. B: French
used to exfoliate feet. epic. C: lace on the
4. nib—A: small gold B: craving to eat sub- shoulder of a gown.
nugget. B: mug handle. stances that aren’t foods.
C: point of a pen. C: hot pepper. 15. ode—A: lyric poem
that addresses its subject
5. ire—A: distaste. 10. nard—A: person in an irregular metre.
B: envy. C: anger. with an intense interest B: ambiguous prophecy
in a topic. B: narcotics whose meaning is under-
6. ecru—A: light beige. officer. C: aromatic stood only in retrospect.
B: espresso foam. Himalayan plant. C: song that laments
a death.

rd.ca 101

reader’s digest

WORD POWER landlord to let him add until her late paycheque
ANSWERS some colour to his apart- finally arrived.
ment’s ecru walls.
1. aria—C: opera song 13. etui—C: small orna-
for one accompanied 7. ilia—B: large bones in mental case; as, Xuejiao
voice; as, On days when the upper half of the pel- kept sewing needles and
she awoke in a cheery vis; as, Sylvia fractured a thimble in an antique
mood, Lesley would sing both her ilia by falling off silk etui.
arias from L’elisir d’amore her motorcycle.
in the shower. 14. épée—A: fencing
8. arid—A: very dry; as, sword with a bowl-
2. erne—B: sea eagle; as, Having moved to an arid shaped guard; as,
An erne snatched a fish climate, Vikram opted not Paralympian épée fencers
from just under the to waste water on a lawn. wear metal-lined aprons
water’s surface. over their legs and
9. pica—B: craving to eat wheelchairs.
3. tsar—A: emperor of substances that aren’t
Russia; as, DNA from liv- foods; as, Young kids 15. ode—A: lyric poem
ing relatives was used to aren’t usually diagnosed that addresses its subject
authenticate the sus- with pica because it’s in an irregular metre; as,
pected remains of Tsar normal for them to chew Pablo Neruda wrote odes
Nicholas II. on everything. to such commonplace
objects as his socks, an
4. nib—C: point of a pen; 10. nard—C: aromatic onion and a bar of soap.
as, The secret to Derrick’s Himalayan plant; as, Nard
elegant handwriting was is mentioned in the Bible CROSSWORD
a fountain pen with a as an erotic scent. ANSWERS
flexible nib.
11. stoa—B: covered FROM PAGE 104
5. ire—C: anger; as, The walkway supported by
decision to make Parade evenly spaced columns; I L S ABU V I A
Avenue a pedestrian- as, The Stoa Poikile
only street drew a mix- (“painted stoa”) of NOT R E P A I NT
ture of praise and ire ancient Athens featured
from citizens. illustrations of battles. S T E AME DC L AM

6. ecru—A: light beige; 12. eke—C: make some- USES AMEN S
as, Ondrej convinced his thing last by using it fru-
gally; as, Lucie eked out MADHA T T E R
her remaining funds
PNE

CROS S EYED

CRUE L S EM I

F UR I OUS PAC E

C L I NGTO S E T

SEE YAY TES

102 september 2020

BRAINTEASERS SUDOKU
ANSWERS

FROM PAGE 98 BY Jeff Widderich

Herding Cats 47

OOXOOX X 35 8 1
XOOXOX X
X X XOXOO 4 51 2
OXOX X XO
OXOOOX X 95 2
OOXOOX X
OXOXOXO

Bubble Math 18

1

10 5 4 13
4 2
8 91 5
12

8
13

78 3 6 5 79
4 275

Spymaster 47
7631.
To Solve This Puzzle 216479835SOLUTION
Speedy Spoilage 375268491
At around 11 a.m. Put a number from 1 to 9 in 849351627 rd.ca 103
on Tuesday. each empty square so that: 958136274
132794568
Rubber Room ) every horizontal row and 764825913
vertical column contains all 487912356
2123 nine numbers (1-9) without 621583749
22 repeating any of them; 593647182
13
15 ) each of the outlined 3 x 3
22 boxes has all nine numbers,
none repeated.
2152

reader’s digest

CROSSWORD

It’s All the Rage 36 “We scored!”
37 Your, in Tours

BY Barbara Olson DOWN
1 “To recap...”
1 23 456 789 2 Oodles of, casually
3 Knight’s ride
10 11 12 4 Put the heat on?
5 Spelling contest
13 14 6 Keeps apprised of
the latest
15 16 7 More loathsome
8 “I’m ___ awful way”
17 18 19 (Cat Stevens lyric)
9 They’re loaded with cash
20
12 Highest point
21 22 23 24 25 26 14 Stain on Cinderella
18 Typical Canadian
27 28 29
offering, it is said
30 31 32 19 Cities’ smaller cousins:

33 34 Abbr.
21 Chemist Marie or Pierre
35 36 37 22 Tie at the Calgary

ACROSS 17 Perturbed fedora maker? Stampede?
1 Those guys, in Québec 20 Vancouver summer fair, 23 Clairvoyant’s claim
4 ___ Dhabi (Mideast 24 Brewer’s and baker’s buy
capital) for short 25 Presenter at an event
7 Passenger rail company 21 Glaring angrily? 26 Losing propositions?
27 Vindictive 27 Banned aerosol
10 “I’m kidding, of course!” 29 18-wheeler
11 Give the walls a new look 30 Gait of the irate? can chems.
13 Ticked off chowder 33 Refuse to let go of, 28 ___ with an iron fist
31 Hagen of the stage
mollusc? as beliefs 32 Ingredient in some milks
15 Finds a purpose for 34 Unit for Bianca Andreescu
16 Worshippers’ wrap-ups 35 “With me so far?” For answers, turn to PAGE 102

104 september 2020

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AS
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