Reader's Digest - 04.2020

from top: david j. phillip/ap. mark humphrey/ap/shutterstock Despite the agony of the moment Special Report
and the ongoing threat of danger,
volunteers from around the AGAINST ALL ODDS
country mobilized to save as many
lives as they could. On what had once been the sixth
floor, Capt. Randy Norfleet, a Marine
pilot, was hurled against a wall with
the force of a hurricane at the instant
of the explosion. With quickly fading
eyesight, Norfleet saw that he had
landed about five feet from where the
front of the building was sheared off.
Then everything started to go black.

When he put his hand to his head,
Norfleet could feel what he knew
was a severed artery pulsing from his
mangled right eye. The blood pour-
ing from his face distracted him from
noticing that flying glass had also sev-
ered arteries in his arm and wrist. He
was quickly weakening.

But as Norfleet’s strength ebbed, a
powerful instinct came over him. He
knew he could not wait for rescuers
but needed to risk everything to get
out of the building and get medical
help. To wait, he sensed, would be
fatal.

Someone clamped a T-shirt to his
eye socket to stanch the flow. With
others helping him, he dragged him-
self toward a rear stairwell, fighting
through rubble clouded with thick
dust, and staggered down six floors,
where he collapsed into the hands
of paramedics. When he reached
the hospital, he learned he had lost
50 percent of his blood volume. Af-
ter more than five hours of surgery
and 280 stitches, Randy Norfleet
survived—though he would never
again be able to serve as a pilot.

rd.com 99

Reader’s Digest

Little Nekia McCloud, age four, that she had to virtually start her
who was probably putting her doll young life over—learning to talk, to
down for a nap when the bomb shat- walk, to understand what was going
tered America’s Kids, seems to have on around her. She was in a coma for
been blown out of the building. It is
unclear exactly where she was found, “I COULDN’T IMAGINE
but medic Jason Skaggs, whose unit THIS CHILD COULD
reached the scene at 9:07, says some- LIVE. SHE WAS HARDLY
one thrust her into his arms minutes BREATHING.”
after he arrived.
a month. That is why the family was
“I couldn’t imagine that this child so overwhelmed at what Nekia said
could live,” Skaggs says. “She was when she was starting to speak again.
hardly breathing—just torn all to
pieces.” There was every reason to The family had sought out medic
“call” the child and move on to some- Jason Skaggs, now a police officer, to
one with better odds of surviving. But thank him for not giving up on their
Skaggs refused to deny the little girl a child. Upon meeting Skaggs, the little
chance for life and pumped her chest girl first looked at him shyly, then
as he ran with her to an ambulance. turned to her mother and grandmother
and said quietly, “He’s my angel.”
Nekia was in such horrible shape
when she reached the hospital that BRAVE TO THE END
her family was not allowed to see her
at first. Doctors asked them to bring Hope of finding others lay in the
photographs so they could try to iden- ghastly ruins of the Murrah Build-
tify her in that fashion. According to ing that first day when hundreds of
Faye DeBose, Nekia’s grandmother, people were listed simply as miss-
the little girl’s skull was crushed. Both ing. In the absence of solid informa-
legs were broken, and her lungs were tion, people grasped at whatever they
filled with debris. could find for sustenance.

The doctors told the family that if One of those missing was Michael
she could survive for 72 hours, she Loudenslager, 48, who was in his office
would have a chance. And on the third at the General Services Administration
day, as her grandmother sat holding on the first floor when the bomb ex-
the unconscious child’s hand and ploded. For two days, his wife, Bettie
praying, she felt a squeeze. “Sooner Loudenslager, and their two children
or later,” says DeBose, “I knew Nekia heard nothing. But their hopes bright-
would be OK.” ened when one of Michael’s friends,

But it would be later rather than
sooner. Nekia’s injuries were so grave

100 april 2020

Special Report

recuperating from terrible injuries, hours at the Murrah Building, he felt
told a remarkable story. he had to keep active. He dreaded what
he would see if he let sleep take control
Randy Ledger, 38, was also on the of his brain. Images more awful than
first floor at the time of the explosion. any nightmare kept coming to mind.
He was buried under the rubble, and Most of the people he had seen in the
blood poured from his slashed throat. building had been dead or dying. “As
As he lay there, bleeding to death, he long as I kept my eyes open, I could
heard the distinctively gruff, husky control what I was seeing,” he says.
voice of his friend: “Don’t worry, guy,”
Michael Loudenslager boomed. “I With their own daughters, seven
see you, and I’m going to get help.” and three, in bed, Hull and his wife
When rescue workers found Ledger, collapsed in front of the television
they clawed the rubble from his body. set to catch up on the larger story of
Paramedics rushed to stop the gushing the bombing. One late-night news re-
blood and carried him away. port said most of the children in the
childcare center were presumed to be
Only minutes from death, Ledger dead. Then it showed a very brief in-
reached the hospital and began a terview with one parent whose child
slow recovery from a severed artery had emerged alive from the blast.
and vein in his neck. Although he
could not speak at first and commu- Hull grabbed his wife’s hand. “I
nicated only by notes, he was able know that guy. I pulled his baby out!”
to let people know that it was Mike Hull had been told the baby died, but
Loudenslager who had found him. the man on TV seemed to be hopeful
Certainly, Mike was alive. about his child’s chances, and then
the interview was over.
Days later, though, Mike’s body was
recovered—crushed beneath a huge At once, Hull called the hospital,
concrete block deep inside the build- and an operator put him through
ing, far from the spot where he had to the waiting room where Dan and
last seen his friend. Apparently he had Dawn Webber were keeping vigil
gone farther in to help get someone over their son, Joseph. Hull wanted to
else. “That’s the kind of guy he was,” know how the child was.
Ledger says.
Dan confirmed they were the par-
HUGS AND TEARS ents he had shielded from seeing the
badly injured baby. He explained that
Even those not physically touched the boy was in grave condition but
by the disaster will feel its effects for that doctors thought he had a chance.
the rest of their lives. When Don Hull “There’s no way our son would be
went home to rest after spending seven alive if you hadn’t gotten him out,”
Dan told Hull.

rd.com 101

The
Oklahoma
City National
Memorial
and Museum
opened five
years after
the tragedy.

Overwhelmed to know that the carried out on U.S. soil by an Ameri- larry w smith/epa/shutterstock
child had survived this long, Hull and can citizen. Exactly five years after the
his wife went out the next morning, explosion, President Bill Clinton dedi-
got a gift, and went to the hospital. cated the Oklahoma City National Me-
There in the corridor, Hull looked at morial and Museum on the site of the
the Webbers. They all hugged, long Murrah Building. Its centerpiece is the
and with warmth. The Webbers then Survivor Tree, an American elm that
invited Hull to Joseph’s bedside. stood 150 feet from the explosion yet
survived—and continues to grow to
Says Dan: “It is nothing less than this day. In the 25 years since the
a series of miracles that Don Hull bombing, seeds from the Survivor Tree
saw Joseph, that he picked him up, have been harvested and distributed to
that he felt hope, that he breathed the families of the survivors, visitors to
life into him and carried him out. the memorial, and others. A Survivor
It is truly miraculous, the work of Tree offspring is also growing on the
God.” RD lawn of the White House.

In all, 168 people died in the Okla- This article originally appeared in
homa City bombing, which to this the May 1996 issue of Reader’s Digest.
day is the worst act of terrorism ever

---------- ~v~ ----------

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a personal check for more than $99,999,999.99.

102 april 2020 | rd.com

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11 1111 111111

FIRST PERSON

11 1111111111

TA K I N G

THE

LEAP

A woman in search of a life
with less fear confronts her three

biggest triggers—all at once

By Eva Holland

from the book nerve: adventures
in the science of fear

ILLUSTRATIONS by Cornelia Li

104 april 2020 | rd.com

Reader’s Digest

Reader’s Digest

In the last moments before I climbed into the Cessna,
I turned and faced a young bearded man who was
pointing a video camera at my face. I wore a jumpsuit
made of panels of fluorescent orange and green
fabric, the colors faded by years of sun and wind.
A pair of goggles and a leather helmet were strapped
on my head. “Why are you here?” the man asked me.

I took a deep breath. “My name’s the little Cessna rattled its way down maria amador (plane and clouds)
Eva,” I said, speaking to the cam- the gravel runway. Matthew looked
era lens, “and I’m here to face my elated. I knew I was supposed to be
fear of falling from heights.” excited, too, but I couldn’t get there.
The small crowd that had gath- For the moment, I existed in a bubble
ered around me oohed and cheered of cold calm. That, I figured, was pref-
as I crawled into the tiny plane, awk- erable to the likely alternative: wild,
ward in my elaborate harness. Only hair-tearing panic.
the pilot had a seat—all the others
had been removed—and I sat on the I was acting on a very popular idea:
floor behind him, facing backward, the notion that facing one’s fears is
spooning with my divemaster, Barry. the key to conquering them. In their
Another pair climbed in beside us: third year at Hogwarts, Harry Pot-
divemaster Neil and his charge, Mat- ter and his classmates are taught by
thew, a first-time skydiver like me. Professor Remus Lupin to face down
their fears by laughing at them. In
They sat by the open doorway, The Sound of Music, the abbess tells
and Matthew and I bumped fists as Maria she must confront her feelings,

106 april 2020

First Person

not hide out in the abbey. And in the gather in a jumble of tents, U-Hauls,
novel Dune, in the iconic Bene Ges- cars, RVs, and trucks loaded with
serit “Litany Against Fear,” Frank Her- campers. Barry is their patriarch.
bert wrote, “I will face my fear. I will When I met him, he’d been jump-
permit it to pass over me and through ing for 39 years, including more than
me ... Where the fear has gone there 2,000 tandem jumps with clients.
will be nothing. Only I will remain.” He had gray hair and a gray mous-
Fear, Herbert wrote, was the mind- tache, a big belly and a bigger voice.
killer. I wanted my mind to live. He’s not what you picture when you
think “professional thrill-seeker,”
I ’d arrived at the small airstrip in but I found his age and experience
the Canadian village of Carcross more comforting than any young
several hours earlier. Among its gun could have been. As they say in
few claims to fame is the Carcross Alaska, there are old pilots, and there

I KNEW I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE EXCITED,
BUT I COULDN’T GET THERE. I EXISTED IN

A BUBBLE OF COLD CALM.

Desert, billed as the world’s small- are bold pilots, but there are no old,
est, a tiny collection of soft, rolling bold pilots.
dunes surrounded by snow-etched
mountains and boreal forest. Every When I pulled up, just before
summer, a skydiving outfit based in 10 a.m., most people were gathered
British Columbia caravans up here for in camp chairs around a fire. I was
a couple of weeks and offers people invited to sit down, offered tea and a
the chance to jump out of a plane, hunk of fry bread. I was here because
plummet through free fall, deploy a my three most potent physical fears
parachute, and eventually land in the are of heights, speed, and falling.
forgiving embrace of this tiny patch of And there was nothing, I figured, that
sand. combined all three as effectively—or
as horrifically—as skydiving. My no-
The pro skydivers live by the air- tion was to take a blitzkrieg approach
strip, just outside the village. The vibe to facing my fears. I would force my-
of their encampment is somewhere self to do the scariest thing I could
between summer weekend campout think of, in a full sensory assault on
and itinerant circus troupe. They my fear response, and if I came out

rd.com 107

Reader’s Digest

THE LANDSCAPE BELOW ME WAS FAMILIAR,
COMFORTING. COUNTLESS TIMES I HAD HIKED

IT, BIKED IT, PADDLED IT, DRIVEN IT.

the other side, I would be ... changed, Barry showed me how we would en-
right? Empowered. That was the idea. ter and exit the Cessna. The plane was
So far, I just felt sick and scared. tiny, and when we launched ourselves
through its low doorway, we would be
B arry introduced us first-time harnessed together. There was a care-
jumpers to the gear we’d be us- ful protocol to follow. I’d pictured us
ing, explained how the various stepping out of a full-height doorway,
safety mechanisms worked, and in- or even a yawning, garage-style open-
formed me that if I tried to grab on to ing, like in the movies. But the small
the plane as we jumped, latching on plane, plus our joined bodies, de-
in a last-minute panic, he would break manded an awkward crouch-and-roll.
my fingers to release my grip if he had For some reason, the sheer impossi-
to. His tone suggested that it wouldn’t bility of the maneuver—really, I was
be his first time doing so. going to tandem-somersault out of a
tiny opening in midflight?—calmed
I signed the bluntest waiver form I’d me down. This couldn’t be real. It
ever seen. “Sport parachuting is not seemed like a joke.
perfectly safe,” it read. “We can not
and do not offer any guarantees. We Then, suddenly, it was time. I
do not guarantee that either or both pulled on my fluorescent jumpsuit,
of your parachutes will open prop- my helmet, and my goggles, and I got
erly. We do not guarantee that indivi- cinched into my harness. I faced the
duals at SkydiveBC North or Guardian camera, declared my intentions, and
Aerospace Holdings Inc. will function climbed into the plane.
without error. We do not guarantee
that any of our backup devices will We were airborne, rising up above
function properly, and we certainly do the desert, Carcross, and Bennett Lake
not guarantee that you won’t get hurt. stretching away into the mountains.
You may get hurt or killed, even if you The landscape below me was famil-
do everything correctly.” The form did iar, comforting. Countless times I had
nothing to calm me down. I signed my hiked it, biked it, paddled it, driven
name and handed it over. it, flown over it in commercial jets.
I’ve never minded flying; it was the

108 april 2020

First Person

falling I was worried about. I tried to Barry, behind me, sensed my grow-
breathe deeply and focus on the scen- ing tension—no surprise, since we
ery. There was the train bridge. There were pressed together like a pair of
was the beach. There was the highway lugers on a sled. He squeezed my
leading home. shoulder periodically and pointed
out landmarks below. As we neared
The ascent to 10,000 feet seemed jump height, the Cessna circled a large
to take hours, and as we climbed, the cloud, skirting its edge.
weird out-of-body calm I’d felt on
takeoff seeped away. “You might be a lucky girl and get a
cloud jump,” Barry said. I did not want
It was like coming out of shock, a cloud jump.
losing that numbed protection and
feeling the full pain of an injury for The pilot announced that we
the first time—only instead of pain, were nearly in position for Neil and
I felt a terror that rose through my Matthew’s jump. They shimmied to-
body until it reached my lungs and ward the gaping hole where the plane’s
my throat and my brain and threat- door should have been and nudged
ened to choke me. themselves awkwardly into a spooning

rd.com 109

crouch on the lip of the doorway. behind me. I tried to unfocus my eyes
Seeing them inch toward open space so I couldn’t see the opening and the
endless air next to me, the ground far
was nauseating, and I looked away. I below. Over the roar of the wind and
couldn’t watch them vanish into the the plane, Barry shouted last-minute
sky; I stared at the plane’s riveted adjustments to the pilot, getting us
metal wall instead. The pilot dipped lined up just right. “Give me five left! ...
the plane slightly to the right, tipping Five right!” The seconds stretched out
Neil and Matthew out the door, and while I fought the urge to quit. I had
then, liberated of their combined 270 the sensation of trying to hold up
pounds, the Cessna sprang back sud- some massive weight, my strength
denly to the left. My stomach clenched ebbing away, moment by moment.
and jerked, and I swallowed hard.
Finally Barry put his right foot out
Now it was our turn. Barry directed on the narrow metal step fixed to
me to roll over and scuttle into posi- the plane’s fuselage below the open
tion as the pilot got us lined up for door frame and yelled for me to do
another jump. My breath came fast; the same. It took me three tries—the
I struggled for control. I desperately wind first blew my foot behind, then
wanted to shout, No, no, I changed in front, before I lodged it against his.
my mind. I don’t want to do this. I Next I had to scooch around so my
clenched my jaw. I knew that if I said left knee pointed out over the lip of
the word, they would take me back the doorway and lock both my hands
down to the ground, keep my money, on to my harness, gripping a pair of
and let me walk away. The whole day handles at shoulder height. I was glad
would be for nothing. to have something to hold on to. Ever
since Barry had promised to snap
Eventually I got myself in place, my finger bones if need be, I’d had
hunched over with my kneecaps level
in the front of the door frame, Barry

110 april 2020

First Person Reader’s Digest

a recurring vision of myself reaching tried to think about arcing my body
out in panic as we exited the plane into a slight bow: feet together, head
and fastening on to the door frame or up, my belly pointing the way down.
a strut with a viselike grip fueled by I stared at the ground rushing up at
fear, pulling the Cessna off-balance us, and suddenly I opened my mouth
and risking everyone’s lives. and spoke for the first time since we’d
started the flight up.
All I could do was stay limp and
trust Barry to get us in the air— “Holy ——!” I yelled, and the wind
actually participating in our exit from seemed to tear the words out of my
the plane was beyond me. I felt him mouth to make room for more. “Holy
rocking back and forth to get our mo- ——! Holy ——! Holy ——!!” A small
mentum up, heard him yell some- part of my brain noted, amazed, that
thing, but I was deep in my own head. I could even hear myself, could even
Then we rolled out of the plane and produce audible speech, with the
into space. force of the air roaring by me. (Later,

ONCE I GOT STARTED, I COULDN’T SEEM TO
STOP. MY VOICE GOT HOARSE, MY THROAT RAW.

FOR 37 SECONDS, I KEPT HOLLERING.

Barry had urged me to keep an eye I would learn that we had reached a
on the Cessna as I somersaulted out peak speed of 101 miles per hour.)
of it. Watching the plane appear to
fall away from you when you were I screamed those same two words
the one plummeting was, he as- over and over through our entire
sured me, one of the coolest parts of 37  seconds of free fall. Once I got
a jump. But I had no desire to watch started, I couldn’t seem to stop. My
the earth and the sky spin around voice got hoarse, my throat raw. I
me. I kept my eyes shut hard until I kept hollering. Dimly, over the sound
could feel that Barry had stabilized of my own swearing, I heard Barry
us in free fall. say something about our chute, and
then a force seemed to pluck at us
I felt him tap me on the shoulder, from above—not a hard jerk, but now
then again, and yell something in my my feet were dangling below me and
ear, and I peeled my hands off the I could feel my weight pushing down
harness handles and thrust my arms on the crotch straps of my harness.
out wide like I was supposed to. I
I stopped yelling. Barry reached

rd.com 111

Reader’s Digest

I STARED AT THE SAND, TRYING TO FIND A
SILVER LINING TO COVER UP THE BOTTOMLESS

CHASM OF FEAR I CARRIED INSIDE ME.

forward and offered me the straps long, leisurely parachute descent af-
that controlled the parachute, to let ter free fall as “relaxing.” But I couldn’t
me steer. It took me a couple of tries relax—I was too aware of my weight in
to put my shaking hands through the the harness, my feet dangling, the fa-
loops, and I was too weak to pull ef- miliar landmarks far below me. There
fectively. I could feel him pulling the was the train bridge. There was the
cords for me from above. beach. There was the highway lead-
ing home. Barry spun us around, and
Other jumpers had described the

112 april 2020

First Person

I felt sick, hated him for a moment, chasm of fear I carried inside me.
and quavered that I didn’t like that. Later, after I’d stripped off my har-
The fall went on and on. Finally we
neared the desert, and Barry took over ness and helmet and jumpsuit, after
steering entirely. I’d calmed down enough to attempt
the drive home safely, I did find some
He twisted us from side to side, pride. I had done it, after all. I hadn’t
tacking like a sailboat to shed speed backed down, pulled the plug at the
as we came in over the dunes. Then last minute, and forfeited my money
he gave me the signal to pull my and my dignity. I hadn’t clutched on
knees up (I did my shaky best) and to the airplane as we rolled out of it,
pull down hard on the chute straps. I killing us all. I hadn’t screamed the
braced for impact, but my feet never entire way down.
touched—suddenly I was on my belly
in the sand, Barry on top of me. He re- These were small victories. But
leased the right waist clip so he could I knew now that if I was going to
roll off of me as the ground crew ap- achieve a real transformation, to re-
proached, cheering, and freed me arrange my relationship with my
completely. fears, it would not be through shock
and awe. One $400 skydive was not
The crew and other jumpers clus- going to solve my problems. I needed
tered around; someone helped me to to be smarter, more systematic, more
my feet. I tried to smile, but my cheeks scientific.
and lips felt as wobbly as my arms
and legs. I stared at the sand and dug There was more than one way to
around inside myself, trying to find face my fears. If necessary, I would
some pride in my accomplishment, try them all. RD
some kind of silver lining with which
to cover up the apparently bottomless from the book nerve: adventures in the science of
fear by eva holland. reprinted with permission
of the u.s. publisher, the experiment, theexperiment
publishing.com.

----------- "~~ -----------

Good Things Come to Those Who ... Oops

Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
EAT ME NOW
Too late.

—Avocados

rd.com 113

Reader’s Digest

THE
GENIUS
SECTION

9 Pages to sharpen
Your Mind

PIECE
OF MIND

Jigsaw puzzles aren’t just fun.
They can also relieve anxiety, especially when

you put them together, well, together.

By Caitlin Agnew

W hile out shopping holiday get-togethers have a way of
for Christmas pres- putting any personal shortcomings at
ents in 2018, I bought center stage. This cheery pink puzzle
myself a jigsaw puz- had everything I felt I needed to dis-
zle on a whim. It was tract myself in one box. And at $20, the
an unusual buy, one that I now recog- price was right. Why not?
nize as an attempt at dealing with that
particular stress many of us experience As soon as I started on my puzzle,
during the holidays. Don’t get me I knew I’d found exactly what I was
wrong—I love seeing my family. But looking for. Instead of my usual late-
night Netflix binge, I was sorting its

114 april 2020 Photograph by Joleen Zubek

1,000 pieces well into the wee hours. “I thought, Whoa, I feel really good
I finished it in just a few days. I felt when I’m doing this. I feel really chill,”
possessed by the soothing, methodi- she recalls. Breen suffers from anxiety,
cal action, almost like I’d been hypno- and when she was having worrisome
tized or spent hours meditating. thoughts about an upcoming trip to Ni-
caragua, she turned to puzzling instead
Robyn Breen, a dance instructor at of prescription medication. It worked,
Misfitstudio in Toronto, knows the feel- and jigsaws have since become an es-
ing. At a family gathering years ago, sential part of her daily routine.
Breen was reintroduced to puzzles and
fell in love with their soothing effect. Susan Vandermorris is a clinical

rd.com 115

Reader’s Digest The Genius Section

neuropsychologist at Toronto’s Bay- come by for Jack Brait. The 23-year-
crest Health Sciences, a global leader old from Marshfield, Massachusetts,
in brain health and aging research. has autism and first took to puzzles as
She says that any type of puzzle is good a kid because they “gave him a break
for the brain and points to the stress- from the demands of socializing,” says
relieving benefits of jigsaws in particu- his mom, Michele Brait, who soon re-
lar. “If you’re doing a puzzle, you are, alized her son had a remarkable abil-
by definition, disconnected and en- ity. “He could complete a 1,000-piece
gaged in a task that’s immersive, away puzzle in one sitting,” she recalls.
from the interruptions and stresses of
day-to-day life,” she says. “And that, of As Jack grew, so did his puzzling
course, is good for your brain.” talent—and its benefits. In 2014, while
still in high school, he completed a
Vandermorris believes that doing 32,256-piece puzzle (then the largest
puzzles with others boasts even more in the world) and was inducted into
health benefits than doing them on the Ravensburger Largest Puzzle Hall
your own, adding that it provides a rare of Fame. Three years later, he tackled
another behemoth: 40,320 pieces. Last
“I THOUGHT, WHOA, year, he finished a 52,110-piecer.
I FEEL REALLY GOOD
WHEN I’M DOING THIS. Jack completed these puzzles by
I FEEL REALLY CHILL.” himself, but what used to be an escape
from socializing now facilitates it. His
opportunity for intergenerational en- oversize works attract attention, and he
gagement. “Get the teenagers off their is more than willing to share the spot-
smartphones and working on a puzzle light. “When I completed my first giant
with Grandma, and suddenly you’ve puzzle, I invited friends and family,” he
got a really nice family interaction that says. “I enjoy doing them around other
seems to be harder and harder to come people.” But the best is when one of his
by these days.” puzzles is put on public display, as Jack
likes to donate his handiwork. That,
Interaction was certainly hard to he says, makes him feel “unbelievable,
proud, and happy.” RD

With Emily Goodman

- - - - - - - - - - ~~~ ----------

Supersize Me!

“You like mayonnaise? Prove it.” —Costco

@seethenare

116 april 2020 | rd.com

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Reader’s Digest

BRAIN GAMES

1111 1111

April Fools’ 1

easy To get in the spirit 2
of April Fools’ Day, place 5
these terms in the grid.

SPOOF MISCHIEF 6 34 7
PARODY QUIP 10 8 9
JOKE STUNT
COMEDY JEST
SATIRE CAPER

Hidden Produce

easy The names of five different fruits are hidden between consecutive words in the
silly story below. Can you find them all?

Example: Washington, DC, and Lima, Peru, are on the same longitude. (melon)

A man goes to a lumberyard. He has little money, so he’s looking for cheap lumber.
But the prices are too high. Suddenly feeling really cheeky, the man decides to steal
the wood he needs and, like a skilled escape artist, manages to slip away without
arousing suspicion.

the noun project (4)

118 april 2020

The Genius Section

Sum-thing Special

difficult Each letter from
A to I has one of the nine
values listed below. No
two letters have the same
value. Match each letter
to a number to make the
equations work.

145 Fickle Friends
8 12 16
17 18 21 medium Kristen’s friends want to buy her a wedding
gift. Originally ten friends were going to chip in
equally, but then two of them dropped out. Each of
the remaining eight friends had to chip in another
dollar to bring the total back up to the original amount.
How much money did they plan to collect?

marcel danesi (sum-thing special and dominoes). the noun project (money) F = A +B ,.Dominoes, I
C = B +B ,
D = B +C medium ,.
G = B +D
I = A+E ··: •Oneofthesee : I•
E = D+F I
H = F +G .• ,.• •dominoesis:'' e
,. •notlikethe
For more Brain
Games, go to others. Which
rd.com/crosswords.
.• •• •• ••••••oneisit?
• •• •! ..

•••••• •••• .•I• •e!

For answers, turn to page 123.

rd.com 119

Reader’s Digest The Genius Section

~ WORD POWER 9. snifter n.
1111 ('snif-ter)
a small goblet.
After Prohibition went into effect in 1920, b nightcap.
Americans suffered through a long dry spell— c hip flask.

save for the occasional dip into the bathtub 10. Nebuchadnezzar n.
gin. We’re toasting the 100th anniversary (neh-byuh-kud-'neh-zer)
with some spirited vocabulary. Take your best a enormous wine bottle.
shot, then turn to page 122 for answers. b tequila-based drink.
c Egyptian chalice.
By Sarah Chassé
11. aqua vitae n.
1. speakeasy n. 5. distill v. (ak-wuh 'vy-tee)
('speek-ee-zee) (dih-'still) a sparkling seltzer.
a expert bartender. a purify a liquid. b medicinal syrup.
b chatty drunk. b add a mixer. c strong liquor.
c illegal bar. c flavor with bitters.
12. sommelier n.
2. swill v. 6. wassail n. (suh-mull-'yay)
(swil) ('wah-suhl) a wine expert.
a smuggle. a hot spiced beverage. b tasting room.
b age in barrels. b headache cure. c sweet vermouth.
c drink freely. c public house.
13. rathskeller n.
3. aperitif n. 7. bootleg adj. ('rot-skeh-ler)
(uh-pair-uh-'teef) ('boot-leg) a drinking game.
a apricot brandy. a made in small batches. b basement tavern.
b predinner cocktail. b produced unlawfully. c dark ale.
c swizzle stick. c watered down.
14. repeal v.
4. blotto adj. 8. katzenjammer n. (ree-'peel)
('blah-toh) ('kat-sun-jam-er) a put an end to.
a with a splash of water. a beer garden. b garnish with lemon.
b intoxicated. b corkscrew. c legalize.
c bubbly. c hangover.
15. dram n.
(dram)
a barstool.
b small drink.
c brewery.

To play an interactive version of Word Power on your iPad,
download the Reader’s Digest app.

120 april 2020 | rd.com

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Reader’s Digest d "' ·.;.a,p
.Tippling Tonight?

• •A teetotaler—aka someone
• ,• ••

Tee-Totally Not '

who doesn’t drink alcohol—is

not necessarily a tea drinker, as the name suggests. The

word likely came from the phrase “tee-total abstinence,” with

the first syllable used simply to emphasize the t sound, similar

to how you might say, “You’re in trouble, with a capital T!”

Word Power 6. wassail (a) hot spiced 12. sommelier (a)
beverage. A wassail is just wine expert. A restaurant’s
ANSWERS the thing to warm you up sommelier can help you
on a chilly evening. choose the perfect wine
1. speakeasy (c) illegal to complement your
bar. Speakeasies, also 7. bootleg (b) produced meal.
known as “blind pigs” or unlawfully. According to
“gin joints,” popped up family lore, Grandpa sold 13. rathskeller (b)
in cities across America in bootleg whiskey from the basement tavern. The inn
the 1920s. back of his general store. offers a cozy rathskeller
just below the formal
2. swill (c) drink freely. 8. katzenjammer (c) dining room.
Mimi plans to spend her hangover. I had a whop-
spring break sunbathing ping katzenjammer the 14. repeal (a) put an
on the beach and swilling day after I turned 21! end to. Congress ratified
margaritas. the 21st Amendment in
9. snifter (a) small goblet. 1933, which repealed
3. aperitif (b) predinner Hassan collects vintage Prohibition.
cocktail. After a round snifters and highball
of aperitifs, the couple glasses. 15. dram (b) small drink.
ordered filet mignon and For dessert, I’ll have
a bottle of cabernet. 10. Nebuchadnezzar the cherry cheesecake
(a) enormous wine bottle. and a dram of amaretto,
4. blotto (b) intoxicated. “Should I bid on that please.
“Remember, you’re going Nebuchadnezzar of
to college to learn, not champagne at the mariyana m/shutterstock
to get blotto with your museum gala?” Carly
friends,” warned Dad. wondered.

5. distill (a) purify a liquid. 11. aqua vitae (c) strong Vocabulary Ratings
Most rum is distilled from liquor. Lakshmi has sworn
molasses. off aqua vitae until she fin- 9 & below: rotgut
10–12: vintage
ishes her doctoral thesis. 13–15: classic

122 april 2020

The Genius Section

BRAIN GAMES mlaauuksgeh!
ANSWERS

See page 118.

April Fools’

across down
2. quip 1. mischief
3. caper 4. parody
8. joke 5. stunt
9. satire 6. spoof
10. comedy 7. jest

Hidden Produce

mango (man goes),
lemon (little money),
plum (cheap lumber),
lychee (really cheeky),
pear (escape artist)

julia christe/offset/shutterstock Sum-thing Special Caption Contest

a = 1, b = 4, c = 8, What’s your clever description for this
d = 12, e = 17, f = 5, picture? Submit your funniest line at
g = 16, h = 21, i = 18 RD.COM/CAPTIONCONTEST. Winners will
appear in a future Photo Finish (PAGE 124).
Fickle Friends
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rd.com 123

Reader’s Digest The Genius Section tim clayton/corbis/getty images

PHOTO FINISH

Your Funniest captions

Winner
“Jonah will be right out!”
—David McCleary Warsaw, Indiana

Runners-Up
“Marco!!!”
—Carolyn Davis Hillsborough, North Carolina
Forty-five years later, the remake of Jaws seems to lack some real teeth.
—Brian Sagar Fairfax, California
To enter an upcoming caption contest, see the photo on page 123.

124 april 2020 | rd.com

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