Reader's Digest Australia Dec/Jan 2025

KOLONKO/GETTY IMAGES The ORBISCULATE Challenge easy Howmany words can you find within the 11-letter word below? Words must be at least three letters long and appear in the dictionary (we use Merriam-Webster) to count toward your score. Bonus The longest word we found within WINTERGREEN is 10 letters long. Can you find it? (Answer is below.) What’s With This Game’s Crazy Name? We first published “Warning: This Fruit May Orbisculate,” about a family’s made-up word, in our December 2021/January 2022 issue. Orbisculate means “when you dig your spoon into a grapefruit (or another fruit or vegetable), and it squirts juice directly in your eye.” Soon after, reader SueMollineaux of Torrington, Connecticut, wrote us to say that residents of her senior community had put their heads together and found 223 words using the letters in orbisculate (like orb , brace or—good one— aerobics ). After we shared her letter, hun - dreds of readers took up the challenge and wrote us with their scores. We were so delighted, we decided to feature the ORBISCULATE Challenge, with a new (legit, not made-up!) word in every issue of Reader’s Digest . your score: W R I G N R T E E E N Answer: Reentering reader ’ s digest 144 December 2025/January 2026 Brain GAMES Sharpen Your Mind DARREN RIGBY (HERDING CATS). MAGNILION/GETTY IMAGES (CATS) Herding Cats Difficult Photographer Nicole was taking a Christmas card photo of her client’s four cats. She sat them down in a line. From left to right, they were a ginger cat, a gray cat, a black cat and a white cat. F But Ana started clawing at Lucky, who was next to her. So Nicole separated them, moving Ana to the left edge of the shot and leaving Lucky where he was. F Then Mala ran out of the frame, so Nicole scooped her up and set her down in a new spot immediately left of Sky. F Ana and Mala love to tussle with each other, which is why they weren’t next to each other at the beginning, so Nicole swapped the two cats who were now in the middle in order to separate Ana and Mala. In doing so, Nicole’s black pants got covered in white fur. F Then Sky wouldn’t look at the camera, so Nicole dangled some ribbon to draw his attention, but Ana chased after it instead. F While Nicole was chasing Ana, Sky moved past the other two cats. When Nicole returned with Ana, she set her down on the end, next to Sky. And at last, they were able to take a decent picture. From left to right, what colors were the cats in that picture? For answers, turn to page 149 . readersdigest.com.au 145 Brain Games