Next week is the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, a time to gather the family, eat delicious food, and reflect on the good things we have. In the spirit of having a fun Thanksgiving, here are some Cypher System oddities that would be very useful on a busy day filled with travel, extended family, and cooking.
- A paper sleeve for an airline or bus ticket. When it holds a ticket for that day’s travel, crowds part for the bearer, allowing them to move at normal speed through busy areas. This does not affect line queues, just milling people.
- A red metal fork. It defrosts frozen food (up to the size of a turkey) in minutes instead of hours.
- A magnet in the shape of an oven. When stuck to an oven, it doubles the interior size of the oven.
- A slender metal spike with a timer on the end. When inserted into cooking food, the timer counts down to when it’ll be fully cooked.
- A miniature gravy ladle. When hung inside the turkey pan, it prevents the turkey from getting too dry while it’s cooking.
- Orange oven mitts. Food containers held with the mitts will not spill and can’t be dropped except deliberately.
- A small arrangement of flowers in fall colors. When placed on a table, anyone sitting at that table is content to be seated there, regardless of how old they are and the ages of the others sitting there.
- A simple drinking glass. Any toast made while holding it will be expressed in the most eloquent, moving, and memorable way.
- An embroidered hand towel. When placed on the stomach, it negates the uncomfortable feeling from over-eating.
- A decorative fake pumpkin. Anyone within 20 feet (6 m) of it doesn’t feel drowsy from eating a large meal.
- A ceramic lemon. When immersed in water, any tableware dunked in that water is as easy to clean as if it had soaked for an hour in hot water.
- A wooden cutting board carved along the edges with animal shapes. Any meats placed on the cutting board (including anything as large as a turkey carcass) is carved and stacked into sandwich-sized proportions over the course of 1 minute.
- A stubborn-looking gnome figurine. Any winter holiday songs are automatically muted in its presence (whether sung live, broadcasted, or recorded).
- A pair of wire-rim glasses. Wearing them lets you see (as floating text) the food allergies and dietary restrictions of all of your Thanksgiving guests, and if any food being served contains ingredients relevant to those allergies and restrictions.
- A brass ring. Whoever wears it gets the bigger half when breaking a wishbone.
- A folded piece of paper the size of a business card. Anyone carrying the paper is muted when they try to talk about the topic written on the card.
