We've officially played one thousand games on Ask Me Another! And what better way to celebrate than with a final round in which every answer contains the consecutive letters 'U-S-A,' just like the word 'thousandth.'
Heard On Jason Mraz: Choco-mole And Pie
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OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
It's time to crown our big winner. Let's bring back our finalists Demian Vanderputten, who learned that he's more afraid of falling than spiders, and Amanda Gilligan, who will give her third graders credit for making fart jokes.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Puzzle guru Greg Pliska, take it away.
GREG PLISKA: Amanda and Demian, we have played hundreds of games over the years on ASK ME ANOTHER. And I'm happy to announce that your final round is our 1,000th game.
(APPLAUSE)
PLISKA: And, of course, that means that every answer in this game will contain the consecutive letters USA, just like the word thousandth. Our big winner will receive an ASK ME ANOTHER Rubik's Cube and an avocado signed but not grown by Jason Mraz.
(APPLAUSE)
PLISKA: So we rolled a 20-sided die backstage. And Amanda, you will go first. Here we go. Amanda, this Jamaican runner holds eight Olympic gold medals.
AMANDA GILLIGAN: Usain Bolt.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Demian, this women's rights advocate was once pictured on the U.S. $1 coin.
DEMIAN VANDERPUTTEN: Susan B. Anthony.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
VANDERPUTTEN: Amanda, this actor known for her roles in "Thelma and Louise" and "Bull Durham" recently played Bette Davis in "Feud."
GILLIGAN: Susan Sarandon.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Demian, also known as judicial disqualification, this word refers to when a judge removes him or herself from a case due to a conflict of interest.
VANDERPUTTEN: Recusal.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Amanda, in family law, there's two-word alliterative phrase refers to payments made by one married partner to another.
GILLIGAN: Adult alimony.
VANDERPUTTEN: No, I'm sorry. That's incorrect. The answer we were looking for was spousal support.
PLISKA: Damien, according to Merriam-Webster, it's a grammatical case that marks the direct object of a verb.
VANDERPUTTEN: The subjective case.
PLISKA: No, I'm sorry. That's incorrect. The answer is accusative. Amanda, this actor starred in "High Fidelity," "Better Off Dead" and "Hot Tub Time Machine."
GILLIGAN: John Cusack.
PLISKA: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Damien, this 2016 R-rated animated movie stars Kristen Wigg as the voice of a hot dog bun - three seconds.
VANDERPUTTEN: Party Time.
PLISKA: No, I'm sorry. That's not it. The correct answer is...
VANDERPUTTEN: Oh, I know what it is. It's "Sausage Party."
PLISKA: ...Sausage Party. Yeah, so sorry. Well, we're at the halfway point. And Amanda is in the lead, three answers correct to two. Amanda, this song begins with the lyric, oh, I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee.
GILLIGAN: "Oh, Susanna."
PLISKA: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Demian, this Scottish singer gained international fame following her performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" on "Britain's Got Talent."
VANDERPUTTEN: Susan Boyle.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Amanda, known for its mountains and beaches, this is the second largest city in South Korea.
GILLIGAN: Not Seoul?
(LAUGHTER)
PLISKA: If you could just gotten the letters USA in order in there, I might have given it to. No, the correct answer is Busan. All right. Demian, this city in Israel is home to the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock.
VANDERPUTTEN: Jerusalem.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Amanda, these Christian military expeditions began in 1095 and continued for several centuries.
GILLIGAN: Crusades.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Demian, this musician and conductor wrote "The Stars And Stripes Forever."
VANDERPUTTEN: I know this one. This is John Philip Sousa.
JONATHAN COULTON: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Now, just so you know, the score is tied. And you each have one question left. Amanda, this character in Greek mythology had snakes instead of hair.
GILLIGAN: Medusa.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: The score is now 6-5. This is the last question. Demian, you must answer this question correctly to stay in the game and force a tiebreaker. Not to be confused with Russian, this salad dressing is mostly a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup.
VANDERPUTTEN: (Laughter) Thousand Island.
PLISKA: That is correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Two fantastic contestants, I'm going to ask you both to pick up your buzzers now. So you're going to buzz in for the tiebreaker question. As opposed to correlation, this word means that one event is the result of another event.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PLISKA: Demian.
VANDERPUTTEN: Causation.
PLISKA: That is correct. Congratulations.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: What a final game. Thank you so much, Amanda. Congratulations, Demian. You're a big winner. That's our show. ASK ME ANOTHER'S puzzle guru is Greg Pliska.
PLISKA: Hey. My name anagrams to sparkle gig.
EISENBERG: Our house musician is Jonathan Coulton.
COULTON: Thou jolt a cannon.
EISENBERG: Our puzzles are written by David Letzler (ph), Mary Tobler and senior writers Kyle Beakley, Karen Lurie (ph) and J. Keith van Straaten. Our senior supervising producer is Art Chung. ASK ME ANOTHER's produced by Mike Katzif, Travis Larchuk, Julie Melfi, Danny Shin, Rommel Wood and our intern Madeline Kaplan, along with Steve Nelson and Anya Grundmann. We are recorded by Damon Whittemore and Rick Kwan (ph). We'd like to thank our home in Brooklyn, N.Y., The Bell House...
PLISKA: Hot heel blues.
EISENBERG: ...And our production partner WNYC. I'm her ripe begonias...
PLISKA: Ophira Eisenberg.
EISENBERG: ...And this was ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.
[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The clue about Jerusalem should have asked which city in the Middle East — not Israel — is home to the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. The phrase "disputed city," after all, applies to Jerusalem.]
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.