Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Now on this last day of the membership drive, we have our last Brian Lehrer Show membership drive quiz. It's a Will Shortz wordplay quiz. Who wants to give it a shot? Same rules apply as the rest of the drive. Get two in a row right, win a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap, 212-433-WNYC.

If you haven't heard these before, very briefly, what is this? Well, every day at this time during the drive, we've been presenting a low-stakes pop quiz in which we don't give grades, but we do give prizes. Yes, we do wrap it up today with a super special guest who has drafted a last-day quiz in his inevitable style just for you, WNYC listeners. It's puzzlemaster Will Shortz.

You hear him on Weekend Edition, Sunday. You see his work as crossword editor of The New York Times. Maybe you've even played ping pong with him in Westchester. Who wants to try your hand at Will's puzzle questions for today? 212-433-9692. Will, thanks so much for doing this. You drew up a special puzzle challenge explicitly for WNYC listeners today. We're so grateful. Thanks for coming on with us.

Will Shortz: Hey, Brian, good to be back

Brian Lehrer: Will, just a little different from what you do on Sundays. We will take multiple contestants here, if they get two in a row right, they win a hat. Here we go. Are you ready?

Will Shortz: I'm set.

Brian Lehrer: Abby, I'm sorry, on the Upper East Side, gets to be our first contestant. Abby, you there?

Abby: Hi. Yes. So excited.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Will, you want to explain the game?

Will Shortz: Here we go. Abby, every answer is a two word phrase or name that has NYC in the middle, and specifically the first word will end NY and the second word will start with C. For example, if I said a usually two wheeled vehicle pulled by a small equine, you would say pony cart.

Brian Lehrer: Because pony ends in NY and cart begins with C, so the NYC is baked in there as the last two letters and then the first letter of the second word. You get it, Ab?

Abby: Yes. All of my friends play these games and I'm the only one who doesn't because I'm terrible at them, so I'm a bit nervous, but I'll give it my best shot.

Will Shortz: Don't be nervous. Here you go. Here's number one. Host of The Tonight Show before Jay Leno.

Abby: Before Jay Leno. Oh, Jimmy Carson.

Will Shortz: Oh, so close. Carson is right. What's his first name?

Brian Lehrer: You get one more.

Will Shortz: It has to end NY.

Abby: It has to end with NY?

Brian Lehrer: Right. It wasn't MYC, NYC.

Abby: NY-- Oh, Johnny Carson

Will Shortz: Johnny Carson. Okay. Very good. Here's number two, singer of Ring of Fire and A Boy Named Sue.

Abby: Oh, Johnny Cash.

Will Shortz: You got it.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: Oh my gosh. Yay.

Brian Lehrer: Yay, Abby, you did it. You can tell all your friends the first time you played a puzzle you won a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap, so hang on and we're going to take your address. We're going to go next to Theresa in Jeffersonville, New York. Hi, Theresa.

Theresa: Hi. Good morning.

Brian Lehrer: Okay, Will.

Will Shortz: All right.

Theresa: Good morning.

Will Shortz: I have to warn you, Theresa, they do get a little harder now. Here's your first one. Vehicle given as a perk to a corporate executive.

Brian Lehrer: Remember the first word of this two-word phrase ends in NY and the second word begins with C.

Theresa: Company Car.

Will Shortz: Company Car. You got it. Here's your next one. Sweets that cost 1 cent.

Theresa: Penny candy.

Will Shortz: Sweets that-- Penny candy.

Brian Lehrer: Yes.

[music]

Theresa: Yay.

Brian Lehrer: Very good. Theresa, hang on, we'll take your address so we can send your hat. I was wondering if people would-- If whoever happened to be on at that moment would get penny candy because we don't say that anymore. That's from an earlier generation, right?

Will Shortz: That's right.

Brian Lehrer: Now it's $1.50, but very Halloween-appropriate. Anna in Brooklyn. Are you ready to play?

Anna: I am. I just finished the New York Times crossword puzzle for the day, so I'm in the mood.

Will Shortz: Good for you. I know you can do this then. Here's your first one. Co-star of Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot.

Brian Lehrer: Now there's what was once a huge movie reference. Now that one goes back as far as penny candies practically, but there was another co-star, first name ends in NY, last name begins with a C. If you could think of Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemon. Very famous actor.

Will Shortz: Very famous actor, and here's a hint. First name has four letters and the last name has six. Does that help?

Anna: Tony Curtis, thank you.

Will Shortz: Tony Curtis. You got it.

Brian Lehrer: I love this next one.

Will Shortz: Here's your next one. Talking Insect in Disney's Pinocchio. Whose name-- [crosstalk]

Anna: Oh, Jiminy Cricket.

Will Shortz: Jiminy Cricket is right.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: That was the easiest one in the whole set. I'm glad you got Jiminy Cricket, Anna, thank you very much, and hang on because we're going to take your address and send you a Brian Lehrer Show baseball cap. All right, Will, see, you're costing us a lot of baseball caps here.

Will Shortz: [chuckles] We've got smart listeners.

Brian Lehrer: We're going to go next to Renee in East Windsor in Jersey. You're on WNYC with Will Shortz. Hi, Renee.

Renee: Hi. Whether I win or not, it doesn't matter. I think Will Shortz you're great. We've been fans for many, many years and do all your puzzles.

Will Shortz: Oh, thank you. They're getting harder. Try this. Founder of a popular weight loss program.

Renee: Oh, Jenny Craig.

Will Shortz: Jenny Craig. That was fast. I've got two more of these. Maybe we should do both of them, Brian, because I don't have number 10. [crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: You have the other set, right? [crosstalk]

Will Shortz: The bonus questions. Okay, here we go.

Brian Lehrer: The NPR ones. We'll just continue with that point, but this one is the one. The one that you're about to give is the one that I've decided to declare a bonus question because it's that hard for people in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area. Renee, if you get this, you'll win the baseball cap. If you don't get it, no penalty and you get one more question, but Will, hit her with it.

Will Shortz: Okay, that's fair. Here you go. Pittsburgh is its seat.

Renee: Oh, Allegheny County.

Brian Lehrer: Wow.

Will Shortz: Oh, yes.

Brian Lehrer: Cue the trumpets.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: To me, those were the two hardest. Jenny Craig and Allegheny County. Renee, very good. Very, very good. Hang on and we'll take your address. Amy in Manhattan. You ready to play? Amy, are you there? Yes, you.

Amy: Oh, yes. Your voice was cut off for a second.

Brian Lehrer: All right, Will.

Amy: Yes. Oh, yes. We'll see.

Will Shortz: Here we go, Amy. Recording device that watches a child's caregiver.

Brian Lehrer: Remember the first word ends in-- [crosstalk]

Amy: Nanny camera.

Brian Lehrer: That is right. A nanny cam.

Will Shortz: Good job. Then here is a different question and it's going to be more challenging, I think. Think of a nickname for Chicago. Two words, nine letters in all, that contains the letters WNYC in order, although not consecutively.

Brian Lehrer: Right. Amy, I could tell already that you're trying to get in and you know the answer. This is pretty easy- [crosstalk]

Amy: I think so.

Brian Lehrer: -but the rules are- [crosstalk]

Amy: [unintelligible 00:08:14]

Brian Lehrer: -different, yes. It's got W, a N, a Y, and a C somewhere, and in those orders, but not necessarily consecutively.

Amy: Yes. Windy city.

Will Shortz: Windy city. You got it.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Way to go Amy. Very, very good. All right. I guess we have, let's see, we have one more contestant to go. It's going to be Goldalee in Times Square. Goldalee, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Goldalee: Hello. Thank you.

Brian Lehrer: You want to just refresh her and everybody's understanding of the rules for this last little set.

Will Shortz: These are bonus questions, so ignore what's gone before. We're starting fresh, and here's your question, Goldalee. Name something that can be found in a bathroom cabinet in three words with the initials NPR. I'll give you a hint. The NPR, the N-word is four letters. The P-word is six letters, and the R-word is seven. Something found in a bathroom cabinet in three words with the initials NPR.

Brian Lehrer: This is also- [crosstalk]

Will Shortz: Four, six, seven.

Brian Lehrer: -really hard because it's not the first thing that I think people would think of from their bathroom cabinets, and I'll give you a clue, Goldalee, it's not something you take like an aspirin, say. It's something you take something off with

Will Shortz: [chuckles] That's a good clue. Brian, I don't know about you. This is not something in my bathroom cabinet.

Brian Lehrer: No, nor mine.

Goldalee: [unintelligible 00:10:09]

Brian Lehrer: Might be in yours, Goldalee.

Will Shortz: Okay.

Brian Lehrer: More likely to be in yours than mine.

Will Shortz: Okay, here's a big hint. Golda, what is on the end of your finger, starting with N?

Goldalee: Nail

Will Shortz: Nail. There's your N.

Golda Lee: Nail.

Will Shortz: Now what's in your bathroom cabinet, NPR?

Goldalee: Thank you for that big clue. Nail polish remover.

Will Shortz: You got it.

Brian Lehrer: That was a really big clue. That was a really big clue. Okay, so she has to get one more, right? This is the last question, very relevant to the day. Will, this is so fun that you came up with this.

Will Shortz: Okay, here you go, Golda. Rearrange the letters of Halloween to spell an ocean creature that's all by itself. Do you happen to have pencil and paper handy?

Goldalee: I can get it. Am I using all of the same words?

Will Shortz: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: All of the same letters as in Halloween.

Will Shortz: Write down the letters of Halloween.

Goldalee: Okay.

Will Shortz: All nine letters. All nine letters of Halloween, and rearrange them to spell an ocean creature that's all by itself.

Brian Lehrer: They call this an anagram.

Will Shortz: Yes, this is an anagram. First of all, what's a big ocean creature? Maybe the biggest.

Goldalee: Whale.

Will Shortz: Yes, there you go. You'll find the letters of whale inside Halloween. Get rid of those, and what four letters do you have left?

Brian Lehrer: Remind her of the clue.

Will Shortz: It's an ocean creature that's all by itself.

Goldalee: Oh, dear. Get rid of whale?

Will Shortz: Yes.

Goldalee: Thank you for [inaudible 00:12:08]

Will Shortz: You have four letters left. What are they?

Brian Lehrer: Nobody is texting us the answer to this. We got somebody texting in nail polish remover before that answer came.

Goldalee: O, N, and E.

Will Shortz: Yes, there's one other. O, N, E and one other letter.

Golda Lee: Another A?

Will Shortz: No, there's only one A in Halloween but another L.

Goldalee: Another L, right.

Will Shortz: Rearrange, O-N-E-L to spell a four-letter word.

Brian Lehrer: You are a very generous clue master, Will. Very generous.

Goldalee: Yes.

Will Shortz: Put the L at the start.

Brian Lehrer: Poor whale all by itself, and Goldalee all by herself, having to answer these questions.

Will Shortz: Okay. You got O, N, E and put the L in front of O, N, E.

Goldalee: Whale [inaudible 00:13:00]

Will Shortz: Put the L in front of O, N, E.

Goldalee: Okay.

Will Shortz: Put the L in front of O, N, E.

Goldalee: Lone.

Will Shortz: It's a lone whale because it's all by itself.

[triumph trumpets]

[laughter]

Brian Lehrer: Goldalee, thank you very much. Hang on, we're going to send you a baseball cap. Okay, Will, next time I do the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle, of which you are the editor, I want you to be on the phone with me and lead me as scrupulously to the hard answers as you led Goldalee. That's all I ask.

Will Shortz: Yes, that's nice. Yes, I'll be your free-- there used to be 800-- what was it? A clue line where you paid $0.75 per minute for answers. I will do that for you for free.

Brian Lehrer: Will Shortz, puzzlemaster on Weekend Edition Sunday, and New York Times' crossword editor. Thank you so much for making a special puzzle for WNYC listeners for the last day of our membership drive. I'll be listening. Keep it up, Will. Thank you. Thank you.

Will Shortz: Thanks a lot, Brian.

 

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