Pair It Down

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Let's say hello to our next contestants, Paul Doust and Jessica Laquintano.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Paul, an Australian living in Brooklyn.

PAUL DOUST: Indeed. I feel, like, commonwealthian (ph).

EISENBERG: You're very common wealthy. And your name is Paul, which is the only name you can have in Australia.

DOUST: Oh, I didn't know that. You mean apart from Hogan, obviously, yes.

EISENBERG: Paul Hogan. Oh, yeah, your first name can also be crocodile.

(LAUGHTER)

DOUST: Yes. I only saw that movie last year for the first time.

EISENBERG: And what'd you think?

DOUST: I liked it.

EISENBERG: You liked it?

(LAUGHTER)

DOUST: Yeah. I got all the references before-hand and again once I watched it.

EISENBERG: You have a love-hate relationship with New York?

DOUST: Yeah, I consider it kind of an abusive lover.

EISENBERG: Yeah, that's accurate.

(LAUGHTER)

DOUST: Correctly stated, yes.

EISENBERG: What do you love about New York?

DOUST: Karaoke.

EISENBERG: Karaoke?

(LAUGHTER)

DOUST: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Oh, my God, wait till you find out you can do that anywhere.

DOUST: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Jessica, I'm very impressed. You are getting a master's degree to become a history teacher. Nice work.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: What's your focus?

JESSICA LAQUINTANO: My research background is Latin American history, but I used to teach Western civ., so anything from the French Revolution to the fall of the Berlin wall. I know barely enough to teach teenagers about it.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: I like the jargon. I've never said to someone, I know a lot about Western civ.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: I've never been bold enough to do that, just shorten it - civilization, you know, civ.

OK. They say wine pairs well with cheese or reading a book pairs well with a rainy day. Jessica, what would you say pairs well with you?

LAQUINTANO: My husband.

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Awww.

EISENBERG: That is both sweet, but I love the sort of sad, like, sort of resigned way that you said it.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Yeah, why?

LAQUINTANO: I don't like a lot of people, and he's OK.

(LAUGHTER)

LAQUINTANO: And we have about one friend between the two of us, so it's manageable.

EISENBERG: I like it. Paul, what pairs well with Paul?

DOUST: I kind of already said it, but karaoke.

EISENBERG: Karaoke, yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: What is your go-to song? Everyone has one.

DOUST: Either "I Touch Myself" by the Divinyls or "Informer" by Snow, fellow Canadian.

EISENBERG: Nice. All right, so this game is called Pair it Down. Every answer will be a pair, sort of. Actually every answer will be a word that begins with the letters P-A-R-A. Puzzle guru Art Chung, please tell me what's going on with this game.

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: Let me explain.

EISENBERG: It's hard.

CHUNG: If we said holiday and Martens, you would say the word paradox because Doc Holliday and Doc Martens are a paradox.

(JEERING)

EISENBERG: So you're going to hear the two things, figure out what their commonality is and then you're going to put P-A-R-A in front of it to create a new word. And you can ring in and talk it out. Dorsal and Huckleberry.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Jessica?

LAQUINTANO: Fins - paraffins.

EISENBERG: Paraffins, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: The check is in the mail, and I gave at the office.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Jessica?

LAQUINTANO: Paralyze?

EISENBERG: Yes, that's right.

(APPLAUSE)

DOUST: What was the other lie you had?

EISENBERG: Oh, I never got your email.

DOUST: (Laughter).

EISENBERG: That is the biggest lie of all time, right? There's no email you didn't get.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Photo and bamboo.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Paul?

DOUST: Paragraphs.

CHUNG: Oh, no. That's a good guess, but that's not the answer we're looking for.

EISENBERG: That is a good guess. I was like photograph, yes.

DOUST: Oh, I got it.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

DOUST: Can I guess again?

CHUNG: You're not allowed to buzz in again. Sorry, one answer at a time. Jessica, do you have a clue?

LAQUINTANO: Parachutes.

CHUNG: That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Cats and goldfish.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Paul?

DOUST: Parapets.

EISENBERG: Parapets, exactly.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Fuji and Everest.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Paul?

DOUST: Paramountains? Paramounts? Paramount.

EISENBERG: Paramount.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: If you said paramountains, there could have been a riot in the crowd, where it was like (unintelligible).

Bellow and the first king of Israel.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Jessica?

LAQUINTANO: Parasols.

EISENBERG: Parasols, yes.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Ferdinand and Durham.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Jessica?

LAQUINTANO: Parables.

EISENBERG: Parables.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Now, like, I feel like this game's too easy. This is your last question - snake eyes and boxcars.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Jessica?

LAQUINTANO: Paradise.

EISENBERG: Paradise.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Well done, you two.

CHUNG: Yeah. That was a tough game. But, Jessica, congratulations, you're our winner.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

EISENBERG: We will see when the final round. And coming up we'll find out how brunch changed the life of "Daily Show's" Aasif Mandvi, so stick around. This is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.