Present The Present

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

You're listening to ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR and WNYC. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and with me is our one-man house band, Jonathan Coulton and our puzzle guru, Mary Tobler.

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EISENBERG: This game is called "Present The Present." And here to play it are Isabel Martin and Christine Matheney.

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EISENBERG: Christine, you're visiting us from afar.

CHRISTINE MATHENEY: San Francisco.

EISENBERG: San Francisco, very cool place.

MATHENEY: Long flight.

EISENBERG: Long flight. Your job title is developer evangelist.

MATHENEY: Exactly.

EISENBERG: That sounds very San Francisco by the way.

MATHENEY: It's super awesome.

EISENBERG: What is it?

MATHENEY: I get to build T-shirt cannons, fly drones around. I run hackathons. I teach women how to code. I teach K-12 how to build Flappy Bird, like, I get to go around and teach people why tech is cool and they pay me to do that.

EISENBERG: I love that. Isabel, where are you originally from?

ISABEL MARTIN: Originally Massachusetts.

EISENBERG: Massachusetts. You are here now, and you're a freelance event producer...

MARTIN: Yes, I am.

EISENBERG: ...Which also sounds like something that doesn't exist.

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EISENBERG: What's the last cool event you produced?

MARTIN: I actually just finished up an event. It was a promotional event that involved about 250 people doing a workout together with a giant 16-foot LED cube in the center of the room...

EISENBERG: OK.

MARTIN: ...And trainers on top.

EISENBERG: Yeah, sounds like you guys could easily work together...

MARTIN: Yeah, we could...

EISENBERG: Right?

MARTIN: ...use a T-shirt cannon.

EISENBERG: Totally.

MARTIN: Yeah, definitely.

EISENBERG: OK, this round is about heteronyms, which are like homonyms but they're trickier. Actually that is not the official definition. Let's go to our puzzle guru Mary Tobler for a real one.

MARY TOBLER: Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently and have different meanings, like lead and lead.

JONATHAN COULTON: And in this game each clue will hint at a pair of heteronyms. You have to give us the correct pronunciation of both words. For example, if I said he knelt while playing the violin, you'd respond bow and bow. Got it?

MATHENEY: Got it.

MARTIN: Yeah.

COULTON: Don't say boo because that's not one of the words. That doesn't make any sense at all. She was filled with wonder as she passed through the opening gate to the castle.

EISENBERG: Yeah, it's hard.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: It is hard. Isabel.

MARTIN: Odd and (unintelligible)?

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COULTON: I admire your sticktoitiveness. You started down that road and by God, you went there. But I'm sorry, that's incorrect. Christine, do you have a guess?

MATHENEY: I don't know.

COULTON: OK, does anybody know what it is? Nobody?

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MATHENEY: Good, that makes me feel better.

MARTIN: Yeah.

COULTON: We were looking for entrance and entrance. She was filled with wonder as she passed through the opening gate to the castle. So that's your example. Here is your first question.

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EISENBERG: We go back to 1984 for this one. The band went into the studio to lay down tracks for their new album.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Isabel.

MARTIN: Record and record.

EISENBERG: Yes, exactly.

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COULTON: Maybe it's the way you said it. Maybe...

EISENBERG: The going back in time?

COULTON: I meant - I don't know. Maybe you're clearer. You're just clearer than I am.

EISENBERG: I think entrance, entrance was a little tough.

COULTON: It's hard. It's a hard one.

EISENBERG: It's tough.

COULTON: I'm still going to blame myself. He was totally sulking after he crashed his tiny motorized bicycle.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Isabel.

MARTIN: Moped and moped.

COULTON: Yeah, that's right.

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EISENBERG: See? Your soothing voice works.

COULTON: Yeah, I did it.

EISENBERG: It's like you guys are answering the questions. We're like that was a brilliant read.

COULTON: Well done, well done.

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EISENBERG: Her job was to comfort the man who accidentally broke the control panel. I can hear a lot of people - like, you guys are thinking. I actually hear other people thinking.

COULTON: It smells like smoke in here.

EISENBERG: We'll go to - we'll go to our puzzle guru for a hint, perhaps?

TOBLER: It's also a word that's often used to describe video game panels.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

MARTIN: Console and console.

EISENBERG: That is right, Isabel.

Is it worded that way because if a woman broke the control - video control panel and the guy was trying to console her, he would just be like well...

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EISENBERG: Why is it written that way?

COULTON: Yeah, sorry if you feel bad - like that?

EISENBERG: I guess you're buying a new one.

COULTON: Shouldn't have broken it. I showed you how to use it.

EISENBERG: Showed you how to use it.

COULTON: Here we go - a little too close to home. After the student's poor behavior in class, it was unlikely he'd ever lead the band again.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Isabel.

MARTIN: Conduct and conduct.

COULTON: That's right.

EISENBERG: All right.

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EISENBERG: This is your last question. The fragrant smell from the burning sticks really upset his college roommates.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Isabel.

MARTIN: Incense and incense.

EISENBERG: Yes, that is correct.

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EISENBERG: Mary, how did our contestants do?

TOBLER: A tough game. Isabel, you're the winner and we'll see you in our final round at the end of the show.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.