Reindeer Games

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Our next contestant is on the line.

Hi. You're on ASK ME ANOTHER.

NIKKI ATKINS: Hi. This is Nikki Atkins from Newport, Oregon.

EISENBERG: Hello, Nikki. Are you really into Christmas? Was that a big deal in your family? Or are you guys mellow about it?

ATKINS: Oh, it wasn't a huge deal, but I was special because my grandfather was Santa Claus.

(LAUGHTER)

JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: Literally?

ATKINS: Yes.

EISENBERG: I think your grandfather has something to tell you.

ATKINS: (Laughter) Well, he was the official Santa, for a long time, in his hometown for the parade that happened on Thanksgiving evening. But the problem was that the first year he did this, they went through the whole town, he got to the stage at the end, he lit the town's Christmas lights and then, completely unprepared, they sprung on him - and now Santa's going to lead us in some Christmas carols.

EISENBERG: And did he not know Christmas carols?

ATKINS: Well, he decided, OK, uh, "Jingle Bells." OK, let's start singing "Jingle Bells." Everybody sings (singing) jingle bells, jingle bells. Then they get to the verse and Grandpa don't know the words so he starts making stuff up (singing gibberish).

(LAUGHTER)

ATKINS: The whole nine yards.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Well, we're going to play a word game with you. Are you a word game person?

ATKINS: I like them. I'm hoping I can do well on this.

EISENBERG: OK well, this game is called Raindear Games, but that's spelled R-A-I-N as in precipitation and D-E-A-R as in a loved one. So we're going to give you clues of two words whose homonyms form a new phrase when put together. Let's go to our puzzle guru, Art Chung, for an example.

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: So Nikki, if we said name an animal that you would find way up North that sounds like person conducting a survey plus a word meaning naked, you'd answer polar bear, as in P-O-L-L-E-R, someone conducting a survey, and bare, B-A-R-E.

ATKINS: Oh, boy.

EISENBERG: So, don't panic. We're going to give you a clue to each part of the two-word phrase as well as the whole phrase, and you can just talk it out with me.

ATKINS: OK.

EISENBERG: All right. So here we go. Name something that Santa's reindeer might hear that sounds like a word meaning to kill plus beautiful Southern women.

ATKINS: Sleigh bells.

EISENBERG: Sleigh bells, exactly.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Name something you'll find on a pool table that sounds like a line you'll stand in plus what a crybaby would do.

ATKINS: Cue - cue rat.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Yeah, close. Plus what...

ATKINS: Cue cry.

EISENBERG: Cue is the first part.

CHUNG: It's a synonym for cry.

ATKINS: Cue wail.

EISENBERG: So yeah, something you'd find on a pool table is a?

ATKINS: A ball. Cue ball.

EISENBERG: Cue ball. Yeah, there you go.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: All right, this one's super hard.

(LAUGHTER)

ATKINS: Oh, great (laughter).

EISENBERG: Name something a wintertime driver puts in their car to keep their engine running that sounds like a female relative plus a sculpted tableau.

ATKINS: An anti-freeze?

EISENBERG: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: What do you call the stuff you spray on your windshields - just got to settle a bet here with the ASK ME ANOTHER crew.

ATKINS: The stuff I spray on my windshields?

EISENBERG: You know, to get rid of the...

ATKINS: Windshield washer fluid?

COULTON: Yeah - washer fluid. That's what you call it. Washer fluid.

EISENBERG: In the winter isn't it also called antifreeze?

ATKINS: No, antifreeze is...

EISENBERG: OK, enough from you.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: You got that question right, all right? This is your last question. After a big holiday meal, name the part of your pants that you're glad are stretchy that sounds like leftover trash plus a word meaning forbidden.

ATKINS: Waistband.

EISENBERG: Waistband is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: That was a super hard game. You nailed it and we are going to be sending you a limited-edition ASK ME ANOTHER Rubik's Cube all the way out to Newport, Oregon. Thank you so much, Nikki.

(APPLAUSE)

ATKINS: Thank you.

(MUSIC)

EISENBERG: If you would like to play our "Raindear Games" you don't need a shiny red nose, just an email address. Email us at askmeanother@npr.org and we will send you a contestant quiz, and who knows, maybe you'll go down in history.

So coming up, we'll sing more holiday tunes with a couple folks who wrote one of the all-time catchiest tunes about winter. I'm talking about the songwriting duo from Disney's "Frozen," Bobby and Kristen Lopez. So stay tuned. This is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.