Spoiled It Through The Grapevine

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Welcome back to ASK ME ANOTHER, NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and with me is our house musician, Jonathan Coulton, and our puzzle guru, Art Chung. And here are our next two contestants, Pat Katz and Robyn Stegman.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Pat, you seem to have a superpower.

PAT KATZ: Do I?

EISENBERG: Yes. You...

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: ...Claim that you have every best picture actress, actor memorized in Oscar history. Can I try one on you...

KATZ: Sure.

EISENBERG: ...Just for fun?

KATZ: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Name two actors who won best actor two years in a row.

KATZ: Spencer Tracy and Tom Hanks.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

KATZ: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: You've proven your power.

KATZ: All right.

EISENBERG: Now, Robyn, I know that you are a part-time pirate and...

ROBYN STEGMAN: I - that I am.

EISENBERG: I'm just going to let you elaborate.

STEGMAN: I am - I'm a pirate in Baltimore. My name is Scurvy Sal (ph). I get to sneeze on children for a living. They find it utterly delightful, by which I mean they run away screaming, and that's exactly what I want them to do.

EISENBERG: That's incredible, all right. Well, this game is called, Spoiled It Through The Grapevine. And it's a music game, so I turn it over to Jonathan Coulton.

JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: Yes, thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: And don't worry, just because this game has spoiled in the title, it is not about movies with big surprise endings that make you want to punch people who ruin them for you. We have rewritten the hit, "Heard It Through The Grapevine" to be about famous moving endings. I will sing these clues and you will name the movie. Are you ready? (Singing) I bet you're wondering how I knew you were the one I sent my emails to. My superstar made your bookshop close, but online our faceless love just grows. I revealed my identity when I was sure you'd forgiven me.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Robyn.

STEGMAN: "You've Got Mail?"

COULTON: That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: (Singing) Don't you know that it's time to leave Tokyo? Our bond was special, but I've got to go. Yeah, I have to leave you, ScarJo. My last words, the audience won't know. I'm going to whisper, yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Pat.

KATZ: "Lost In Translation."

COULTON: You got it.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: What did he say? What did he say?

COULTON: I don't - I don't know.

STEGMAN: He said the island was blown up at the end.

EISENBERG: That was it?

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: He didn't say, my next role is the voice of Garfield.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: (Singing) Don't you know our love wasn't meant to be, though he drew a naked sketch of me.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: No, our love was not meant to be, so I tossed my necklace in the sea. My heart will go on.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Pat.

KATZ: "Titanic."

COULTON: You got it.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: (Singing) People say this computer is dangerous, so I'll disconnect it, nothing to discuss. Pulled through this tunnel, what do I behold? First I'm middle-aged and then I'm old. What is this monolith in front of me? I am a star child, now I see.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Pat.

KATZ: "2001: A Space Odyssey."

COULTON: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Who knew that was prophetic, right?

COULTON: Yeah.

EISENBERG: It's like Hal's just a, like, super-polite, violent Siri.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Right, just a Siri who wants to kill you. That's the only...

EISENBERG: Exactly.

COULTON: That's a slight difference.

EISENBERG: But so passively polite about it.

COULTON: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

EISENBERG: That's good.

COULTON: All right, this is your last clue. (Singing) Don't you know that you're not supposed to cross the streams? But we have to stop Gozer's schemes. No, you're not supposed to cross the streams, but that marshmallow man is too extreme. You've got to blast it, yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Pat.

KATZ: "Ghostbusters."

COULTON: That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Art Chung, how did they do?

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: Spoiler alert - Pat is our winner. Congratulations Pat.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.