Ask Me Another

For our first-ever show on the road, we chose a city near and dear to our hearts: Boston. In this rousing hour, taped live at the Wilbur Theatre, we poke a little 'pun' at the local accent, imagine famous songs as if they had been written about Boston neighborhoods, and sing everyone's favorite Fenway Park anthem. Plus, we step up our own game, bringing you three guests and hometown heroes: film critic Wesley Morris, young adult author Lois Lowry, and the wit of Capitol Hill, former Congressman Barney Frank. We have to hand it to Bostonians—they are not ones to shy away from the puzzle hot seat.

This week, go grocery shopping with celebrities, learn to pronounce some really long German words, and have a little 'pun' with animal noises. Plus, find out about one man's quests to read the encyclopedia from A to Z, live his life according to the Bible, and achieve bodily perfection—author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs. How do you quiz the V.I.P. who knows everything?

(Rebroadcast): Ever wanted to run away with the circus? This week’s show might be the next best thing, as Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone, The Big Apple Circus’ husband-and-wife team of globetrotting masked comedy masters, pay a visit. Plus, we’ll follow a famous clown around the world, give some military officers a word game salute, and find out there’s nothing original left in Hollywood.

This week, test your trivia prowess in games about celebrities who share the same name, tech companies that sound like Star Wars planets, and musicians whose names sound delicious. Plus our Very Important Puzzler, comedian, actor and author Michael Ian Black, reveals how becoming a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle launched his career. Hear him break out his best Valley Girl accent in the game "Just Do It?," and since he's a poker enthusiast, we up the ante with a card-themed quiz.

On the Internet, you have limitless opportunities. You can leave scathing reviews of literary classics on a public forum. You can make a video of a cat doing a silly dance or falling down...and your work can entertain millions of people. Or, you can order many, many Jonathan Coulton CDs. This week's V.I.P., Mike Rugnetta, is the host of the PBS web series Idea Channel, and he has a few ideas of his own about the intersection of technology, philosophy, art and culture. We put him to the test to see exactly how well he knows his Internet memes. Plus, we attempt the unthinkable: Pictionary on the radio. Can it be done? Tune in to find out.

(Rebroadcast) This week, we revisit the 20th century with Billy Joel, write novels the Robert Ludlum way, and catch words with a subtle silent "t". Plus, we talk "Fifty Shades of Grey" with our V.I.P. (that's "Very Important Puzzler"), superstar sex doctor Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

The "Frankenstein-Dracula," the "King's Indian" and the "Fried Liver" are all famous ways to do what? As this week's V.I.P., International Grandmaster of chess Maurice Ashley, knows, they're all strategies to begin a chess match. In this episode, Ashley divulges his own chess-playing strategy that combines Zen-like meditation with CIA-like mind games. Plus: anagrams for foodies, cartoon characters with speech impediments, and gender-bending pop songs. Ready to play? Check and mate.

This week, Ask Me Another goes celluloid by revisiting some favorite movie games from the past two seasons. We'll mash up plots, contemplate why some films have such ridiculous titles, and even get a little Randy. That's right: did you know that any movie can be Randy Newman-ized with a jaunty tune? Plus: overseas American films get lost in translation, and monsters and villains attempt online dating. Celebrate your inner cinephile, you connoisseurs of IMDB. We're bringing the lights, camera and action to the radio. (This episode contains previously-aired material.)

Science takes center stage this week as we play games about scientific discoveries both intentional and accidental. We'll get brainy with our Very Important Puzzler, Radiolab host Jad Abumrad, as he talks about his quest to become a science vampire. Plus, we roll the dice on clues about our favorite board games and find out the premises of fake TV show adaptations, from Finding Emo to Oy! Story.

(Rebroadcast) What famous fantasy novel follows a group of rabbits in search of laundry detergent? How about Watership Downy? This week on NPR's hour of puzzles, word games, and trivia: famous works of art and literature are slapped with product placement, we honor "Weird Al" Yankovic's timeless tunes, and one of Ask Me Another's own puzzle gurus challenges the puzzle world master, Will Shortz, in an anagram showdown for the ages.