Ask Me Another

This week's versatile V.I.P., Rosie Schaap, has had spells as an author, an ordained minister, a fortuneteller, and a bartender — which serves her well during a delectable drinking game. And with quizzes covering highfalutin children's literature, crossbred celebrities and a geologist's favorite Queen song, this week's contestants show a little versatility, too.

(Rebroadcast) So you think you're a TV buff. But how well do you know shows by their episode titles? Contestants are put to some pop culture challenges, like deciphering breakfast cereal haikus and a remixed nursery rhyme. Plus, this week's V.I.P. is a certain brainiac who shares a few of his favorite apocalyptic prophesies.

(Rebroadcast) So you think you're a TV buff. But how well do you know shows by their episode titles? Contestants are put to some pop culture challenges, like deciphering breakfast cereal haikus and a remixed nursery rhyme. Plus, this week's V.I.P. is a certain brainiac who shares a few of his favorite apocalyptic prophesies.

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.

Do you know what a Russian pig sounds like? What about a Japanese bee? Find out as we test you on animal kingdom noises, spoil some TV show finales, and walk the streets with a song in our hearts. Plus, our V.I.P. may make her living as a Czech musician, but she's a Jersey girl at heart — it's Cristin Milioti, star of the Broadway musical Once.

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 "27 Shades of Grey" with our V.I.P. (that's "Very Important Puzzler"), superstar sex doctor Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

On this behind-the-scenes, podcast-only extra, host Ophira Eisenberg warms up the crowd before a taping of Ask Me Another with a childhood tale of her fascination with Christmas. Plus house musician Jonathan Coulton and special guest John Roderick perform a rousing rendition of the title track from their new holiday album "One Christmas At A Time."

If you love playing around with palindromes, quoting Downton Abbey's Dowager Countess, and spotting factual errors in the news (Editor’s note...What factual errors? ...then this episode will make you so happy, you’ll want to clap your hands. Plus, this week’s hilarious Mystery Guest has some advice for the Area Man or Woman in all of us.

What famous fantasy novel follows a group of rabbits in search of laundry detergent? How about Watership Downy? This week, 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 challenges the puzzle world master in an anagram showdown for the ages.

Can you tell the difference between a Harry Potter spell, a prescription drug, and a piece of IKEA furniture? This week, some brainy contestants have the chance to befriend both Gore Vidal and Dracula, while our Mystery Guest, a Rhodes Scholar-turned-filmmaker and comic book scribe, is put to the test in this hour of puzzles and trivia.

This week’s contestants try to translate some international film titles, like...Meetings and Failures in Meetings...back into English, and name another military official, besides Colonel Sanders, who’s famous for his chicken. Chances are, this week’s Mystery Guest, a sweet-toothed chemist in her culinary laboratory, knows the answer.

Host Ophira Eisenberg and her puzzle gurus serve up presidential tunes from our nation’s capital, such as the hit song...Summer of 69... by the second U.S. President John Adams…wait a minute. Also on the menu are a variety of cheeses—or are they Moby Dick characters? This week’s Mystery Guest probably knows, since his specialty is intelligence.

What sounds right...remember the Alamo...or...remember the Aniston? For this hour of puzzles and trivia, it may help to know both. Contestants try to top the lyrical talents of Justin Bieber, while a backwards spelling bee turns a few heads. Plus, our Mystery Guest, a best-selling journalist, tests his knowledge of pro athletes-turned-bad actors.

What ever happened to predictability? ...asked one esteemed poet – or was that a TV theme song? Host Ophira Eisenberg and her puzzle mavens travel to Washington, D.C. to look for math in odd places, and some classic novels find some fitting new underwriters. All this, plus a special visit from this week’s Mystery Guest, a worldly NPR correspondent.

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt shares a name with several of us, but did you know that Swingers director Jon Favreau shares his name with a White House speechwriter? This hour of puzzles and games involves shared names, fictional love triangles, and a quiz specially tailored for our Mystery Guest, a notable rock critic and pop culture aficionado.