OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
This is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR and WNYC. I'm Ophira Eisenberg, and with me is our house musician Jonathan Coulton and our puzzle guru Art Chung. And our next game is called Release the Catchphrase and here to play it are Jennifer Berman and Mallory Phares.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Jennifer, Mallory, if you could be any Greek god, which one would you choose and why? Jennifer?
JENNIFER BERMAN: I would probably pick Apollo because music is one of his specialties and I am a musician. And actually, I play the flute and I have a duo with harpist, and our name is the Apolline duo.
EISENBERG: What?
BERMAN: Yeah.
EISENBERG: That was a tailor-made contestant question.
BERMAN: You're welcome. Yeah.
EISENBERG: That's fantastic. Mallory, how 'bout you?
MALLORY PHARES: I would be Poseidon 'cause I just think it would be fun to swim around all day.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Yeah, you like swimming?
PHARES: It's OK.
EISENBERG: It's OK?
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Let's be - if you pick Poseidon, you've got to swim around all the time. Is that going to be OK?
PHARES: Right, but it's imaginary so I could learn to like it.
EISENBERG: Oh, you could swim around in your mind.
BERMAN: Oh, like you could breathe underwater and stuff?
PHARES: Yeah.
EISENBERG: All right.
PHARES: Get all these extra powers and...
EISENBERG: Yeah, you're looking for the powers.
PHARES: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Well, you're going to like this game 'cause the 2010 remake of "Clash Of The Titans," which you probably both enjoyed heavily...
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: No, it was not that memorable, but we all remember Liam Neeson saying this very particular line, giving this unusual order. I don't really remember it. Jonathan, do you remember the...
JONATHAN COULTON: Yeah, I think he said, release the kraken. He was very mad...
EISENBERG: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: ...At the time. So we will ask you questions with clues to a two-syllable word or phrase that starts with that kr sound, and you must answer as angry Zeus himself. Puzzle guru Art Chung, give us an example, please.
ART CHUNG: So if I said, should I free this combination croissant-doughnut that was all the rage in 2013, you would say, release the cronut...
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: ...Please.
COULTON: All right. So the winner is going to move on to the final round at the end of the show. Here we go.
Should I free the grasshopper-like insect that makes a chirping sound?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
BERMAN: Release the cricket.
COULTON: That's correct.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Jennifer had some power behind that. Did you hear that?
COULTON: She did, she was mad.
EISENBERG: She had Zeussian (ph) in her.
COULTON: I'll show them. I'll let this cricket go...
EISENBERG: Yeah, it's not my house.
COULTON: ...Then they will be sorry.
Do you want me to let go of the slow cooker used to prepare stews?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
BERMAN: Release the Crock-Pot.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
COULTON: That's right.
EISENBERG: Get that thing out of my house. I like fast meals.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Can I give up the classified-ads website that helps people find their missed connections?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Jennifer.
BERMAN: Release the Craigslist.
COULTON: You got it.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Sounded a little more world-weary than angry but, yeah. I hear you.
EISENBERG: Did Craig ever date Angie? Is there a possibility that we can hook that up?
COULTON: List buddies.
EISENBERG: I know, list buddies.
COULTON: You have a list? I have a list, too.
EISENBERG: I know, me too.
COULTON: I also have a list.
EISENBERG: Do you have weird people on your list? No. Oh. I do. All right.
COULTON: Would you like me to free the little crunchy bread cubes that top your salad?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Mallory.
PHARES: Oh, it was me this time. (Laughter). Release the croutons.
COULTON: That's right, yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Do you want me to surrender the small area in a basement or attic that is too small to stand up in?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Mallory.
PHARES: Release the crawlspace.
COULTON: Yes, please, release the crawlspace.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: There's nothing good in a crawlspace, right?
COULTON: It has some negative connotations, yes.
EISENBERG: Like rats, possums, human remains? What else is in there? Dead bodies, right.
COULTON: Yeah, it's not really...
EISENBERG: Secrets.
COULTON: Yeah, I don't like crawlspaces. I stay out of them when I can.
Should I let go of the noble gas that's also the name of Superman's home planet?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Jennifer.
BERMAN: Release the krypton.
COULTON: Yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: By the way, these are all normal sentences that I would just normally say in the day-to-day course of my life.
EISENBERG: Just walking around - hey, should I...
COULTON: I have a question for you.
EISENBERG: Yeah, should I release the noble gas?
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: It's also the name of Superman's home planet - which I'm glad was destroyed, by the way. I'm glad Krypton was destroyed.
COULTON: Why?
EISENBERG: An entire planet of Supermans sounds super annoying. Like, just think of only Supermans.
COULTON: Yeah, it would be.
EISENBERG: He wasn't, like, super smart, and he was very earnest.
COULTON: Yeah, super earnest man.
EISENBERG: Super earnest man. Just a whole planet of that. It does sound like Canada.
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: But they weren't super on Krypton.
EISENBERG: What's that?
CHUNG: They weren't super on Krypton.
EISENBERG: They were just normal?
CHUNG: Never mind.
COULTON: It's the yellow sun that gives him his power.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: I didn't want to mess up her joke with the facts of the...
(LAUGHTER)
CHUNG: Of the krypton.
EISENBERG: Oh, the facts? Facts? Sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: It's science, Ophira. It's a yellow sun. It's why he can fly.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
COULTON: Because the sun wasn't yellow in his planet so of course he can fly.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
CHUNG: If he was super, he'd stop the thing from exploding.
COULTON: Yeah.
CHUNG: He would just be like, no.
EISENBERG: See, I'm not saying I don't play "Plants Versus Zombies," but I'm somewhere in between this and that.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Oh, look - contestants. Hi guys.
(LAUGHTER).
EISENBERG: Sorry.
COULTON: Do you want me to let go of Tubbs's partner on "Miami Vice?"
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Jennifer.
BERMAN: Release the Crockett.
COULTON: Yeah, release the Crockett.
EISENBERG: Back onto your speedboat.
COULTON: All right. This is your last clue, you'll be relieved to hear. Should I allow to escape the seafood ingredient in a California roll?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
COULTON: Jennifer.
BERMAN: Release the crab?
COULTON: Yeah, sure. Release the crab. Yeah, that's correct.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: OK.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Art Chung, how did our contestants do?
CHUNG: Congratulations, Jennifer. You're moving on to our final round.
(APPLAUSE)
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