OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
This is NPR's ASK ME ANOTHER. I'm your host, Ophira Eisenberg, here with puzzle guru Art Chung and house musician Jonathan Coulton.
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EISENBERG: Let's meet our next two contestants, Denise St. Pierre. Denise, you are an assistant at a literary agency.
ST. PIERRE: Yes, I am.
EISENBERG: Very nice. And you're obsessed with film scores.
PIERRE: I am, yes, regrettably. I have the worst party iPod on the planet.
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EISENBERG: Right, people are like, put in your playlist.
PIERRE: Yes - you want to listen "The Bridge Of Khazad-Dum" from "Lord Of The Rings." Like, yes, it's so epic for beer pong - but, you know, it's terrible.
EISENBERG: Your opponent is Dara Kagan. Dara, you're an executive assistant for a reproductive health organization.
DARA KAGAN: It's an interesting time to be involved. You know, we're getting a lot of coverage. So that's nice, I guess.
EISENBERG: Yeah?
KAGAN: Yeah.
EISENBERG: So in this game, we imagine what would happen if two famous people became close friends and did that thing that all close friends, which is combine their names. So puzzle guru Art Chung, why don't you give us an example?
ART CHUNG: If I said, this New Jersey governor fell in love with an uptown girl, you would say Chris Christie Brinkley.
EISENBERG: The names will always be mashed up in the order of the clue that I give you. Here you go.
This speaker of the house does P90X with this good-looking Canadian actor who says, hey, girl, set your legislative agenda to relax.
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EISENBERG: Denise.
PIERRE: Paul Ryan Gosling.
EISENBERG: Exactly.
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EISENBERG: Carrie from "Sex And The City" becomes BFFs with the queen of indie movies, who starred in "Best In Show," "Dazed And Confused" and "You've Got Mail."
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EISENBERG: Dara.
KAGAN: Sarah Jessica Parker Posey.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
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EISENBERG: You guys are so good. The union of these two '80s pop singers might result in a hit called "I Want Your Sex, Smooth Criminal." Two '80s pop singers - "I Want Your Sex, Smooth Criminal."
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EISENBERG: Denise.
PIERRE: George Michael Jackson?
EISENBERG: Yeah.
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EISENBERG: This British Prime Minister got the girl at the end of "There's Something About Mary."
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Denise.
PIERRE: David Cameron Diaz.
EISENBERG: Look at you.
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EISENBERG: Did you roll through different paws - were you like, Tony Blair? Like, did you go through the...
PIERRE: I only know, like, Tony Blair and David Cameron. So I was like...
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KAGAN: Blair - I was thinking about Hugh Grant.
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KAGAN: Next guess.
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EISENBERG: One of the first men to scale Mount Everest teams up with a former New York senator with presidential aspirations.
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EISENBERG: Denise.
PIERRE: Edmund Hillary Clinton.
EISENBERG: Yes.
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EISENBERG: Uphill battle for them both.
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EISENBERG: You can't disagree with that, my friends.
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EISENBERG: The woman who played Gloria in "White Men Can't Jump" is photographed hanging out with a notorious Hollywood blogger.
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EISENBERG: Denise.
PIERRE: Rosie Perez Hilton.
EISENBERG: You got it.
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EISENBERG: The twelfth president of the United States makes tabloids when he's photographed with the lead werewolf from "Twilight." Let's go to our puzzle guru Art Chung - see if he can help you out.
CHUNG: It's not Alexander Hamilton?
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CHUNG: The werewolf was running around with his shirt off a lot. Does that help?
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EISENBERG: And so was this president, I think. Dara.
KAGAN: He's not been a president yet, but George Edwards - John Edwards?
EISENBERG: No, I see what you're doing is not correct. But I like the thought pattern.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Denise, can you steal?
PIERRE: Zachary Taylor Lautner.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
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KAGAN: I was searching for that president name.
EISENBERG: All right, this is your last clue. The most successful female driver in racing history goes to pottery class with the star of "Ghost," "Road House" and "Dirty Dancing."
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EISENBERG: Dara.
KAGAN: Danica Patrick Swayze.
EISENBERG: You got it, perfect.
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EISENBERG: Puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?
CHUNG: Amazingly, they got everything right. And congratulation to Denise - you're moving on to the final round at the end of the show.
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