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Any Questions #232

Is your spider-sense tingling? It's time again for WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel.

Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase TRIPLE BOND. Change one letter to a K and you can spell the five-letter name of a game, and a five-letter term used in that game? What are the words?
Answer: If you change the T to a K, you can spell POKER and BLIND.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: SPIDERS
On-air questions: As our listeners are keenly aware, this week has been Fund Drive time again here at WAMC. Because of that, it is possible that this episode will not air during its regular time slot (although we sure hope it does because that means the Fund Drive is over), and may only appear on the Web. Because of that, I thought it would be appropriate if we did a show inspired by other things that appear on a web, namely spiders.

1. Piloted by Russell Schweikart, the lunar module nicknamed "Spider" was launched in March of 1969 – the first lunar module to be manned – as part of the preparations for landing on the moon. It was part of the ninth of twelve missions named what?
2. In the climactic scene of a 1967 film, Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) drives a 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 to Santa Barbara in an attempt to stop the wedding of Elaine and Carl. Partly because of a faulty fuel gauge, the car runs out a gas, but fortunately it stops in front of the right church. In what film does this take place?
3. In the 1952 E.B. White novel Charlotte's Web, Wilbur the pig is befriended by Charlotte the spider who writes messages in her web to persuade the farmer not to slaughter Wilbur. Over the course the novel, Charlotte writes four messages in her web. The last three are "Terrific", "Radiant", and "Humble". What is the first – and only two-word – message Charlotte weaves?
4. Hampered by technical difficulties, injuries, and numerous rewrites, the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has gained notoriety for its troubled production. The story was co-written by Julie Taymor, the original director, and the music and lyrics were written by two members of what famous rock band?
5. Used by players when the cue ball is out of reach, a spider is a stick with an arch-shaped head that allows it to be placed over another ball without disturbing its position. This piece of equipment is used in what English variant of billiards?

Extra credit
1. Named for a song on his 1987 album Never Let Me Down, what musician staged the Glass Spider Tour, which featured as its centerpiece a 60-foot-tall, 64-foot-wide translucent spider?
2. "A noiseless patient spider,/I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated" are the first two lines of an 1868 poem written by whom?

This week's challenge
Start with the phrase SPIDER WEB. Rearrange the letters to spell a four-letter word that names things often seen in a church and a five-letter word for a person often seen in a church. What are the words?

ANSWERS
On-air questions

1. Apollo
2. The Graduate
3. "Some pig"
4. U2
5. Snooker

Extra credit
1. David Bowie
2. Walt Whitman
 

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
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