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Any Questions? #71

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are thrilled to welcome a special guest player, John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants.

Last week's challenge
Think of a five-letter word associated with skiing beginning with S. Rearrange the letters to get another five-letter word associated with skiing ending with S. What are the words?
Answer: The words are SLOPE and POLES.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: FAMOUS PAIRS OF JOHNS
On-air questions: This week we invite another Special Guest Answerer to play our quiz. John Flansburgh (one of two Johns in the rock band They Might Be Giants) joins us to answer some questions about other famous pairs of Johns.

1. When they formed in 1968, Led Zeppelin were known as the New Yardbirds. Despite the name change, the original lineup remained the same, including two members named John. Who were they?
2. What is the one-word name of the famous Native American woman who, in 1607, saved the life of Captain John Smith and, seven years later, married tobacco farmer John Rolfe?
3. In the early 1980s, two authors named John won back-to-back Pulitzer Prizes for fiction. The 1981 prize went to John Kennedy Toole, and the 1982 winner was what author, who won the prize for his novel Rabbit is Rich?
4. In 1982, Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer played the lead roles in a film set in a high school in the 1950s. That film was the sequel to a 1978 film set at the same high school. Who played the leads in the 1978 film?
5. There have been four U.S. presidents named John, but only one of them had a vice president also named John. This president was also the son of a president named John. Who is it?

Extra credit
1. St. John's is the capital of the Canadian province Newfoundland and Labrador. Which island nation also has a capital named St. John's?
2. In 1946, two players named John were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One was pitcher John Chesbro, and the other was second-baseman Johnny Evers, who is immortalized in the poem “Baseball's Sad Lexicon" for turning a double play with what other two players?

This week's challenge
Start with the name of They Might Be Giants' latest album JOIN US. Change one letter, then rearrange the result to spell a word that might describe a person with the same name as someone else. What is the word?

 

ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. John Bonham and John Paul Jones
2. Pocahontas
3. John Updike
4. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
5. John Quincy Adams

Extra credit
1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Joseph Tinker and Frank Chance (bonus fact: Tinker and Chance were also elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946)
 

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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