Quiz Guy Greg Pliska has a game called “Centricity”, emphasis on the “city.” For example, “Mickey ate all the fruit, leaving Minneapolis.” And as George H.W. Bush said to George W. Bush, “You can be president Tucson.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Centricity Word Game”
You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. And now joining us is our quiz guy, Greg Pliska. Hi, Greg.
Hello, Greg.
Hello, Martha. Hello, Grant.
Well, quiz us.
Well, this is a quiz I call centricity, with the emphasis on the city part of it.
Mm—
I’ve brought you a number of sentences, each of which has a blank.
And your job is to fill in that blank with the name of a well-known U.S. city so that the sentence makes sense phonetically.
Oh, okay.
For example, if I said, if you eat your frozen waffle on the beach, you’ll end up with a blank.
Belgian?
No.
A sandwich.
No, something about a burn.
No, Martha’s on the right track.
I am?
Yeah, you’re on the beach, so it’s going to be Sandy.
And what’s a well-known?
Ego.
San Diego.
Okay, all right.
All of San Diego’s going, no!
We’ve heard that before.
We’ve got to play a little loose with the fanatics here and there.
Okay.
Here’s your first one.
Mickey ate all the fruit, leaving blank.
Minnie-a-polis.
No, Minnie—
Minnie-a-polis.
I don’t know.
You’re so close.
Minnie-a-polis.
Say the whole name of the city.
Minnie-a-polis.
Minnie-a-polis.
Oh, apples.
Apples.
Oh, apples.
I see.
Apples.
She is without apples.
Oh.
All right, here’s another one.
King Lear had to decide how to blank among his three daughters.
Divide?
Sheraton?
No.
It’s actually one of those words that means both to split or to stick together.
Oh, Cleveland.
Cleveland.
Cleveland, oh boy.
He needed how to cleave land.
Yes, Cleveland.
Here’s another.
It’s not easy for a barber blank tangled mop of hair without hurting the customer.
It’s a city in, yep, two.
And what is he going to do to the tangled mop?
Tease it, comb it?
That hurts.
Tacoma.
Tacoma.
It’s not easy for a barber to coma tangled mop of hair.
All right.
To speak with dead philosophers remotely, you will need a John Stewart blank talkie.
Milwaukee.
Milwaukee talkie.
A John Stewart Milwaukee talkie.
Nice.
Will a stormy blank the brains of a cruise ship’s passengers?
It’s a city in the northwest.
Seattle.
Will the stormy sea addle the brains of a cruise ship’s passengers?
Oh, you addle legs.
Do you addle brains?
I guess you do.
Yeah.
Adlebrained is a great term.
Sure, okay, very good.
All right, a couple more here.
Said George H.W. Bush to George W. Bush, you can be president blank.
When I’m done, son.
Yes, when I’m done, Wisconsin, that famous town.
Mason, my son.
It’s a city in the southwest.
We don’t really pronounce it.
Tucson.
Yes, you can be president too, son.
We really say Tucson.
Oh, my goodness.
Close enough for rock and roll.
Here’s one more.
You should always look your best on a first date.
Blank dresser is more attractive than a sloppy one.
It’s a city in Ohio.
Oh, in Ohio.
Yep.
You should always look your best on a first date.
Blank dresser is more attractive.
Since a natty dresser, that’s great.
Is more attractive than a sloppy one.
Since a natty.
Cincinnati.
Yeah, Ohio gave it away there.
Well, there you go.
You found your way across the country.
Thanks, Greg.
Sorry we were a little slow today.
We’re here to talk with you about language, so call us 877-929-9673
Or send those emails to words@waywordradio.org.
