Can You Solve a 2007 News Quiz in Limericks?

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette, and we’re joined once again by our very own quiz guy, Greg Pliska, whose name, by the way, anagrams to Sparkle Gig.

Welcome, Sparkle!

Well, thanks, Martha. I wish I could anagram your name as quickly as you did mine.

It would be ham something, I think.

Or cheese.

Ham rat beans or something.

Greg, you’re lucky I didn’t use gargle skip.

I have used that myself before, I think.

There’s something else with silk egg that I can’t remember now either.

Oh, nice.

Nice.

I’ll have to go back and work on those some more.

What do you have for today, Greg?

I have got a little quiz assist challenge for you about the year 2007.

80?

Either one.

I’m doing BC next week.

All right.

No, I’ll tell you how it goes.

You ready?

Yes.

We’re back on the air and it’s heaven.

Our joy meter’s gone to 11.

And so it is time to present you in rhyme a news quiz on 2007.

Wow.

Yeah, I thought you’d like that.

As has become our tradition, we’re going to look back at the events of the past year in limerick form.

You know how this works.

I read you a limerick with a blank at the end, which you’ll fill in with the answer.

Let me give you an example.

Al Gore’s future looks pretty swell.

In awards, he has come to excel.

With not one hanging chad in Oslo, he’ll add to his Emmy and Oscar…

A Nobel.

Nobel, absolutely.

So, if you’re ready, we’ll review a few high and low lights from the year that was 2007.

All right.

Okay, shoot.

Here we go.

Their congressional loss was a squeaker, and the Republicans’ future looked bleaker.

Pelosi’s tenure, historical, began with a landmark, rhetorical, when Bush used the phrase…

Mrs. Speaker?

Oh, close. That’s not exactly…

Mrs. Speaker.

How about Madam?

Madam Speaker.

Madam would be correct, Martha. Thank you.

Yes, he was the first president to begin a State of the Union address with those words.

Wow.

Wow.

Going from the sublime to the less sublime, here’s another one.

Accused of using some banned magic wands, it’s with his maybe juiced bat, he responds.

With Aaron and Ruth, we felt sure of a truth that’s been muddied now by…

Barry Bonds.

Barry Bonds, of course.

But the thing is, we’re the hard ones.

I got, you know, one and a half lines and I already had the answer, dude.

Come on.

We haven’t seen each other for a while.

I don’t want to hurt you guys.

Oh, the old I’m holding back excuse.

You should get most of these, but after the end of the first line, you’re still running.

I listened it for you.

Yeah, we know all those excuses.

All right, here’s one that is maybe a little more challenging.

The Sears Tower for sure scrapes the sky, and Taipei 101’s pretty high.

Though it’s still under construction, we’ve seen the induction of the world’s tallest tower in…

Shanghai.

I was going to say Dubai.

And you would be correct.

Oh, I am?

It is Dubai.

I thought there was one in Shanghai.

It has already been outpaced.

The Shanghai World Financial Center, which is about 492 meters tall, the Burj Dubai is at 575 meters.

And when it’s completed, which is when it will be officially recognized as a building, it is projected at 818 meters, twice the height of our very own Empire State Building.

Translation is there’s a guy in Dubai, not intended.

There’s an architect in Dubai who’s having a midlife crisis.

And instead of buying a red convertible like everyone else, he says, I’m going to build the biggest darn building out there.

And he says, what do you think of that, honey?

She’s in.

You can – they’re building everything in Dubai now.

I saw that.

They’re building a full-size model of Dubai in Dubai.

Take that Washington monument.

And then they’re building one inside that.

Yeah, exactly.

Fractal Dubai.

It’ll be the most popular entertainment among – mathematicians will go.

And never come back.

They’ll be lost.

Right.

Oh, man.

All right.

Well, let’s do one for our listeners on the West Coast.

While his posh wife would just sweetly peck him, his soccer opponents might deck him.

Though his contract is galactic, his play has been anticlimactic.

He’s L.A.’s new star.

Let’s see.

Oh, Martha.

Beckham.

David Beckham.

You know, if you were a Spice Girl, Martha, which Spice Girl would you be?

I’m Sporty Spice.

You can make up a new one, too.

You can be like etymology spice or something.

Can I be nerdy spice?

Nerdy spice.

All three of us can’t be nerdy spice, though.

That’s true.

I’m going to be puzzle spice.

We’re all spice rack.

Puzzle spice, I like that.

No, you’re Sparkle gig.

Well, hey, Sparkle, do you have one more?

In fact, I do have exactly one more.

Sparky little fairy pony.

One more, Hamburg.

Here we go.

So to counter the claim that he’s moody towards family, he said, hello, Judy.

Was it sweet domesticity or a grab at publicity that stunt with a cell phone by the mayor of 9-11?

That’s the one.

Rudy.

Rudy Giuliani.

Absolutely.

He’s been answering calls.

Would you do that?

Would you answer the phone?

You’re running for president.

You’re in front of thousands, cameras, reporters, the whole bit.

And your wife calls, and you love her.

You do.

Yeah, you do.

Do you answer the phone?

Absolutely.

You always answer the phone when your wife calls.

Oh, wait, I’m sorry.

I have to take this.

Honey, are you listening?

Oh, yeah, excuse me, guys.

Yeah, I’ve got to take this.

Apparently, Rudy claims he’s offered many explanations.

One is that since 9-11, they call each other before they get on planes, which sounds like just another way to use that for his political game.

He also apparently told some Bear Stearns executives, I’ve been married three times.

I can’t afford to lose another one.

Well, there’s no denying the man has spunk, no matter what you think of him politically.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So there you go.

That’s everything you need to know about 2007.

Wow.

So when are the hard ones?

Got some hard ones in there?

Next week.

Greg, you are indeed a star.

Thanks for joining us today.

Thank you.

It’s nice to sparkle at this gig.

And if you’re puzzling over a question about any aspect of language or have a limerick for us, call us.

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