Odd Couples Word Puzzle

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Martha Barnette.

And I’m Grant Barrett, and it’s time to be stumped by quiz master Greg Pliska. Hello, Greg.

Hi, Grant. I’m Martha.

Are you going to twist our brains today?

I’m going to stump your brains and twist your livers.

Okay, so you got some puzzles there, or are you just going to, like, speak backward?

I’m going to addle your gizzards. Yes, I do have puzzles.

I have a puzzle for you, which is, well, this week it’s a look at the society pages with a puzzle that I’m calling Odd Couples.

Okay.

All right.

I’ve invented some strange celebrity pairings matching up famous people, real or fictional, with the same last name.

So I’ll give you a clue to the couple and you tell me who they are.

Okay.

All right.

Because she was a divorcee, their marriage forced him to abdicate his position at the Springfield nuclear power plant.

The Simpsons.

Yes.

Homer and Wallace Warfield Simpson.

An unlikely couple, if there ever was one.

How about this pair?

I have a dream, he famously said, that one day my wife will defeat Bobby Riggs and win the Battle of the Sexes.

The Kings.

Billie Jean King and Martin Luther King.

Dr. Martin Luther King, exactly.

Could have happened.

You never know.

Don’t discount it.

All right, here’s another one.

Anyone?

Bueller?

Bueller?

Bueller is Bueller?

Is Bueller is Bueller?

Is this about Ben Stein?

I was going to say, Gertrude.

Ben and Gertrude.

Ben and Gertrude.

Ben and Gertrude Stein.

Ben Stein, the economist, better known for his appearance in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

And Gertrude Stein famously said, rose is rose is rose is rose, right?

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

And there’s no there there in Oakland.

Yeah, exactly.

I think Alice might be jealous, though.

I’m sure she is.

They are grooming their firstborn to be the first British Labor Party prime minister who can turn his head 360 degrees and projectile vomit.

The Camerons?

Linda and Tony Blair.

Exactly.

Linda Blair, star of The Exorcist, and Tony Blair.

Here’s another one for you.

Thanks to their partnership, she’s helped more couples hit home runs in the bedroom.

Thanks to their partnership, she’s helped more couples.

Oh, Babe Ruth and Dr. Ruth.

Babe and Dr. Ruth.

That’s a little bit of a cheat because her real name is Dr. Ruth Westheimer, but couldn’t resist.

It was too much fun.

These two met when she helped him erase 18 and a half minutes of phone messages to Rachel Uchitel.

Tiger and Rosemary Woods.

Very good. Tiger Woods, of course, allegedly had a marriage ending affair with Rachel Uchitel and Rosemary Woods, who allegedly actually she testified that she accidentally erased a certain portion of the Watergate tapes.

I think I’ve got time for one more. Their offspring might have to face the ultimate nemesis, Voldemort McGregor.

Somebody Potter?

Somebody Potter?

Yeah. Yep.

I don’t know of another potter.

The Potters? It’s not the Potters.

Yeah, it’s the Potters.

What’s the other Potter?

Mr. McGregor is your clue.

Oh, Beatrice. Beatrix. Beatrix Potter.

Harry and Beatrix Potter.

Voldemort, the Harry Potter nemesis.

Mr. McGregor, the Peter Rabbit nemesis.

Thanks, Greg.

Thank you.

If you’ve got a question about language, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, slang, you name it, give us a call, 877-929-9673, or send in an email to words@waywordradio.org.