Take-Offs Word Quiz

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

And I’m Grant Barrett, and we’re joined once again by John Chaneski, our quiz guy.

Hello, John.

Hi, Grant. Hi, Martha. It’s John Chaneski.

Yes, it’s me.

John, what are you doing over there? What have you been up to these days?

Well, you know what? I’ve been working on something very interesting lately.

I promised you guys I’d let you in a little something.

I have been working on a show with NPR for about a year now.

Oh, really?

A brand new game show, a brand new program called Ask Me Another.

Ask Me Another.

Yes. We’ve taped a couple of pilots, and we’re going to be taping some new shows in the new year, some 13 shows you’ve been budgeted for.

So you can find it on Facebook.

And also there’s a Twitter feed, NPR, Ask Me Another, and get up to speed on what we’re doing.

You know, we’re tearing up over here, John.

We feel like our little boy’s growing up.

We had to have one of these days, Ma.

But are you still working for us?

Do you still have a quiz in your pocket?

Yes, I do.

Okay.

Good.

It’s called Takeoffs 2 because I introduced you guys a few moons ago to a kind of wordplay that we’ve come to call takeoffs.

And that’s when you take off the first letter of a word, leaving behind a new word.

It’s fairly simple.

Okay.

Good.

I’ll give you a short sentence with two words missing.

One of the words is the same as the other, except that it’s missing the first letter.

Okay.

For example, if I said, if you’re the best man, you had better make sure that you blank the blank.

Can you guess the two words that go in those blanks?

Bring the ring.

Bring the ring.

Bring the ring.

Yes.

Bring the ring.

Okay.

To make things easier, I’ll even tell you the length of the longer word.

Okay.

In this first group, the longer word comes first.

Here we go.

In the first chapter of Moby Dick, Ishmael had to blank up his courage and join the blank.

Five letters.

Screw up his courage and join the crew.

That’s right.

Ooh, nice.

Screw and crew.

Very good.

Here’s the next one.

The castle window was very blank, but Robin Hood’s blank sailed right through.

Narrow and arrow.

Narrow and arrow.

Another one from Martha.

Nice work.

Thank you.

Here’s one for you California people, you drivers.

Curb your blank or you will find that road rage can lead to certain blank.

Curb your anger or road rage can lead to certain danger.

Very good.

Nice.

A little PSA from A Way with Words.

Yeah, right.

Here’s another.

When I find myself in dire blank, I remain focused.

It’s one of my better blank.

Straits and traits.

Oh, good.

Yes.

Straits and traits.

The blank that belonged to Columbus’s navigator is surprisingly still blank.

I’ll admit this one’s kind of tough.

Oh, sextant and extant.

Oh, good.

Sextant and extant.

Yes.

Good.

Now, the following are what we call progressive takeoffs.

Three words are replaced.

So remove a letter from the first word to get the second word.

Remove a letter from the second word to get the third word.

In other words, from longest to shortest.

Here we go.

Okay.

I’ve been in the barber blank for an hour.

My blank looks great, but it’s time to come up for a blank.

So chair, hair, and air.

Yes, chair, hair, and air.

Good.

I often hit my head in the shower blank because I’m so blank, and that’s blank.

Stall, tall, and all.

This is the story of your life.

That’s right.

It is the story of my life.

Here’s the last one, okay?

Blank don’t tell me our store loft is blank.

It will really interfere with my life of blank.

So please and lease and ease.

Oh, gosh, Grant.

How do you do that?

Please don’t tell me our star lost its lease.

It will really interfere with my life of ease.

Excellent.

Well done, Grant.

John, that was great.

Thanks, Martha.

This was a lot of fun.

Ask me another.

Oh, no, wait.

That’s the name of your new show.

Yeah, congratulations on your new show.

We’ll put a link to John’s new show on our website.

We’ll just make sure the word gets around.

Thanks, John.

Really appreciate it.

That’s terrific.

Thank you, Grant.

And for you, our listeners, the number to call is 877-929-9673, or you can send in an email to words@waywordradio.org.