美国国家公共电台 NPR Tilt The Title

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST: 

It's time to welcome our first two contestant 1 callers to the show. First up, David Pickett. You're a software engineer calling from Salem, N.H. Welcome.

DAVID PICKETT: Hello, Ophira. It's good to be here.

EISENBERG: Your opponent is Mary Bucklin. And you work for a catering 2 company, and you're calling from Austin, Texas. Welcome.

MARY BUCKLIN: Thank you. Hi, everyone.

EISENBERG: David and Mary, the first of you who wins two of our games will move on to our final round at the end of the show, so let's go to your first game. We're going to start with a word game called Tilt 3 The Title. In this game, you're going to take famous books and rearrange the words in their titles to make new weird 4 books. Jonathan Coulton has an example.

JONATHAN COULTON: I do. If I said, in this book by John Steinbeck, fruits that are tired of being stomped 5 on finally take their revenge, you would answer "The Wrath 6 of Grapes," rearranging the words in "The Grapes Of Wrath."

EISENBERG: Each clue will hint at the original work and the rearranged title. And contestants 7, even though you're playing on the phone, our underpaid NPR scientists have actually worked out a remote game show buzzer 8 system. So you're going to buzz in to answer. And the winner will be one step closer to the final round at the end of the show. Here we go. In this book by Stieg Larsson, a man tracking down a killer 9 receives help from Smaug, who has a tramp stamp of a young woman on his back.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: David.

PICKETT: This would be "The Dragon With a Girl Tattoo 10?"

EISENBERG: Look at that. That's correct.

COULTON: In this Truman Capote novella, that '80s pop singer with the hit "I Think We're Alone Now" is never alone for her morning meal thanks to her neighbor, Holly 11.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "Tiffanys at Breakfast?"

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, that's right.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: "Breakfast At Tiffany's," that's right.

EISENBERG: But they're at a mall, so it's Panda Express, yum, yum, yum.

COULTON: You know, I really love Panda Express for breakfast.

EISENBERG: (Laughter).

ART CHUNG: What do you get for breakfast there?

EISENBERG: Yeah, what do you get?

COULTON: Whatever they got. But sometimes you get to the airport a little early, it's breakfast time.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

COULTON: The only thing open is the Panda Express. I'm delighted when that happens.

EISENBERG: You know what? I think being the first person of the day to eat Panda Express, you're getting the best Panda Express.

COULTON: The best, the freshest, hottest, Panda Express all day.

EISENBERG: Yup. This nonfiction book by Irma S. Rombauer is a collection of recipes for cannibals who wish to dine on Ms. Behar from "The View."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "The Cooking of Joy."

EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right, little cannibal recipe series that we enjoy.

COULTON: We should say NPR does not endorse 12 cannibalism 13. In this classic by Judy Blume, the man upstairs wants to answer a preteen girl's call but she never picks up.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "Are you there, Margaret? It's me, God."

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, you get it. That's right.

EISENBERG: This non-linear novel by William Burroughs features a wandering junkie who prefers to eat his midday meal without any clothes on.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: David.

PICKETT: "Lunch Naked."

EISENBERG: Yeah, who wouldn't?

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Al fresco 14, dining al fresco we call that.

EISENBERG: (Laughter) Dining al fresco.

COULTON: That's right.

EISENBERG: Don't get the soup unless you have a...

COULTON: You can, but it's risky 15.

EISENBERG: ...A heat-resistant napkin.

COULTON: In this book by Pat Conroy, a therapist helps a man remember that the flow of the ocean is harshly affected 16 by purple rain.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

COULTON: David.

PICKETT: "The Tides Of Prince." (Laughter).

COULTON: (Laughter) Yeah, that's right.

EISENBERG: Yeah. All right, this is your last clue. In this book by Michael Andre, we learn that no one is better at waiting than people who live in Britain.

PICKETT: Oh, wow.

COULTON: This is a hard one.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mary.

BUCKLIN: "The Patient English."

EISENBERG: "The Patient English" is correct. Yes, they are very patient. They know how to queue. All right, puzzle guru Art Chung, how did our contestants do?

CHUNG: They did great in a tough game, but congratulations to Mary. You're one step closer to moving on to the final round.