Spirit Airlines, The Book of Mormon, and Grunting

From NPR at WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. To answer your question, yes, it did hurt when my voice fell from heaven. I'm Bill Curtis, and here is your host at the Studebaker Theater and the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Stegall. Thank you, Bill. And thank you, everybody. We have a great show for you today. Later on, we're going to be talking to Bobby Lopez, the composer who wrote the songs for the Book of Mormon and Frozen, and is an EGOT winner twice over, which means that after he's a Wait, Wait guest, he becomes history's first ever WEGOT winner. But first, it's your turn to vie for what must be the least prestigious prize in broadcasting, a voiceover. First mail recording from us. Give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. It's time to welcome our first listener contestant this week. Hi, you're on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Hi, Peter. This is Emma Johnson from Redwood City, California. Redwood City, California. Oh, I love that authentic California accent. It's so rare to hear these days. What do you do there? I run operations for a software company. But more importantly, I am proud parent to two adult children. Young adults, and I just have to share that one of them signed me up to be a contestant on this show. So this is turning out to be an amazing Mother's Day gift. Oh, how lovely. Mother's Day. Great. That is a lovely thing to hear, and I just want you to understand, we're still not going to go easy on you. You're going to have to earn this, okay? Well, welcome to the show, Emma. Let me introduce you to our panel. First up, he is the co-host of the podcast, Health Stuff. And the untitled Kondabolu Brothers podcast, it's Hari Kondabolu. Hey, Emma. Hi, Hari. Next, she's a reporter for the Style section of the Washington Post. It's Roxanne Roberts. Happy Mother's Day, Emma. Thank you, Roxanne. Hi. And he's a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning. It's our old friend, Mo Rocca. Hi, Emma. Hi, Mo. So, welcome to the show, Emma. You're going to play Who's Bill this time. Bill Curtis is going to read you three quotations from this week's news. If you can correctly identify or explain just two of them, you will win our prize. Any voice from our show you might choose. Are you ready to go? You betcha. Let's go. Your first quote is someone saying farewell to an airline. R.I.P., banana bus. Even though we bullied you, we all loved you deep down. What beloved and behated airline suddenly went out of business overnight on Sunday? That would be Spirit Airlines. Spirit Airlines. After more than 40 years of offering no frills budget air travel, Spirit suddenly went out of business last weekend. Spirit customers arrived at the airport the next morning only to discover that flights were canceled because the airline no longer existed. Which, to be fair, is better than Spirit's usual excuse, we're a bad airline. It happened. For a bunch of reasons. But let's face it, Spirit was doomed the second they chose that shade of yellow for their planes. Airplanes should not look like crime scene tape. We lost a great punchline. We really did. We really did. I know. It's like, wow. Frontier's not as funny, right? No, it just isn't, sadly. Yeah. Now, it's interesting. You might be wondering, well, why did they have to strand people? Why couldn't they announce it? They had to close overnight. So, there weren't any Spirit airlines in the air when they went out of business. Because all of a sudden, they'd be like rogue planes. Can you imagine that? It's like, Spirit 4562, you are cleared to go buck wild. So, they couldn't technically land? Well, no. They had to wait. I mean, what you're saying is like, I think the more the point was. Because that would be weird. That would be weird. It's like, oh, we can't land. Sorry. Can't pay the fees. So, I guess we're up here forever. Is that the one? I'm sorry. Is Spirit the one where people were always getting into fights at the gate? Yes. And the videos would go viral? I thought, isn't that more Southwest? No. Southwest has cookies. Southwest is classy. Oh, yeah. That's how they stopped the fights from breaking out. They just throw the cookies in the ground. They're like puppies. Oh, wait a minute. Your next quote is from a New York Times story about someone struggling while on the road. On the phone with customer service. Would it help if I told you I'm the Pope? So, who was that, Emma? That would be Pope Leo XIV. Yes, that was the Pope. It was the Pope. So, a friend of his told this story and he made the papers this week. The Pope called his personal bank back here in Chicago from the Vatican using his birth name, Robert Prevost, to change the address on his phone. On his account. He's had a change of job. And the woman at the bank said, oh, if you want to change that information on your account, you have to come to the branch and do it in person. And he said, well, I really can't. And when she wouldn't budge, he said, would it help if I told you I was the Pope? All true. And this is also true. She then hung up on him. Does the Pope need money? Well, this is a thing. And where does he keep it? This is a thing. Apparently, as part of his humility, the Pope insists on paying his own way and handling his own affairs. So, he needs a bank account. He's paying for stuff. He's the guy who pays the bills. He's the guy who's calling for customer service, which finally explains why these days when you call customer service, the first thing you hear is, for Latin, press one. You never thought about the Pope having to, like, do paperwork, right? Like, it's a pain. Like, reason for your address change? Uh, conclave? Conclave. Mo, I happen to know that you have met a prior Pope. Was it John Paul II? No, no. I met Pope Francis. Pope Francis. And are you. And he did all his banking in Rome. He did, yes. Do you. I know, because Mo is actually involved with the Catholic Diocese in New York. He'd do good work for them. Are you. Do you think there's a chance you're going to meet this Pope? You know, I hope so. I mean, I have. You know, I. I mean, boy, I wish I'd been that customer service rep that would have helped me. Yeah. to get a meeting, but I hope so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what you'd like to say to him if you do meet him? Um, go with Citibank. Chase has too many things. Yeah. Your last quote, Emma, is about the return of a beloved breakfast ritual. If you've missed rooting around in a cereal box, you're in luck. So, get excited, kids. According to the Associated Press, what are you about to find in cereal boxes again? Uh, those little prizes that you get in cereal boxes. Yes, toys, prizes, and cereal again. Yay! Yay! Thanks to Kellogg's, toys are going back into cereal boxes. The idea, of course, for putting a toy in a cereal box is, hey, kids, just eat all this cereal. Eventually, you'll get the prize. No kid ever. No kid ever does that. We know this. They just get the thing, rip it open, and stick their whole arm straight in there, large animal veterinarian style. Rooting around, finding what they need. And if you have more than one kid, you have to buy two boxes of cereal. You cannot just buy one. This is genius. It really is. So, what was the. The thing that walked up and down the wall. The slinky. Slinky? No, no, no. The wacky wall walker. Yeah. That was, oh. It was very hygienic. Yes. I love that they brought the toys back, but I've always felt that adult cereals should have, like, things in them, too. Yeah. Like Viagra or Lipitor. That would be. Something that's useful. Yeah, no, exactly. Yeah, it's like, oh, wow, I opened my box of muesli, and look, I found a loose cigarette. Right. Well, I was going to say, yeah, all brand should have Metamucil, but they sort of do the same thing. Yeah, a little redundant there. The first toy to be introduced is a novelty spoon. It's a Toy Story tie-in. I love that they were like, hey, for our first toy, let's make absolutely sure it's something we know a kid eating cereal already has. Bill, how did Emma do on our quiz? Emma, you got them all right. You are perfect. Okay. Emma? Thank you for playing, and happy Mother's Day. Thanks so much. It was a ton of fun. Take care. Thanks, Emma. Bye-bye. Right now, panel, it is time for you to answer some questions about this week's news. Hari, home security cameras can now use AI to identify threats and warn you, like people stealing packages from your porch, fires even, but they're not always right. For example, one woman was told there was a bear on her porch and it was really what? Scary. I mean, it's terrifying. It seems obvious. It was really traumatic. Can you give me a clue? At least it didn't say there was a bear with a big saggy butt. This woman was told there was a big brown bear on her porch and it turned out to be a big saggy butt. Give me the answer, Peter. I believe Mo knows. It was her. It was her. No, that's terrible. That's terrible. She was sweeping the porch wearing a brown track suit. Oh, God. Bear on your porch. Rude ring. Oh, that's awful. But not all bears are overweight. Like Boo Boo Bear was nice and petite. Right? Okay. No, it's not nice. It's one thing like you mistake a cat for a burglar. It's another if you're arriving home from a long day at work and you get an alert in your phone from your ring camera, hey, there's a messy bitch in your front door. So, I'm so confused. It was just basically the height and the color. The height and the movements and the shuffling and the fact that she was eating a raw salmon. Coming up, our panelists sing, let's all not go to the movies and our bluff listener game call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT-TO-PLAY. We'll be back in a minute with War of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me from NPR. Hey, before we get back to the show, a quick plug for a very special event. Now, you may have heard Bill Curtis, our judge and scorekeeper, is retiring from Wait, Wait. I still have problems dealing with it, but in Bill's honor, we are hosting a live virtual event on Monday, May 11th, and you can join us. Bill and I will talk about his time on Wait, Wait, his career as a legendary anchorman, and we'll be answering your questions about Bill and the show. So, to get your invitation, just sign up for NPR Plus, and we'll send you a registration link. Signing up is also a great way to support the show and NPR. So, just go to plus.npr.com. That's plus.npr.org, and watch your email. Again, that's plus.npr.org. From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Roxanne Roberts, Hari Kondabolu, and Mo Rocca. And here again is your host at the Studebaker. Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Segal. Thank you, Bill. Thanks, everybody. Right now, it's time for the Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Bluff, the listener game. Call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to play our game on the air. Hi, this is Hillary Long in Santa Barbara, California. Oh, Santa Barbara, one of the most beautiful places I know. Well, now that I've reached a certain age, my husband and teen daughter. My daughters like to say I'm retired, so I guess I'm a retired university administrator, but I am moonlighting for the last several years as everybody's caretaker. I see. And how nostalgic are you for actually getting to leave the house and having a job? Not very. Okay, well, good. I'm quite dizzy. I'm glad you're enjoying the lifestyle then. Hillary, it's great to have you with us. You're going to play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. What's the topic, Bill? True you, silver screen. No, movie theaters, as I'm sure you know, have been struggling lately to bring in an audience who wants like that immersive cinematic experience when you can just watch a movie on the toilet. Our panelists are going to tell you about a brand new threat to movie theaters. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win our prize, the Wait-Waiter of Your Choice, on your voicemail. You ready to play? Yes. All right. First up, let's hear from Hari Kondabolu. Hi, I'm Hari Kondabolu. I'm one of the co-hosts in the movie industry. And I'm really excited to be with you today. And I'm excited to be with you today because I'm going to tell you about a movie that you're going to love. And you're going to love it. And I'm going to tell you about a movie that you're going to love. Bravo With his wife, Kristen Anderson Lopez He wrote the songs for the movies Frozen, Frozen 2 and Coco And with Trey Parker and Matt Stone He wrote the Broadway mega hit, The Book of Mormon Which celebrated its 15th anniversary this spring Bobby Lopez, welcome to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me So let's start here, congratulations on The Book of Mormon 15 years on Broadway That puts you in the rarefied heights of Broadway composers We're the 10th longest running show of all time How does it feel to be the Andrew Lloyd Webber of F-bomb shows? It feels good, it feels good I would never put myself in his rarefied air No, no Now, if you've never seen The Book of Mormon I don't know how that's possible at this point But it is incredibly obscene In the best possible way And I heard a story, it was actually in Josh Gad's memoir Josh Gad from the original cast He says he was at an initial workshop You were working out the show And he like read or performed one of the songs And he actually said to Trey Parker, one of the authors He said, you can't do this This is too offensive People will kill you Did you ever worry about that? You know, I give him this When you read The Book of Mormon on the page You know, there's a convention in writing the scripts out Where all the lyrics are in all caps Yes Which looks like screaming Yes So when you have the lyrics to Hasadiga Ibuwai Filling the page It really, it jumps out at a different tone Then like the music makes it much sweeter Yeah, and I just want to say to the audience If I were to translate that phrase The name of a song Not only would we be cancelled NPR would be burned to the ground So yeah And so the music Were you surprised that this musical About Mormon missionaries with this extraordinary Language and themes and sense of humor Was the best? Was the monster hit that it became? We were hoping to run a year And maybe get some protesters But instead Instead we became this This long running mainstream Right down the middle hit Which still baffles me I know, it's amazing And the amazing thing is The Mormon church was okay with it, right? They kind of got on board? Yeah, they kind of judoed us They were like, let's put an ad in the playbill You've got to do this You've seen the show, now read the book Great ad Are you aware of anybody who came off the streets Saw the Book of Mormon, the musical And any of its many iterations or productions And then said, you know what? I think I'll look into this religion No, but I would love to meet you If you're out there Before we leave the topic I understand that in June Once the show comes back From its theater catching fire The show is going to be doing something called Magical Mormon Mystery Week Yes, that's it We're having Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells And all of the original company Kind of come back and pop into the show You know, sort of random In random scenes And I will get to also be in it With Matt and Trey on certain nights Really? Trey's in it every night, yeah Trey's Trey's going to play Jesus In Joseph Smith every night that week Wow From what I know of him That's kind of a dream come true, right? I mean, he looks like Jesus in Joseph Smith That's true, that's true Famously, you are the youngest person Ever to EGOT, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony And you also are the only person As far as I know Who's done it twice In each category Sometimes more than twice And And And And we're just wondering As the only person in the entire world Who have ever done that What kind of privileges does that get you? Do you get to cut in line at the movie theater? Oh, let's see My family, my kids My kids were very young at the time And they and Kristen, my wife Got together and made An EGOT necklace Like the one from 30 Rock Yes Out of cardboard and macaroni and glue Oh, that's awesome That's great I hope you You can see it It's online That's fabulous Speaking of your wife Who's astonishingly talented And shared in your Oscars Because she co-wrote the songs From Coco and Frozen with you She is missing that Tony Award So she's an ego She's a big ego Big ego Any tension around the house Or maybe when you're having You know, those spats Like we all do You're like, well Don't try and get me in trouble, man I know, but I don't know Tony says It's your turn to clean the kitchen Yeah No No Is that tough though to I mean, because you You obviously work very successfully With your wife Does it like interfere with like your daily life? Do you pause and go, wait a minute Is that a song? Did we just write a song? Is that a song? Or is it like You're not going to write a song about this, right? Absolutely We are on vacation And we end up like Running to write something Like not for any project Just like We wrote lyrics to the Like our kids loved Harry Potter Way back when And we wrote a whole Harry Potter quiz show Set of lyrics to the Harry Potter theme Jeez It was What time is it? You know what time it is Time for the Harry Potter quiz And it went on I got the whole thing Really? Wow Well, Bobby Lopez It's a joy to talk to you We have invited you to the Harry Potter quiz We have invited you here to play a game That this time we're calling You are 15 Going on 16 It's the 15th anniversary of Book of Mormon Which means it's time to start planning For the show's appearance On the MTV reality show My Super Sweet 16 That's the show in which America's richest and most entitled teenagers Threw extravagant birthday parties And then cried at them So we're going to ask you three questions About that show Answer two of them correctly You'll win a prize for one of our listeners Wait, give me a second to watch all those episodes Yes, please, do that Bill, who is Bobby Lopez playing for? Luxem Wong of Gaithersburg, Maryland All right, here we go In season seven, as fans remember Birthday girl Skye got upset Because all her friends were inside dancing Meaning that none of them could see what? A, her head projected onto Mount Rushmore Which was the venue for the party B, her arrival at the party Riding the same giant gold lion That Katy Perry rode in her Super Bowl halftime show Or see her grand entrance In a 20-foot tall dress With a hydraulic lift built into it To raise her into the air Well, um That sounds like a girl obsessed with Wicked I think I'll choose C You were right, that's exactly right All right My Super Sweet 16 My Super Sweet 16 My Super Sweet 16 was so popular That it had several spin-off shows Including which of these? A, Exiled Where the parents of teens who had parties in the show Send those teens to remote countries By themselves to see if they can survive B B, my super depressing 30 About people Realizing they were totally unequipped for adulthood Or C I hate them all Interviews with the caterers, waiters, and other people Who staffed the parties Wow They all sound fake I pick C again You're gonna pick C again I hate them all Interviews with the staff of the parties No, I'm afraid it was A, Exiled It lasted one season They sent these entitled kids And as far as I know They all survived and came back All right, last question If you get this right, you win My Super Sweet 16 My Super Sweet 16 Has inspired other creators Including which of these? A, your friend Trey Parker Who made a South Park episode Where Satan throws his own Super Sweet 16 party B, choreographer Twyla Tharp Who created a dance show called Les Insuffrables Or C, actor Nicolas Cage Who vowed that his own kid's birthday party Would be better than any of those parties in the show And subsequently had to declare bankruptcy again It was A, right? It was A, yeah Trey Parker Made an homage to Super Sweet 16 On South Park He called The maker of South Park Called My Super Sweet 16 Quote The most disgusting foul show ever made Bill, how did Bobby Lopez do on our quiz? He got two out of three And that's good enough for us Bobby Lopez is the double EGOT winning songwriter And composer of Book of Mormon Which you can see during Magical Mormon Mystery Week At the Eugene Academy of Music Eugene O'Neill Theater From June 9th through June 14th Bobby Lopez, thank you so much for joining us On Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me What a pleasure to talk to you Thank you Take care Bye, Bobby in just a minute bill is going to ruin things for your dentist in our listener limerick challenge call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT to join us on the air we'll be back in a minute with more of wait wait don't tell me from npr From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Bill Curtis. We are playing this week with Mo Rocca, Roxanne Roberts, and Hari Kondabolu. And here again is your host at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, Illinois, Peter Sagal. Thank you, Bill. In just a minute, Bill orders some limericks for the table. It's our listener limerick challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. Right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news. Mo, elderly people often have problems with balance, forcing them to use canes or walkers, but a research team in Japan has come up with a better way. Simply fit the elderly with a what? With a Michelin Man costume. That's great. Right? Pumatic, cushioned. Yeah, you would never hurt. Thick. In the middle. Falling. No, it's something that will help them keep their balance. I'll give you a hint. We don't know if they can wag them. Oh, to give old people tails. Yes, give old people enormous tails. That is so cute. It would be adorable. Researchers in Japan and engineers have developed a three-foot-long mechanical motorized tail called ARC, which automatically moves to counterbalance you when you lean over. However, it also makes it much easier to tell when grandma is happy. So, to make them like marsupials? No, not exactly. The idea is there are a lot of animals, like, say, monkeys or cheetahs, that use tails for balance. They can counterbalance their own movements and stay, you know, stable. Oh, so grandma might be swinging from a tree now? It's possible. No, wait a minute. That's the ARCA 2. They're working on that. To keep the wearer balanced as they move, they need to be able to balance their body. They need to be able to balance their body. The tail uses pneumatic pumps to move in reaction to the user's motions. So if you think a walker makes you look bad, just try looking and sounding like a T-Rex with IBS. So here, that is the question: How do you go to the bathroom wearing a giant tail? Oh, God. Oh, God. I mean, you're there. You're with grandpa. Everything's going great. He's like, "Oh, no. Grandpa's lifting his tail. Just. " Grandpa's getting some tail at assistant living. No, no, no, no. Oh, he's dating again? No, no. He's actually getting a tail. Hari, a gym in Denver is being sued by owners of condos in the building above the gym. They say the gym has hurt their property values because of the what? The stench. Not the stench. Oof. The water from the shower. Not the water from the shower. Oof. The sound. From the sound. Yes. Specifically, what sound? Oh, no. Oh, uh, grunting. Grunting, yes. They say that their property values are diminished because of the constant grunting from the gym. The Denver gym, that's a gym with weight machines, treadmills, diced ham, green pepper, and cheddar cheese, has faced constant complaints from the tenants above it since it opened two years ago. Now residents are suing the owners of the gym. They say, quote, "Weightlifters groaning, yelling, and struggling. That last one sounds suspiciously less like a complaint and more like a sick burn." Residents say they're unable to sleep, enjoy dinner, or work from home, unquote, because of the noise, while the weightlifters say, "One more. You got this. Ah!" Unquote. I mean, I'm sure people are having sex in that building, and there's the sounds of sex. The grunting, I guess, from sex next door, we're not going to get into. We're going to get into it. I think that would be bad enough, but if they were also saying, "Oh, one more. You got this from there," very distressing, I think. I'd move. "Can you spot me?" You have to wipe that down if you're done with it. Coming up. Let me fill in the blank, but first it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. You can see us most weeks here at the Studebaker Theater in downtown Chicago, or you can catch us on the road. For example, we will be in Austin, Texas on June 4th, and there are still a few tickets left. With more shows being announced soon, you want to go to nprpresents.org for tickets and information to all of those live events. Hi, everyone. Wait, wait. Don't tell me. Hi. This is Bill Valdez in Columbus. Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, where we've been a few times. What do you do there in the capital? Well, I own a data analytics consulting firm, but my family and I are also very active with Golden Retriever Rescue, and we have two adopted Goldens that we have trained to be therapy dogs, and we spread joy throughout central Ohio with them. Well, that's great. I've always wondered, like, what specific training do therapy dogs have? Generally speaking, they have to do two things well. You have to have strangers tell you you're beautiful. And you have to be willing to get hugged and kissed by strangers a lot, so those are the single qualifications. Oh, my gosh. I could be a therapy dog. You don't have enough hair. I could be a therapy hairless cat. Yes. So, there. All right. Well, welcome to the show, Bill. Bill Kurtz is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last one. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly into the limerick, you'll be a winner. Are you ready to play? I am ready to play. All right. Here we go. Here's your first limerick. Not all tooth decay carries much gravity. Scanty flossing is no moral depravity. So dentists, please chill and put down that drill. We don't need to fill every. Cavity. Right. The New York cavity. Yes. The New York Times reported this week that just because your dentist said you need a cavity filled doesn't mean you really do. No thanks, doc. I actually like it when drinking cold water sends searing pain stabbing into my skull. It turns out that many dentists recommend filling cavities that can be treated with better dental hygiene. Some say they do this because they can charge more for a filling, but the truth is they just love drilling into your teeth. It's soothing for them. Wait. I don't understand. Because like a cavity is a hole. Cavity is a hole. But here's the thing. New standards for dental care. Say that in the very first stages of a cavity, it can be reversed with better hygiene, right? Better brushing. What your dentist recommends, again, this is true, actually depends on when they went to dental school. So a younger dentist, the latest standards, might just give you medicated toothpaste, send you home. An older dentist will grab for the drill right away, and a really old dentist will just tie that old tooth to the doorknob. Here's the problem I always have. I keep thinking like an idiot. I'm like a logical person. Always a mistake at the same age. It's always a mistake because if you have a cavity, then you have a hole in your tooth. You do. And this suggests that somehow that hole will get filled in with just like medicated toothpaste. But that doesn't seem logical given the fact that you've got eroded enamel. Right. So we're really giving this a lot of thought. Well, it's not that much. It's not that much thought. It's like it's a hole. Holes get bigger. Yeah. That's the thought. The hole's going to get bigger, so they've got to fill it in. Right. Otherwise, it will, as you say, get bigger. That's right. Absolutely. Uh-huh. Here is your next limerick. "While Luigi and Peach are not scoffing, what an awesome box to get sent off in, as you've laid down to rest. It is one final quest. Put more stars, wands, and coins on that. " Coffin. Yes, coffin. Congratulations for video game fans getting on in years. There's a new line of Super Mario Brothers themed coffins that you can buy for yourself or a loved one. They come in bright red, green, or pink. They can be customized with images of your favorite characters. It's a fun and creative way to let all your loved ones know you died as you lived, wasting your entire life. Your entire life playing video games. Your entire lives. Exactly. True. Here is your last limerick. "Island cattle look fuzzy and snuggly, and visitors pose with them smugly. We need people to pass, not to stop and harass, so we breed them to make them more. " Ugly? Yes. Yes. A British farmer. Sick and tired. tired of influencers coming onto his land to take selfies with his beautiful cows has developed a plan to stop it he's going to breed the cows to make them uglier that is a pretty clever solution but let's ask the big question why was he previously breeding the cows to make them hot i don't think i could tell the difference between an attractive cow and a less attractive cow well there's also ugly cows that are sexy like it's like like being attracted like right there's sexiness and then there's just conventional good looks so this could really backfire so are you suggesting that that some cows just have sexy personalities well just like some people like benicio del toro is not conventionally handsome but he has a lot of sex appeal like you could end up with a really really like groundbreaking iconoclastic sexy cow or or the farmer could just build a fence so the influencers didn't come on faster but then we wouldn't be talking about this is true bill how did bill do on our quiz bill was on top of it he got all three very good job congratulations bill well done thank you thank you so much for playing take care thanks have a good day bye-bye now it is time for our final game lightning fill in the blank each of our players left 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill in the blank questions as possible so let's get started as many fill in the blank questions as they can each correct answer now worth two points bill can you give us the score stand back mo has five roxanne has two harry has one all right harry you're in third place so you're up first the clock will start when i begin your first question fill in the blank after an outbreak on a cruise ship global health agencies are racing to track people who have come in contact with blank virus hantavirus right this week cdc data showed that er visits due to blank bites have surged insect bites i'm going to give it to you tick bites according to new polls blank's approval rating has dropped below 35 percent trump right after facing backlash over their new nine dollar cup of premium coffee the ceo of starbucks defended the drink saying blank cheaper than gas no he said that actually might be true no he defended their new nine dollar cup of coffee by saying at least it's not a ten dollar cup of coffee on wednesday it was announced that golden town is going to be in tempo the winner of the blank will not run in the preakness stakes kentucky derby right on monday the head of fifa defended the high price of 2026 blank tickets world cup right this week a zoo in armenia assured concerned residents that the escaped zebra people were seeing running loose in the streets was just blank a ghost no a donkey painted black and white residents of the armenian capital of yerevan were concerned that there had been an escape at the zoo and they saw what looked like a zebra wandering around but the zoo knew something was up when all of their animals were accounted for and everybody who called was like hey i think i saw your zebra near my house but its stripes were running bill how did how are you doing our quiz good five right 10 more points total of 11 puts him in the lead there you go all right rocks you are up next fill in the blank on thursday intelligence officials said that iran could withstand a u.s blockade of the blank for months the home was straight right on wednesday a new report came out saying that the armenian government would not allow any of its members to go to the moon for the next six months right on thursday nasa released 12 000 photos from the artemis ii mission to the blank to the moon right according to new data blank prices have risen 50 percent since february i'm gonna say gas right this week a marine biologist in vancouver rescued a blue heron who got its foot stuck in blank in a uh lobster no close in an oyster ah on thursday nasa said that the titan rover may have accidentally brought fungus to blank mars yes on sunday gamestop's ceo made an unsolicited 56 billion dollar offer to buy online auction site blank ebay right this week a man in wisconsin had perfect timing when he blanked while teaching a cpr class oh is this the guy that had a heart attack and then his class saved him yes he had a heart attack while teaching a class on cpr very good the man who's really gunning for that teacher of the year award was the middle of teaching a class on cpr when he started suffering a heart attack he did recover but then he had to have 22 more heart attacks so the other kids in class got a chance bill how did roxanne do very well seven right 14 more 16 total she's in the lead there you are all right how many then does mo need to win six to win nothing mo here we go this is for the game on wednesday media mogul blank passed away at the age of 87 ted turner right on monday the supreme court temporarily restored access to the blank pill uh the abortion yes due to the increased energy demand of data centers pennsylvania authorities are considering reactivating the nuclear plant at blank three mile island right on wednesday plank announced his presidential library would open in june barack obama right according to clinical trials moderna's new mrna based blank shot is more effective than the traditional one uh a coronavirus no they're flu shot this week the uk version of late night sketch show blank was renewed for a second season snl right this week a man in scotland was hospitalized after he accidentally drove his car into blank uh does haggis come in field into a bog into a bog to a peat bog no not a peat bog not a haggis he drove his car into a wall painted to look like the entrance to a tunnel in the most looney tunes ass accident in automobile history the scottish driver drove directly into a wall because it was painted to look like the entrance to a tunnel emergency workers took him to the hospital where doctors are working hard to get the cartoon birds to stop circling bill did mo do well enough to win so close five right 10 more points is 15 is one short of roxanne who's the winner there you go it shows up again so close five right 10 more points is 15 is one short of roxanne who's the winner there you go in just a minute our panelists will predict and now that they're coming back what would be the surprise hit toy found in cereal boxes but first let me tell you all that wait wait don't tell me it's a production of npr and wbez chicago in association with urgent haircut productions doug burman benevolent overlord philip gotica writes our limericks our public address announcer is paul friedman our ops manager is jacira vardak thanks to the staff and crew here at the studio baker theater bj liederman composed our theme our program is produced by jennifer mills miles drawn boss and lillian king special thanks to blithe robertson and monica hickey peter gwynn is visiting the pope our visual host is emma choi technical direction is from lorna white our cfo is colin miller our production manager is robert newhouse our senior producer is ian chillock and the executive producer of wait wait don't tell me is mike danforth now panel what are we gonna find in our cereal boxes hurry come to bolu jesus on the cross roxanne roberts a little plastic nobel prize because all the kids really really want one and mo rocker just in time for the affordability crisis glow in the dark food stamps and if any of that shows up we're gonna have it right here on wait wait don't tell me thank you bill curtis thanks also to harry kondabolu mo rock and roxanne roberts thank you our fabulous audience here at the studio theater in downtown chicago illinois thanks to all of you for listening wherever you might be i'm peter segal we'll see you next week this is npr