Mind Your Ps And Qs

Sep 25, 2013
Originally published on September 26, 2013 10:03 am



Now we're going to crown this week's grand champion so let's bring back the winners from all of our former games. From Which Came First Jamie Orenstein. From Triple Word Score David Schmidt. From Istanbul, Not Constantinople, Jim Sparnon. From In A World, Bill Holzapfel. And from Just Add Nada, Cody Lee.


EISENBERG: I'm going to ask our puzzle guru John Chanesky to crown our winner.

JOHN CHANESKI, PUZZLE GURU: This final round is called Mind Your Ps and Qs. No one is sure what the exact origin of that expression is but we're going to do just that. In this round, all of the answers will be words, phrases, and proper names that contain both a P and a Q. Now, here's some hints. The answers will all start with P but the P and Q might not be in the same word.

For example, if I said it's a high school group that tries to increase school spirit, the answer would be Pep Squad. We're playing this spelling bee style, so one wrong answer and you're out. You'll only have a few seconds to give us an answer. Last person standing is our grand winner. Remember, every answer will start with the letter P and contain a Q. Here we go. Jamie, it's a test given by school teachers without any prior warning.


GURU: That's right.


GURU: David, it causes teeth to yellow as bacteria attached to the surface.


GURU: Yes.


GURU: Jim, it's the last name of the actress who plays Sookie Stackhouse on the HBO series "True Blood."


GURU: Paquin is right.


GURU: Bill, it's a class that a student must have already completed as a condition for admission to a program.

BILL HOLZAPFEL: A prerequisite.

GURU: That's correct.


GURU: Cody, set one year before "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" is technically this type of film.

CODY LEE: Prequel.

GURU: Yes. Prequel it is.


GURU: Back to Jamie. If you're surrounded by screaming kids all day, you might say all I want is a little this three word phrase.

ORENSTEIN: Peace and quiet.

GURU: Yes.


GURU: David, in the Stephen King novel "Carrie," things go downhill after Carrie is elected this high school honor.

SCHMIDT: Prom queen.

GURU: Prom queen is right.


GURU: Jim, it's the French word for why.

ORENSTEIN: Pourquois.

GURU: Pourquois. Oui, oui. Way to go.


GURU: Bill, it's a two word phrase describing a bedspread made from leftover scraps of fabric stitched together.


GURU: Not percale, no. Let's see if Cody knows this. Three seconds. Let's see if Jamie knows it.

ORENSTEIN: Piece quilt?

GURU: Not a piece quilt. Jamie, step aside. See if David knows this.

SCHMIDT: Premade quilt.



SPARNON: Patchwork quilt.

GURU: Patchwork quilt is correct and Jim takes the game. Way to go, Jim.


EISENBERG: Jim, you did it. You're an ASK ME ANOTHER big winner. Jim, you're getting a special prize. You have a choice of either a one-on-one basketball match against our VIP Alex Blumberg or our VIP Adam Davidson will personally argue your side in any debate.


EISENBERG: Unfortunately, that's all we have for you today but you can be a puzzle player any time, any place. Take us with you by downloading our podcast or you can always find us on Facebook or Twitter. Just look for NPR ASK ME ANOTHER. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.