NPR News, Classical and Music of the Delta
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Panelist Questions

BILL KURTIS: Support for NPR comes from NPR stations and Lumber Liquidators, supporting rebuilding efforts in Aransas County, Texas, which was affected by Hurricane Harvey - providing material support and money to help rebuild public schools in the county. More at lumberliquidators.com. Subaru, committed to doing its part to make the world a better place by supporting philanthropic initiatives in local communities. Learn more at subaru.com/love-promise. Love, it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru. And Home Instead Senior Care, offering professional in-home care, support and resources for families dealing with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, including hands-on training for family caregivers. More at homeinstead.com/npr.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR News quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. We are playing this week with Mo Rocca, Tom Bodett and Helen Hong. And here, again, is your host at the Bushnell in Hartford, Conn., Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Bill.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Thank you so much. In just a minute, Bill appoints the first ever secretary of rhyme, Limer-Rex (ph) Tillerson.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: The Listener Limerick Challenge. If you'd like to play, give us a call at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924.

But right now, panel, some more questions for you from the week's news. Helen, forget dating apps. According to a recent article published in The Wall Street Journal, more and more young couples are meeting where?

HELEN HONG: In Lyfts and Ubers.

SAGAL: No, although I'm sure they are, but that's not what The Wall Street Journal wrote about.

HONG: OK. Can I have a hint?

SAGAL: Yes. Clean up in aisle 3. Hook up in aisle 4.

HONG: At the grocery store?

SAGAL: Yes, at the grocery store.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Why not? It's literally a meat market.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: One woman explained why it's great to meet people at the supermarket. She said, quote, "you get a chance to talk. There's another task to focus on. You're not worried about impressing the other person." See?

HONG: That's true. I always - I hell it up when I go to Trader Joe's, for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: Yeah. I wear a push-up bra and the whole nine.

SAGAL: Really?

HONG: Yeah. And I just hang out, like, by the dairy.

MO ROCCA: By the dairy?

HONG: Yes.

ROCCA: I'm looking for a couple of milk jugs.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: No, actually I am - literally.

SAGAL: I know. I understand. Yeah. You can't go too desperate. There's nothing worse than going to the checkout and grabbing an impulse boyfriend from the rack they have there.

(LAUGHTER)

TOM BODETT: Yeah, they say don't go shopping hungry. That's...

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: Yeah.

SAGAL: Helen, there's a crime spree sweeping the nation. People are stealing what in order to resell them?

HONG: I need a hint.

SAGAL: Make sure you get the real thing because you don't want to cut with a sousaphone or French horn.

HONG: Like, wind instrument?

SAGAL: A specific brass instrument.

HONG: Trumpets?

SAGAL: Well, actually, the reason this is so surprising is these things are really hard to slip under your coat and run out.

ROCCA: Oh.

HONG: Tubas.

SAGAL: Yes. Tubas.

HONG: What?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: There is a tuba theft crime wave sweeping the nation. That's why you can't find your tuba.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: It really is news that cuts deep for everyone who was last in line to pick an instrument for band.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Tuba thefts are rampant.

HONG: Really?

SAGAL: Tubas are being reported stolen from band rooms, garages, music venues, presumably for their high resale value, or because of the rise in prominent public figures who need music to underline their enormous fails (imitates tuba).

ROCCA: Oh, right. That's what the tuba's for.

(LAUGHTER)

BODETT: Is it just, like, for the scrap metal, I wonder? I mean, that's a lot of metal and a big hole.

HONG: Yeah.

SAGAL: I don't know. Presumably, there - but some of these tubas are very expensive, and they're demanding, I guess, you know, big bucks in the black tuba market.

HONG: Yeah. How do you sneak out with a tuba?

SAGAL: I don't know. You could...

HONG: You'd have to be wearing a really big skirt.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: You could climb it - you could turn it upside down, climb into it and then start walking away. When everybody looks at you, just tuck down so the tuba's just sitting there on the ground.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: I could see a tuba stowing away on a ship.

SAGAL: Oh, yeah. It sort of sticks out there. It just hangs on the deck, and nobody thinks it's...

ROCCA: Yeah.

BODETT: No, I mean, you just take accomplices. You get a guy with a snare drum and another guy with a trombone, and you get the thing. You put on the hat...

HONG: Yeah.

BODETT: ...With the tassel on top. You walk right down the middle of the street with it, everybody moves aside, claps as you go by, and off you go. That's how you do it.

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: Genius.

BODETT: Yeah. See?

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: The crime wave has resulted in a number of brass bands canceling gigs, and a number of former tuba players getting dates for the first time.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: People are saying, I could never appreciate you for what you were because the view was blocked by that enormous honking thing.

HONG: I feel like you could just do the tuba noise with your own mouth, like, (imitates tuba).

(LAUGHTER)

HONG: Right? I did it just then.

SAGAL: You did. I couldn't tell the difference. I thought you had a tuba.

HONG: Right?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: It was amazing.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.