"Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" Quiz

Answer: Chicago, Illinois

"... at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, here is your host ..." are among Carl Kasell's usual opening words.

When "Wait Wait" came to my hometown of Salt Lake City, they entertained the locals at the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall. Overall, it was an exhilarating, hysterically funny, and memorable experience. For anyone who enjoys the program and has the chance, I highly recommend going to a performance.

Answer: Peter Sagal

"Wait Wait" listeners will instantly recognize Peter's voice. As a good host should, Peter skillfully and humorously interacts with callers, referees the sometimes rowdy panel, and of course, reads and comments on the program's questions and answers.

The other names given as possible answers are all prominent people in the arena of public radio.

Answer: Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart is the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

The rotating panel consists of about a dozen total authors, journalists, columnists, and comedians, but each episode features only three of them at a time. They compete for points by (among other things) answering questions about the week's news.

Answer: "Stump the Chumps"

Did you recognize "Stump the Chumps" as coming from another National Public Radio program, "Car Talk"? "Stump the Chumps" has a catchy, silly theme song to accompany it.

As for the other games listed: "Who's Carl this Time?" involves Carl Kasell reading a quote from the week's news, and a panelist gets to guess who said it. Listeners calling in to play "Bluff the Listener" get to hear the panelists read two fake news stories (of the panelists' invention) and one real story, and then guess which story is real. The final game of most episodes is "Lightning Fill in the Blank" (self-explanatory), played by the panelists for double points.

Answer: Carl Kasell's voice on their answering machine or voice mail

In addition to audio samples of selected voice mail greetings that Carl has recorded for winners, "Wait Wait"'s web site offers many other funny and worthwhile things.

To win most games, callers must answer two out of three questions correctly. Many players are able to do this; the questions should be easy for anyone who was paying the slightest attention to the week's news. If a player does have problems answering a question, the panel and host usually step in with helpful coaching and liberal hints.

Answer: A famous person invited as a guest to the program

Billed as the game where highly accomplished people get asked questions on topics which they know nothing about, "Not My Job" has featured a veritable parade of colorful people: writers, athletes, politicians, actors, humorists, journalists, chefs, musicians, and others.

After a brief interview by the panelists and host, each week's celebrity willingly submits to a little good-natured humiliation by attempting to correctly answer two or three out of three multiple choice questions on some hilarious, random topic. A win garners a prize for a preselected lucky listener. Given the random and obscure topics, most players are unable to even make educated guesses, and winning essentially boils down to dumb luck. Arguably, the real purpose of the game is to give the listeners a little interesting quality time with the guest.

Answer: False

In reality, "Wait Wait" is prerecorded. Radio stations broadcast the program at their convenience.

If you want to be a contestant, you can call or send an email anytime. You will need to be available by phone during the program's *taping* time IF you are selected as a contestant.

Answer: Five

Limericks follow the rhyme scheme AABBA, and have a recognizable and characteristic rhythm to the words.

Not many organizations can claim that they have a professional limerick writer on their payroll, but "Wait Wait" actually can. The program's credits mention Phillip Godeke as writing the limericks, but nowhere can I find his name in print, so I had to take my best guess with the spelling--sorry, Phillip!

Answer: BJ Leiderman

The theme includes an urgent repeated-tone motif that resembles Morse code (a typical feature of many older or "classic" news program themes). In one episode of "Wait Wait," the host explained that the composer had admitted that he designed the motif for rhythmic and musical effect--it isn't an actual coded message.

Randy Newman and Michael Giacchino are film composers, and Erik Satie (1866-1925) wrote (among other things) the familiar set of piano pieces, "Gymnopédies."

Answer: Make predictions about future news stories

The panelists don't ad-lib their predictions. They are given a topic and formulate their responses in advance.

Peter Sagal always assures us that if any of the panelists' humorous and unlikely predictions come true, listeners will be sure to hear about it on "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!"