OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Okay, in front of me right now are our next two contestants. The writer, editor and word game junkie Natalia Lavric.
NATALIA LAVRIC: Hello.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Welcome. And Mike Nothnagel, a math professor for chefs.
MIKE NOTHNAGEL: That is correct.
EISENBERG: Interesting. That sounds like a very cool job. Happy to have you.
NOTHNAGEL: Thank you.
EISENBERG: Okay, so this is a game called From A to Zed.
JOHN CHANESKI: Again, we're going to do this again with the thing, the Canadian thing. Please.
EISENBERG: It's not a Canadian thing. It's how people talk properly.
CHANESKI: A to Z. Are you aboot finished with it?
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: All righty. The rules are simple. We're going to give you a clue and you're going to give us an answer whose first letter is A and whose last letter is Z.
CHANESKI: Thank you.
EISENBERG: Okay. And it could be about a word, a person, a place, whatever. Got it?
LAVRIC: Got it.
NOTHNAGEL: Got it.
EISENBERG: Okay, here's your first question. It's the island simply known as "The Rock."
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Natalia?
LAVRIC: Alcatraz.
EISENBERG: Correct.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: It was basically the only rock we had left to talk about.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: The celebrity photographer who shot the iconic Rolling Stone magazine cover of Yoko Ono and a naked John Lennon.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Mike?
NOTHNAGEL: Annie Leibovitz.
EISENBERG: That is correct, well done.
NOTHNAGEL: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: It's a Spanish food, often served con pollo.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
LAVRIC: Arroz.
EISENBERG: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Natalia, arroz is right.
LAVRIC: Si.
EISENBERG: Si. Okay, now you're going a little off book for me. Careful.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: A five-letter word that's a synonym of humming. Hmm.
CHANESKI: Hmm.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Mike?
NOTHNAGEL: Abuzz.
CHANESKI: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: I know. That's a...
CHANESKI: The audience is abuzz.
EISENBERG: That's a fancy word. The New York Yankee slugger who was surprisingly benched during the 2012 playoffs.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Mike?
NOTHNAGEL: Alex Rodriguez.
EISENBERG: Alex Rodriguez is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
(SOUNDBITE OF BOOING)
EISENBERG: I don't understand how anyone feels about that guy. A three-letter word that's a hand tool used to cut and shape wood.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Mike?
NOTHNAGEL: That's an adz.
EISENBERG: That is an adz.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Who knows that?
CHANESKI: Mike. Mike.
EISENBERG: Mike knows that.
CHANESKI: Mike, you solve crosswords don't you?
NOTHNAGEL: One or two.
CHANESKI: Yeah.
EISENBERG: One or two. And the first name of actor who plays Tom Haverford on TV's "Parks and Recreation."
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Natalia?
LAVRIC: Aziz.
EISENBERG: Aziz is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
CHANESKI: Mike has four and Natalia has three.
EISENBERG: And that means Mike's the winner.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Well done, Mike. Thank you, Natalia. You'll be moving on to our Ask Me One More final round at the end of the show. Give them a hand everybody.
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.