Ask Me Another (radio program)

Ask Me Another is an hour-long radio puzzle game show produced by WNYC and National Public Radio. It is hosted by Canadian American comedian Ophira Eisenberg and features as its "in-house musician" or "one-man house band" independent rock musician Jonathan Coulton. Episodes of the show are usually recorded at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, however the show does go to various states across the country and record one or more episodes from those locations. The show has been produced by WNYC Studios since 2012.
Format.
The show features four to five individual games based on puzzle topics, wordplay, and trivia, interspersed by chatter from the show's hosts, as well as a segment featuring an interview and one or more games involving the celebrity guest of the week, who was originally called the "Very Important Puzzler". More recent episodes have four games played in a two-round tournament format.
Most games are played by two contestants. The rules of each game are explained to the contestants beforehand. Players will ring in (Player 1 rings in by ringing a bell once to respond, while Player 2 will ring their bell two times) with the general goal to score the most points for that game. The players will play two games and whichever player has the most points accumulated after the second game moves on to the Final Round. In the case of a tie after the second game, a final tie-breaker question is asked to settle the tie.
In the original format, the winning player proceeds with all other winners to the final game at the end of the show. This last game is a series of trivia questions with answers sharing a common theme, such as answers that include the name of a musical instrument in them. This round is played in a spelling bee style in which if one contestant does not know the answer, the next one in line may attempt to answer the same question; if one player gets the answer, all those who missed it are eliminated. This is played until either one player remains, or if they run out of questions, whomever can ring in first and correctly answer a final tie-breaking question. The prize for winning this round is typically a small bit of memorabilia provided by the week's current Very Important Puzzler, but generally of low monetary value.
Other games are played by the show's celebrity guest of the week, originally known as the Very Important Puzzler. The Puzzler typically plays for a contestant who has registered either via the show's website or through its social media pages. Any celebrity guest who wins their specific game wins either an "Ask Me Another" anagram tee-shirt or an "Ask Me Another" Rubik's Cube for him/herself and the contestant.
In its current format, the two contestants who won their games move on to play a Final Round, where they are each asked 8 questions on a common theme. The contestants alternate answering questions. Half way through, the scores are reviewed. The second half of the round proceeds soccer shoot-out style, meaning after a contestant answers a question correctly or incorrectly, and as a result it is mathematically impossible for one of the contestants to win the round, the final round ends immediately (without the remaining questions even being asked), and the winner is announced. If, at the end of the final round, the score is tied, a final tie-breaker question is asked to settle the tie. The prize that is awarded to the winner is an "Ask Me Another" Rubik's Cube autographed by that episode's celebrity guest(s).
The Very Important Puzzler (V.I.P.).
Guest stars on the show were originally referred to as "Very Important Puzzlers", and typically participate in two segments on the show. More recent episodes have dropped the moniker and simply refer to them as "Special Guests". Past Guest stars have included:
Types of games.
Though the show's writers design many kinds of games, there are some commonly recurring types. These include:
Puzzle gurus.
The show's games are created by a staff of puzzle designers, and one of these puzzle designers in particular, usually referred to as a "puzzle guru", typically appears on the show along with host Eisenberg and musical sidekick Coulton as a third individual who directs the flow of activity on the show. There have been several of these since the show's creation, including:
In recent episodes no "Puzzle Guru" is involved in the show and Eisenberg & Coulton ask the questions in each game.
Substitute in-house musicians.
On shows where Jonathan Coulton is taking a break from recording as the in-house musician, he has been replaced by:
The show's "anagrammed ending".
The show typically ends with host Eisenberg reading the credits identifying people who worked on the show. Some of the names she reads are translated by the show's participating puzzle guru into anagrams. Typically the puzzle guru announces at the beginning "Hey, my name anagrams to..." and then announces the anagram. As Eisenberg lists others that worked on the show, the puzzle guru interjects the anagrammed forms of their names as well. Eisenberg then signs off the show by announcing that she is "Her ripe begonias" (an anagram for her own name). Occasionally, for comic effect, the puzzle guru will also provide an anagram for the call letters of WNYC ("CNYW").
Some examples of anagrams presented in the shows ending sequence are as follows: