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From A To Z

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.