OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
On our stage right now, we have Lauren Weisskirk and Stefan Salva Cruz ready for our next game.
(APPLAUSE)
STEFAN SALVA CRUZ: Hello, Ophira.
EISENBERG: Hello, Stefan. Hello, Lauren. Stefan, do you have a favorite fruit?
CRUZ: Fruit?
EISENBERG: Fruit, yeah.
CRUZ: Orange.
EISENBERG: It's an odd question, right?
CRUZ: Oh, absolutely.
EISENBERG: Orange.
CRUZ: Yeah.
EISENBERG: I like orange too. That's a good one. Lauren, favorite fruit?
LAUREN WEISSKIRK: Green apple.
EISENBERG: Wow, it's weird, that's a tough question for everybody.
WEISSKIRK: It was a tough one. It was really hard, yeah.
EISENBERG: This game is called Fruit Salad. Jonathan, what's that about?
JONATHAN COULTON: It's about fruit.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: But, actually. it's about notable songs and musical artists that have a fruit in their name. So I'm going to sing you a snippet of a famous song and I will ask you to identify either the title of the song or the artist. And then after each musical answer, we will ask a follow-up question that either one of you can buzz in for. And we're looking for the song title here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
COULTON: Oh, I bet you're wondering how I knew 'bout your plans to make me blue with some other guy you knew before. Between the two of guys, you know I love you more. It took me by surprise, I must say, when I found out yesterday. Don't you know that...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Stefan?
CRUZ: "Addicted to Love."
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren's going to steal.
WEISSKIRK: "Heard it through the Grapevine."
EISENBERG: "Heard it through the Grapevine."
COULTON: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: Stefan, that was not what I expected you to say.
CRUZ: No, no.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: Similar chord progression but not at all the same.
COULTON: I think maybe you were responding to my blue-eyed soul sound.
CRUZ: A little bit, a little bit, yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: After the main character of the hit movie "Sideways" raved about Pinot Noir, sales of the wine took off. But what wine variety suffered a drop-off in sales after being bashed in the same movie.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren?
WEISSKIRK: Chardonnay.
EISENBERG: No, I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Can you steal, Stefan?
CRUZ: Was it Pinot Grigio?
EISENBERG: Also incorrect. I am sorry. Anyone out there?
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIENCE YELLING)
EISENBERG: Merlot was the dark terrible wine never to be drunk again. And then he realized he was fine, like the next day.
COULTON: Okay, we are looking for the song title here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
COULTON: I said, doctor, ain't there nothing I can take? I said, doctor, to relieve this bellyache. You put this fruit in the other fruit, you drink 'em both together. Put this fruit in the other fruit and then you feel better.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren, who is crying through laughter.
(LAUGHTER)
WEISSKIRK: You put the lime in the coconut.
EISENBERG: You put the lime in the coconut.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTON: I think we brought up some memories with that one.
EISENBERG: A long time staple of tropical locales, coconut water has become increasingly popular in the US the leading brand Vita Coco, has run an extensive ad campaign featuring what music superstar who originally hails from Barbados?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren?
WEISSKIRK: Rihanna.
EISENBERG: Rihanna, that is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Stefan, plenty of time to get in the game. You're all good.
CRUZ: It's all right.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: You're all good.
COULTON: We're looking for the recording artist.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
COULTON: It's a cruel, cruel summer, leaving me here on my own. It's a cruel - it's a cruel, cruel summer.
(LAUGHTER)
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
COULTON: Now you're gone, you're not the only one.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Stefan?
CRUZ: Fiona Apple.
EISENBERG: No, I'm sorry. That would have been a good question. We should have written a question about her.
CRUZ: Gave it a shot.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Yeah, that is a fruit, yeah. Nope, I'm sorry. Lauren is looking at me like you have no idea. I know.
WEISSKIRK: No idea at all.
EISENBERG: Okay, I'm really upset with both of you right now, seriously.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: I'll throw it out there.
(SOUNDBITE OF AUDIENCE YELLING)
EISENBERG: Bananarama. In perfect ASK ME ANOTHER form, we go from 1982 to 1922 in this question. Bananarama may have complained about a cruel summer, but according to T. S. Eliot's famous poem "The Wasteland," what is the cruelest month? That's good puzzle writing right there. No? Cruelest month?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren, take a guess.
WEISSKIRK: August.
EISENBERG: That's a very good guess, but incorrect. I liked it. That's clearly your cruel month.
WEISSKIRK: Yes.
EISENBERG: Yeah, you don't like it at all. Stefan, do you want to just say what your cruel month is?
CRUZ: October.
EISENBERG: Okay, I'm sorry.
CRUZ: Trying fruit based months.
EISENBERG: Fruit based months.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: You're thinking of pumpkins. The cruelest month is actually April.
COULTON: August would be a very cruel month if it weren't for all of the goat cheese that is around.
EISENBERG: That is true.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: We are looking for the recording artist on this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
COULTON: I don't understand why I sleep all day and I start to complain that there's no rain. All I can do is read a book to stay awake and it rips my life away but it's a great escape. Escape. Escape.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren?
WEISSKIRK: Blind Melon.
EISENBERG: Blind Melon is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Blind Melon may have complained about no rain but at least they weren't stuck in the Atacama Desert, considered to be the driest place on earth. Rain clouds from the Pacific Ocean can't reach the desert because they are blocked by what famously long South American mountain range?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: Lauren?
WEISSKIRK: Andes.
EISENBERG: Andes is correct. Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: That is the game. And it turns out, Lauren, you are moving on to our final showdown at the end of the show. Congratulations.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Thank you so much, Stefan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.