On-air challenge

I’m going to read you some sentences. Each sentence conceals the name of a major U.S. city in consecutive letters. As a hint, the answer’s state also appears in the sentence. Every answer has at least six letters. (Ex. The Kentucky bodybuilders will be flexing tonight. –> LEXINGTON)

1. Space enthusiasts in Oregon support landing on Mars.

2. Contact your insurance branch or agent in Alaska.

3. The Ohio company has a sale from today to next Sunday.

4. The Colorado trial ended in a sudden verdict.

5. Fans voted the Virginia tennis matches a peak experience.

6. I bought a shamrock for decorating my house in Illinois.

7. All the Connecticut things they knew have now changed.

8. Can you help a software developer in Texas?

Last week’s challenge

Last week’s challenge came from Mike Reiss, who’s a showrunner, writer, and producer for “The Simpsons.” Think of a famous living singer. The last two letters of his first name and the first two letters of his last name spell a bird. Change the first letter of the singer’s first name. Then the first three letters of that first name and the last five letters of his last name together spell another bird. What singer is this?

Challenge answer

Placido Domingo

Winner

Brock Hammill of Corvallis, Montana.

This week’s challenge

This week’s challenge comes from Robert Flood, of Allen, Texas. Name a famous female singer of the past (five letters in the first name, seven letters in the last name). Remove the last letter of her first name and you can rearrange all the remaining letters to name the capital of a country (six letters) and a food product that its nation is famous for (five letters).

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, December 18 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, guest judge and scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Lucy Dacus and panelists Adam Burke, Helen Hong, and Tom Bodett. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

Who’s Alzo This Time

Mega Media Merger; Cars, They’re Just Like Us; The Swag Gap

Panel Questions

An Hourly Marriage

Bluff The Listener

Our panelists tell three stories about a new TV show making headlines, only one of which is true.

Not My Job: Lucy Dacus answers our questions about boy geniuses

Singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, one third of the supergroup boygenius, plays our game called, “boygenius, meet Boy Geniuses” Three questions about child prodigies.

Panel Questions

Bedroom Rules; Japan Solves its Bear Problem

Limericks

Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: NHL Superlatives; Terrible Mouthwash; The Most Holy and Most Stylish

Lightning Fill In The Blank

All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions

Our panelists predict what will be the next big merger in the news.