Word Play and Auto Repair

I don’t know how many of you listen to National Public Radio. But if you do happen to flip on the ol’ Philco at 10am on Saturday morning, and it happens to be set to NPR, you’ll hear two of the three smartest people in the universe (the third being my old Latin teacher).

Tom and Ray Magliozzi from the radio show CarTalk know more about 1969 Fiat Dino 2.4 Coupés, 1988 Ford Festivas, and probably any other automotive amalgamation you can think of than anyone else knows about anything. After razzing callers by making them mimic the sounds their poor incapacitated cars are making, they always seem to come up with solutions that sound halfway believable. Not only are they believable to ignorant chumps like me, they seem to be right about 80% of the time. (Not bad for over-the-phone diagnoses.)

Yep, since 1977, these guys and their thick Bostonian accents have been the Gregory Houses of automotive talk shows, only without the cane and caustic sarcasm. But the most entertaining part of their show has nothing to do with cars.

Consider this, their weekly puzzler from a few weeks ago...

What's the next word in the following series: bugles, unrest, grotto, letter, esteem.

First person to get it right gets a million bucks.

And while you're pondering that... another thing they like to do is fabricate fake credits. You know, names that play on an occupation? (Saying it out loud helps.) Examples:

Personal Hygiene Advisor from the Tokyo Office - Oh Takashawa
Russian Chauffeur - Pikov N. Droppov
Personal Make-up Artist - Bud Tuggli
Statistician - Marge N. Overa
Customer Care Representative - Heywood Jabuzzov
Personal Psychiatrist - Manny Lus Cruz
Second Shift Meteorologist - Claudio ver Knight
Memory Coach - Hugh Sherlock Famigliar
Janis Joplin Biographer - Ian Bobby McGee

I think I just heard your eyes roll. OK, so reading it doesn't have the same effect... which is why you should listen to it.