News Quiz

No. 37: “Hard to Do”

No. 37: “Hard to Do”

By Randy Cohen

In a statement to Reuters announcing their breakup, they wrote, “We are stuck in a dead end. Today we are ending this project.” Who is ending what?

by 5 p.m. ET Sunday to e-mail your answer (NewsQuiz@slate.com).

Responses to Wednesday’s question (No. 36)–“No Bad Docs”:

Fill in the blank. California gastroenterologist Dr. Richard Corlin says, “I’d give one of my paired organs to any of my three sons who wanted to ___________.”

“Donate it just minutes too late to James Earl Ray.”–Chris Kelly

“Have three kidneys.”–Alfa-Betty Olsen

“Become the daughter I never had.”–Gloria D. Howard

“Eat it.”–Marshall Efron (Fred Graver, Barbara Lippert, and Jay Sivak had similarly edible answers.)

“Tell me whether lovable crank Uncle Charlie was in fact a practicing homosexual or just a confirmed, apron-wearing ‘bachelor.’ “–Meg Wolitzer

“Trade me, straight up.”–Larry Doyle

“Play catch.”–Leslie Goodman-Malamuth

Click for more responses.

Randy’s Wrap-Up

Context is all. A kidney within the body: not funny. A kidney held in the hand: funny. A kidney with spectacles and a derby hat: hysterical. A secret intelligence-gathering organization in Langley, Va.: not funny. A secret intelligence-gathering organization on the World Wide Web with a frolicsome site for kids: maybe just funny enough to be an NBC sitcom, Thursday nights at 9. And how would the availability of that time slot be announced in a once-great literary magazine? Hmm … We’ll see tomorrow.

Organic Answer

“Go into medicine.” Dr. Corlin, speaker of the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates, was encouraging his kids to take up his lucrative profession. He went on to chide his colleagues for whining about their incomes under managed care. Rebounding from a brief downturn four years ago, their average income in 1996 was just under $200,000, up 50 percent since 1987. (The average income for all full-time workers over 15: $38,500.) Cardiovascular surgeons, the best-paid specialists, average $363,300; pediatricians, at the low end of specialist pay, make $137,100.

Leftovers

“Kids enjoy it.”–Tom Crispell, CIA spokesman

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