Says You!
"A game of bluff and bluster, words and whimsy"—The announcer at the beginning of each show
Says You! is an American Radio Game Show loosely based on the long-running BBC Panel Game My Word. Two teams of three players each, picked from a cast of media personalities and academics that has gradually shifted from regular to rotating, are pitted against each other in a battle of wits and knowledge of words and trivia. Though Richard Sher, the creator and host of Says You!, describes the show at the start of every episode as "A simple game with words played by two teams," the questions within the various rounds often contain riddles and terms far exceeding any ordinary game in obscurity and downright cruelty to the players.
Says You! is played in five rounds: three rounds of general trivia or wordplay games, and one round for each team to play a "fictionary"-style bluffing game against the other. Each question or bluff/bluff-guess is worth up to 10 points; partial credit is given for partial answers or answers found through extra help. No prizes are awarded to the winners, other than bragging rights; it's Just for Fun.
New listeners are always advised to grab a pen and paper.
- The Ace: Longtime regular cast member Barry Nolan has the most ridiculously difficult question of nearly any round saved for him... and gets it right.
- Foreign Sounding Gibberish: In most of the bluffing round words. Yes, they are English words. No, you likely have never heard them before.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: Occasionally heard; e.g., substituting "accent aigu" for "acute accent".
- Hurricane of Puns: Any game involving a verbal charade. They're almost universally Incredibly Lame Puns as well.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Serious groaners are often sprung by the panelists.
- Listeners Are Geniuses: Says You can be even harder to play along with at home than Wait Wait Don't Tell Me.
- Panel Game
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: The bluffing round words. The twist is that they're all real, just long outdated.