For We'll Wait, You Tell Us, the first listener contestant chose Roy Blount, Jr.'s answer, which was correct. The second listener contestant chose Margo Kaufman's answer, which was also correct. Dan Coffey said that it was the first time that they had two listener contestants that won in a row; but, on the show that aired on 1998-01-17, there were four listener contestants for the segment and the third and fourth contestants had won.

Peter Sagal would skirt around saying the bonus phrase by making puns based on the phrase. Carl Kasell allowed the first pun, blue cream of death, and gave him a point and Peter was still eligible to earn points by saying the actual bonus phrase. Peter would continue to make puns and Carl would not grant Peter additional points.

Although listed in the segments on the show's page on NPR.org, the Gossip, Rumor & Innuendo segment was not included in the version that was aired.

For News Etymology, the listener contestant chose Peter's answer, which was correct.

While Peter was reading his essay for Wait Wait I'm Pontificating, the sound of someone pouring a drink could be heard from an unmuted microphone.

For We'll Wait, You Tell Us, the listener contestant chose Roxanne Roberts' answer, which was correct. The show's page on NPR.org mention a second topic, but only one was included in the version that was aired.

For News Etymology, the listener contestant chose Roxanne's answer, but Margo Kaufman had the correct answer.

The panelist who guessed the correct answer for the second Why Should We Know Who You Are received six points and there was no Wait Wait I'm Pontificating segment.

The 888-WAIT-WAIT (888-924-8924) phone number made its debut on this show.

For We'll Wait, You Tell Us, the first listener contestant chose Charlie Pierce's answer, but Roxanne Roberts had the correct answer. The second listener contestant chose Peter Sagal's answer, which was correct.

For News Etyomolgy, the listener contestant chose Roxanne's answer, but Charlie's answer was correct.

Peter had a total of 18.5 points and Roxanne had a total of 16.5 points. Both scores have been rounded up to 19 and 17 points, respectively, as the Wait Wait Stats Database currently has scores defined as integers.

A listener submitted a question that was used in the Week in Review segment and was given a chance to answer a question about the news to get a custom message from Carl Kasell. The listener answered the question correct.

The NPR.org show page lists a News Etymology segment, but one was not included in the version of the show that aired.

At the start of the Wait Wait I'm Pontificating segment, Carl stated that Peter Sagal was in the lead with 13 points, Margo Kaufman was in second place and Adam Felber was in third place, but Carl didn't state how many points Margo or Adam had.

Due to Adam's low score, he was skipped over when it came to reading his essay. This means that no definitive total score was given for Adam. Adam did not answer any questions correct in the Week in Review segment, had a +1 during the Lightning True or False segment, did not answer any questions correct during the Triple Point Bonus Round segment, and had used the bonus phrase for a minimum of 1 point. This would have meant that Adam had a minimum of 2 points at the start of the final segment. Until a definitive answer on how many points Adam had, 2 points has been entered in for this show.

Carl gave six points for Margo's essay for a total of 14 points. Meaning, Margo would have started the segment with 9 points.