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June 27, 2025 19 mins

Recently, Zaron Burnett and Elizabeth Dutton joined AJ Jacobs on The Puzzler to test their puzzling skills!

Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask AI” and audio rebuses.

Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts! 

"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas. 

Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.

The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions. 

Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. What is
something that can be organized, petty or true? Something that
can be organized, petty or true? The answer and more
puzzling goodness after the break, Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to

(00:24):
the Puzzler podcast the swan shaped folded towel on your
fancy hotel puzzle bed. I'm your host, Ad Jacobson. Before
the break, we asked if you could name something that
can be organized, petty or true, and the answer is crime,
organized crime, petty crime, and true crime. I do love
that phrase organized crime because it makes me think of

(00:46):
a bank heist folder with spreadsheets and color coded tams.
I bring this up because our guests are the hosts
of the Ridiculous Crime podcast, produced by our friends at iHeart.
If you haven't heard it, Ridiculous Crime is a hilarious
podcast where the hosts share, as they put it outland

(01:08):
just tales of capers, heists and cons that shine a
light on the absurd and outrageous side of criminality. Always
ninety nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous.
Please welcome, Zaren Burnett and Elizabeth Dutton.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Thank you for having us.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
AJ thank you for having us. I'm very excited to
be here.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
We are thrilled to talk puzzles, to talk ridiculousness and crime.
I know it's hard to choose because they're all like
your children, but can you give us each one of
your favorite capers you've covered on the podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
Zaren, I would probably go with either the kidnapping of
Frank Sinatra Junior, Oh, which I just love because I
love Frank Sinatra Senior, and I think it's just an
amazing story. The characters are awesome. It takes place in
la and in Vegas and and and Reno. It's just
really really fun. And then I also love another one

(02:01):
we did about a guy who went to a family
function and unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, there was PCP in
one of the dishes that was served at the wedding,
and his wedding just turns into this outrageous PCP like
fun fest if you will, if you have like a
dark sens of humor like I do. But then this
poor guy the next day he has flashbacks and all
of a sudden, he's having a PCP like meltdown again,

(02:23):
and he's out there with his mother in law and
he starts believing he's a super spy.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
It's one of my favorites. So those are probably my two.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Those too, I'll do too. I'll give you two. I
enjoyed the story of a book thief who did not
resell his stolen tomes. He just was building a library,
but he was hunted by an antiquarian bookseller who referred
to himself as a biblio dick and was chasing this
guy down and doing all these investigations and that I

(02:52):
was particularly fond of that story. And then Tommy Fitz
was a guy, an airplane pilot who stole up a
plane twice and each time landed it on the street
in New York City as part of a barber. Yeah,
I'm a big fan of that one.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Those are great capers. Those are Syria, Frank Sinatra Junior.
You got laced punch at a wedding. And by the way,
just to clarify, biblio dick, I'm assuming dick as in
the detective.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Correct Yes, please think, okay, like acher.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
But he might have been both. He might have been both.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
I think he seemed like a pretty stand up gent.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Okay, very good, Thank you, Thank you for clarifying. I
will not say cast any more aspersions on the biblio Dick,
but it's a wonderful podcast and it's all about as
as you say, ridiculous crime, which there is tons of.
But in this world there are also ridiculous laws on

(03:58):
the books, old laws of laws, goofy laws. You might
have seen lists on the internet. Now, some of these
supposed laws are myths that I know. It's shocking that
not everything on the internet is true. But the Internet
says that in Arizona it is illegal for donkeys to
be in a bathtub. That is not true, like a

(04:22):
good law. Yeah, well, I mean for those who want
I'm all for I'm more libertarian in this sense that
if you want your donkey to live, to go in
a bathtub and flagstaff go crazy.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
What happens in your bathroom is your business.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
This is true. But I was just thinking about the bathtubs.
I'm a bathtub purist.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
There's a lot of damage.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
I'm like, yeah, you're going to damage that bathtub. I'm
thinking there must be a good some parents who came
up with this law for a childlike I was.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
I love that you see the world from the bathtub's
point of view, You're very compassionate.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
I try.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Another law that is not true is that the Internet
says that in Connecticut, a pickle must be able to bounce.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
That's not a law I've seen that actually referenced. And
I thought that did sound like a really good law,
because I'm also a big person for pickles.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah, well, I mean it might be a good law,
but it doesn't exist. You can serve non bouncing in Connecticut,
and I assume other states. Now that said, there are
many ridiculous laws that are in fact real, and I'm
going to give you a quiz about some of these
actual ridiculous laws. It's going to be a fill in

(05:36):
the blank type puzzle. So for instance, and I'm going
to give you multiple choice, So.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Oh, thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's yeah, you're welcome. So, for instance, according to a
thirteen thirteen law, it is illegal to wear blank to
the British houses of Parliament. So I'd give you three options.
CODP A wig in the color of red or yellow,
or a suit of armor. Which of those is it

(06:07):
illegal to wear to the British houses of Parliament? Cod
Peace wig in the color of red or yellow or
suit of armor?

Speaker 2 (06:14):
I'm gonna say it's not cod peace because bigger better exactly,
just like anyway, so I would says.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
The wig is very You know, how do you identify
in Greek tragedies what character you're But I mean, I
don't know. Was everyone bewigged in? Uh at that point?

Speaker 2 (06:40):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
But you know if you stroll in in the armor
that you know that's an aggressive that.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
Does seem kind of like, yeah, crossing the rubicon you're
not supposed to bring.

Speaker 3 (06:49):
And you're saying try me, all right, we're gonna go
with yeah, suit of armor.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Oh you got it, Yeah, you got a well done,
well done. Okay, this is the next ridiculous law. After
Los Angeles spent two hundred thousand dollars cleaning this up
in two thousand and four, it is now illegal to
have blank outside your house on Halloween. So this is

(07:15):
forbidden on Halloween. Is it silly string toilet paper or
non boiled eggs? You know they're boiled, They're okay.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Silly string toilet paper, non boiled eggs?

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Well, and it's okay. So toilet paper is biodegradable. It
makes a mess, but it goes away.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
It's made for the sewer systems. That's not a process.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Silly string is not easy to clean up in the eggs.
Why would you have unboiled whole eggs?

Speaker 2 (07:42):
Well, yeah, I think you're egging things like you're you know,
throwing raw eggs and they splatter. That was my thought,
just as a former, you know.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
As a former hooligans, make the call, which one do
you think it is.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
I'm gonna go silly string.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
It's even more fun, That's what I say.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, we're going silly string.

Speaker 1 (07:57):
Two for two are to fool. Very impressive. And by
the way, while we're on the uh, while we're on
the topic of costumes and Halloween, you did an episode
about the life and crimes of costumed characters. So that

(08:18):
was are those like the in in Times Square at all?

Speaker 2 (08:23):
Exactly?

Speaker 4 (08:24):
When they were fighting police and fighting each other and
then like going to defend each other and then having
their charges brought up and getting locked up and in
their underwear.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
They're like, well, I'm not supposed to be here in
my underwear.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
I'm elmo.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Yeah exactly.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
So that was their defense that I'm almost no go
to jail. Oh come on, well, I don't know about
in Hollywood and Times Square. They've just kind of given
up having the mask on. They just pop it up

(08:56):
over their heads and they're walking around with their face
and then maybe put it on if you want to
take a picture.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Really, I'm sorry, like you get it close enough, close
enough for government work.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
As we say, I love it all right, Let's do
another California one. In California, if you put on a blank,
you cannot eat the animals involved in that blank? And
am I talking about a rat race, a literal rat race,

(09:36):
a frog jumping contest, or a falconry exhibition? Which of
those is? Can you not eat the animals involved?

Speaker 3 (09:46):
The rat race thing is stomach turning, But I really
think this is a Calivers County frog situation. Take it
seriously they do. Is there beautiful frog and you see.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
A frog leg served anywhere near?

Speaker 3 (10:00):
Not a one? Not a one in the Gold Country.
We're gonna say, frog legs, frog jumping.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Three four three.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Yes, we're seeing the thought process that goes on in
our trivia. We're on a trivia team. Steve Harvey Oswald
is the name of the team, and this is what
happens behind the scenes. You got to talk it out, well.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
Plus you're experts. You're expert on crime.

Speaker 5 (10:23):
We are.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
And by the way, you did mention also the frog.
You did mention that frog jumping story in one of
your episodes. Yes, it was about how Mark Twain was
kind of a badass. Was that the idea?

Speaker 4 (10:40):
Yes, it is exactly. We did a story on Mark Twain.
The basically a portrait of the artist is a young
badass because Mark Twain was a bit of a roused
about knock about, like pretty much skirting the laws of legality,
going and defending friends and going on the lamb in
Gold Country to hide out from the sheriff of or
basically the vigilante squad in San Francisco. So he's not

(11:03):
the like, you know, white suited like irascible guy we
always think of when he was a young man.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
I mean he would he would throw hands exactly.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Interesting, all right, got a couple of more. I've got
a let's move to France. Oh it is ill, thank you.
It is illegal to do blank to the Eiffel Tower
at night, so I will fill in the blanks.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Legal to make love. Let's see.

Speaker 3 (11:35):
Well then we went are our choices?

Speaker 1 (11:37):
Yeah, I'll give you your choices, and yeah, making love
is okay because it's France. Yeah, I know, come on, Uh,
it's illegal to take photographs of the Eiffel Tower night,
to touch the Eiffel Tower, so I guess that does
fall into the make love or to stand directly under
the Eiffel Tower at night.

Speaker 3 (11:57):
Hmmm, well I think you I know you can take
a picture because I've done so, I mean, and maybe
I got away with it, you know me. I think
you can get close enough to touch it.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
So yeah, it's got a pretty well beneath. But why
following objects?

Speaker 3 (12:16):
I don't know should what do you say?

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Do you want to go the last one?

Speaker 3 (12:20):
Okay? Standing directly beneath?

Speaker 1 (12:23):
I got ya, gotcha. Not only that, we now didn't
know that Elizabeth is a stuff law. We took photographs
of the Eiffel Tower without explicit permission. Those photos of
the Eiffel Tower at night time. The light shows are
subject to copyright laws. And this was in Snopes. This

(12:45):
was interesting, so it is legit.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Well, better better to ask forgiveness than permission. So I'm
so sorry Paris.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
I thought they're frenchip you know esthetic We're like, you know,
it's not a good photo at night.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
We want you to take it only when it in
the daytime.

Speaker 3 (13:06):
The light show people take pictures of full moons, and
it's just it's not on your phone. That's not gonna work.
So yeah, oh well, I think it.

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Would be nice if you needed permission to shoot the moon.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
Yes, I think so, I think so. All right?

Speaker 1 (13:20):
What about Oh and by the way, you also had
an episode on a man who sold the Eiffel Tower.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yes, for parts.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
I love the I love the guy who sold the
Brooklyn Bridge like fourteen times. I love when they saw
landmarks me too. All right, we got only a couple more.
How about in Delaware it is against the law for
a pawnbroker to accept blank as payment. Would it be animals,

(13:50):
artificial limbs or lingerie? Animals, artificial limbs or lingerie.

Speaker 4 (13:55):
I'm gonna go artificial limbs just because it seems fun,
and it's also like, you know, it's really unfair to
the person who's going to be hawking it.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Yeah, well yeah, hmm, I'm kind of lean towards animals
animals as currency.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, it is Delaware, you know, is.

Speaker 3 (14:11):
It a negotiable instrument underpants?

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (14:14):
I know. You want to say artificial artificial. But did
you know that artificial leg or arm is always what
I pick when I have to play twenty questions. That's
what I want people to guess, because they never do.
But aside from that, okay, we'll go with that.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Okay, yeah, yeah, all right, go artificial limb.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
First thought is sometimes the best thought.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
You got it, nice, nice.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
And I love So that is your strategy in twenty questions.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
Oh yeah, it's either it's either artificial limb or art garfuncle.
No one ever gets them in twenty now. Now I
can't play with anyone listening to this.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
Just giving away.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
I certainly wow.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
All right, how about one last one?

Speaker 2 (15:03):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (15:04):
In Little Rock, Arkansas, you cannot do this after nine
pm at a place where cold drinks or sandwiches are served.
So you can do it after nine pm and in
other places, but just not near cold drinks or sandwiches.
And what I'm talking about is play backgammon, or eat pancakes,
or honk your horn one of those three.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
Oh my goodness, something it's the horn honk or the backgammon.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
A horn honk.

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Because of the car hops, like they're like, okay, at night,
you can't be like, oh, where's my food?

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Are they counting at a burger as a sandwich? Cold
drinks and cold drinks? Yeah, I think you're right. I
think you would be like you startle them on their
roller skates and then you know, you.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
Got the whole lobby of the car hop lobby got
at you.

Speaker 3 (15:53):
All right, let's go with that. Which one honking a horn?

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Oh man, you got it one? I know, the Eiffel Tower,
although that was a big one because now we know about.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
Yeah Lessonabeth, I right right here on record.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:15):
Uh, well, you guys were fantastic and I loved hearing
about the I mean ridiculous crime. You can pretty much
link it to anything.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Out of material exactly right.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
It's fantastic. Uh, thank you, Aaron and Elizabeth, Thank you listeners.
We get you back tomorrow's Aaron and Elizabeth. Yeah, and uh,
I've got an extra credit for the folks at home.
So here are three ridiculous laws. Please tell me which
one is the real ridiculous law and which are the

(16:48):
two fake ones. Courthouses in New Jersey are required by
law to have a an image of local hero Thomas Edison
b two pillars on the same longitude as each other,
or see the word new at least one foot from

(17:09):
the word jersey on the courthouse pediment. So which of
those is real and which to are fake? The answer
next episode. But before we go, I do have some
late breaking, ridiculous law news, and that is I am
going to give Zaron and Elizabeth a half point for

(17:31):
the Eiffel Tower question. That is because the wording on
that question I didn't think it was totally accurate. We
had said that it was illegal to take photos of
the Eiffel Tower at night, but it's more accurate to
say it's illegal to post or email photos of the
Eiffel Tower taken at night. That is the copyright violation,

(17:55):
not the actual taking of the photos. So congrats to
Elizabeth and Zaren on your halfpoint. And also a note
to those who have posted nighttime Eiffel Tower photos on
social media, I wouldn't lose too much sleep. I could
not find a single instance of France actually taking action
against someone who posted such photos. So please rest easy,

(18:17):
have a bonnie, and we will see you here tomorrow.
From were puzzling Puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.

Speaker 5 (18:29):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer, up
from the puzzle lab with the extra credit answer from
our previous episode. Jorge Cham joined us once again for
a fun game of weather or not. That's whether w EA,
t H E R. Because every answer has a weather
word in it but is not an actual weather event.

(18:51):
We describe these using kind of weather forecast y language,
and here was your extra credit clue. Prepare for high
confusion front to descend on the battlefield with conflicting reports
and clouded judgment. Battlefield is the keyword there because that
answer is fog of war. Well, we hope you're home,

(19:12):
safe away from the fog of war, the rain, the
thunder and all the other inclement weather and just enjoying
the puzzler
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Hosts And Creators

Zaron Burnett

Zaron Burnett

Elizabeth Dutton

Elizabeth Dutton

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