August 6, 2025 • 19 mins
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Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: playwright and actor Jonathan Marc Sherman!
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.
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you. Hello puzzlers. My gut says that we should
start with a quick puzzle, So here it is. Can
you fill in the blanks in this sentence and let
(00:43):
me know what the blanks have in common? Are you ready?
Here's the sentence totally makes sense, like all of our sentences.
The woman's garden blank was stolen, which made her so
angry she blanked her teeth and tossed aside her dish
of blank, her pasta dish. We will tell you the
(01:06):
answer after the break. Hello buzzlers, welcome back to the
Buzzler Podcast. That's Harder control in your puzzle toothpaste. I'm
your host, Ady Jacobs, and I'm here with Chief Puzzle
Officer Greg Pliska and Greg, it sounds like I gave
(01:29):
a stumper this tough one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm actually gonna I'm actually gonna call an audible. I'm
gonna invite our guests Jonathan Mark Sherman to weigh in
to see if he has any ideas. Maybe he and
I can work on this together. But I think you
might have a sense of what this is.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I feel that this is that we're talking about a
woman who some rascals stole her garden.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Gnome okay, yeah, good like.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
That Nash gn her teeth and toss aside her dish of.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So see, this is where Jonathan's smarter than I am.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
No, no, no, no, no, no, We're all smart in our own way. Greg.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I was trying to anagram the words into each other,
so I was like, no, that anagrammochi. That doesn't anagram
into anything in Nash. So I actually had all those
words on my page, well, along with a lot of
other words. I had orzo and rake and.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Grit and gait and.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
All the possible garden implements. But well done, Jonathan.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Nice Jonathan, Yes, you're too smart for your own good. Greg.
I was just going with the g N because I
love I love weird silent letters and uh, and I
love the fact that it used to be called good Nome.
I feel that maybe we should bring it back for
to reduce confusion.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Would I would my teeth if we were.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well. That puzzle has very little to do with our
with our guests. But the good part is he got it.
He was very helpful. And our guest, as you might
remember from last two days, is the wonderful Jonathan Mark Sherman.
He's an actor. He was in Quiz Show, which we
might want to mention, and he as a playwright, really
(03:17):
prolific playwright, has written so many wonderful plays and we
are thrilled to have him back. Welcome Jonathan Mark Sherman,
Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be back.
And yes, I was indeed in Quiz Show.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Had one line and it got cut, but I'm happy
you wish.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
What was the line? Do you remember?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I remember it very very well because I got to
say it to the late great Paul Schofield and who
was playing Mark Van Doren in my role as student
number two, and Ethan Hawk was student number one.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Interesting his Columbia students in a scene we knew.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Was going to get cut because it was necessary, but
we were so we would have paid to play these students,
and yes in the movie, so I still get residual checks.
But my uh, my line was he's teaching Don Quixote
in the classroom. And my single line in Chrisha was
do you think the lance is a phallic compensation?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That is an awesome line if you're gonna have one line.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
And the brilliant Sir Paul Scofield looked at me, you know,
sort of over his glasses, and his response after a pauses, no.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Very nice.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
How does he know he's not in.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
He's just trying to keep us, you know, his his
period correct Columbia students brown nosing Columbia students on truck.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I got you. Well, that is a It's a great movie,
by the way, and it's I don't know how true
it is, but there's a very interesting subplot about sort
of the be versus the ethnic and the quiz show
rigged it because they didn't want the John Chaturo character
to be winning. A fascinating story. Anyway, By the way,
(05:12):
we have not rigged this puzzle. I want to make clear. Yes,
Greg has not even talked to Jonathan Mark Sherman before today,
so there's no way it could have happened. But welcome, Greg.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, thank you, thank you. I've been here all along.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Welcome back, welcome, stay, welcome.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well. The great thing, Jonathan AJ mentioned your plays, and
you know, one of the things we notice in the
puzzle lab or patterns, and we noticed that no fewer
than four of your plays have titles of the form
blank and blank, right, that is, it's Serendipity and Serenity,
women in Wallace, Sons and Fathers, and Veins and Thumbtacks,
(05:53):
the last title of which is perhaps the most intriguing.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
True.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, no, And in fact, your previous guest, and Michael Showalter,
for my fiftieth birthday, gave a wonderful toast where he
made up several title the plays of my with with
with the blank and blank form, which I would have
(06:21):
to dig out to remember the best of it, but
they were pretty great.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
That's well. Michael might have also noticed that you're you
wrote the musical with Duncan. She called Bob and Carol
and Ted and Alice, which is sort of piling on
the ANNs.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
That's like three ann's right.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, that's craziness, right, it's not even sms.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Right. But that's not all because you had a great
show off Broadway last year that we've talked about with
Jason Robert Brown. It's called The Connector. And let's face it,
that's a definition for the word.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And nicely done, Greg, what you are you are, correct sir.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's a little theme in your life. So what we
thought we'd do is a little puzzle about titles of
the same form as those plays of yours blank and
blank love it. So these will be films or books
or you know, TV shows, whatever. But the titles are
all blank and blank, and I'm going to give you
a clue using different words that have the same first
(07:24):
letters as those in the title.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh clever, and these are real books.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
These are all really Yes, I'm not doing the Michael
Showalter make up new titles. The answers are all real
blank and blank titles. But the clues would be things
like like Banks and Chases, which would be Bonnie and
Clyde ah or or Tom and Hound, which of course
(07:52):
is the movie Turner and Hooch with Tom Hanks and
a dog.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Okay, I didn't I one wasn't that of a.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, and that's why it's the example. So I just
ran it past you. You could pretend like you knew it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Oh yeah, I knew that, okay. But by the way, Jonathan,
I have not looked at Greg's puzzle. So if you
need a phone a friend, but maybe you don't, probably don't.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Completely prepared to fail and miserably at it.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Oh goodness of Thord.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And well, the first one is a TV show and
the clue is Ladies and Schlemials.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Oh it just took me a second, but I got it. Oh,
and now I'm realizing, yes, use those two letters.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
It's L and S is the title and S.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Blank as a I think it really helps on this
one that I am the age I am.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yes, I would admit that, and that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You know, I'm thinking back to sweater with a letter
on it, and you know, programming after Happy Days, turning
a show into a hit that might not otherwise have been.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Because I'm thinking about Laverne and surely.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Exactly exactly in their opening song.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Right beverage in corporate like.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
You were paid for these?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
These are actually you were paid for these because there's
a brilliant lyrics because we remember them all these years later.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
It's so true. They are very weird collection of words.
But wait, smil is sort of Yiddish for like a putts, right,
but I've never heard I like you wa you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Shemil is Yiddish for a different Yiddish world.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You gotta know Yiddish to understand Yiddish. It's Catch twenty two.
But yeah, I've never heard slamazl except in that song
Catch eighteen.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
As the book came dangerously close to being.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Titled, Ah good, all right, this is a novel. It's
called Wealth and Petersburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I think let's go to the Count himself. Another one
from Sasamechu. Let's go to Count Leo Tolstoy and war
and Peace.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Exactly very good, said among the you know, the wealthy
folks of Saint Petersburg. All right, how about this title
Romance and Juveniles.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I was, you know, helped by just speaking the other
day about the certain balcony that exists. So let's I
feel pretty confident we're looking for Romeo and juliet.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, very good, very good to play Romeo and Juliette.
All right, here's a this is a film. Uh lay
Wearers l e I Wearers and Space aliens.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
They wear.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
L and s.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
A film Laywearers, actually.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Two films, one one from two thousand and two and
one much more recently, one from this year, one from
this year.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Was it Disney or pixarsy a Disney film?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Yeah, brain Freez.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So lay Wearers someone from.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii, and why space.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Creature that becomes her friend A.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Little girls just take my mouth and Lilo and Stitch
it up.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Shame we talked about this, Jonathan, No, shame.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I have never seen somehow I like that I do teenagers,
you know that's well.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I would put them right like in the sweet spot
of missing that movie because the first was two thousand
and two, probably you know, before they were born or
and then now they're too old for the movie, so
you yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
But but but nonetheless, oh gosh, Lilo and Stitch k
reason to watch them both back to back.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
My teenage children say, why are we doing this?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, children, we're catching up, all right. Here's an older movie,
an older film, Thunderbird and Liberation.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That I'm not gonning.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And Thunderbird not in the sense of the drink or
the there's a liquor that's Thunderbird it's the sense of
the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I still don't know it. Oh wait, I have the
room now.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's t G and hell gotta go with t L.
You're still not helping Thunderbird in it. And it's about
liberation and they drive off a cliff at the end
of it.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Oh that good.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
So I mean.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
That well one of my favorite freeze frame endings. Because
you're like, anything could happen. We don't.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
You're like, no, no, no, we know. Uh, let's go.
Let's go with Thelma and Louise.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Brilliantly done. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Let's go back to Brad Pitt as we always.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Do, as you do, right? Was that not his? That
was that was his debut.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
They certainly made the splash.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yeah, I know, yes, I know that. That an enormous
amount of people in my life. Uh we're talking, you know,
could say where they were, what movie theater they saw.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
It, Yes, exactly what they were wearing at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
It was weird.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I was like, well, I'm you know, I'm in a
different lane then we're working, we're working different looks.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
But no, yeah, it's amazing, very good.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
All right, I mean to do two more, two more?
This one is a comic strip Nivore and human.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I feel silly even pausing for Calvin.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yes, Calvin and the Boy.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Terrific.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Uh. And your last one, Your last one is two
words on one half of this and and one on
the other. It's gastronomic experimentation and hostility.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So wait, it's a GE and H G.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
E and H gastronomic experimentation and hostility. And it's a book.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
All right, I'm I'm not getting it yet, but let's
g blank blank and H.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, had some serious gastronomic experimentation and one of the
characters is very hostile to that gastronomic experimentation. And it's
not an adult book.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Okay, that's good.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
It's a children's book.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Okay, Oh okay, it's a really children's book. It's not
like a young adult book.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
No, no, and age. The book itself was a result
of a bet that this author couldn't write an engaging
children's book with a vocabulary of fifty words.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Oh so we're going to the good doctor. We're going
to the great doctor. Because if we're going to call
check out the good doctor, let's call doctor. Let's go
with the outstanding work of literature.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
That's changed all of our lives. Green eggs and hand,
green eggs and eggs and ham. I am you know
that that's longer.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Well, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It's a very tricky clue. The clue is very sophisticated.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
There was an excellent accent.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But those are not words that would be found in
green eggs and hen astronomic experiment, I will say. A
former Puzzler guest, Jordan Carlos, has a great bit in
a stand up comedy about how crazy this is, like
the most anti consent. It's like, no means no, it
(16:20):
should be over after the first page, like now I
don't want a green eggs and ham. The end, it's like,
what are you doing? Mister whoever? It was Sam Sam?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I am yeah, a book about spam. Really, it's a
book about Sam email spam.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I am shocking. I don't know. It's like, well, Jonathan,
we loved having you, and we look forward to seeing
more of your plays and thank you again. We'll come
back anytime. Greg, do you have an extra credit for
the folks at home?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I do? I do. This one is another play and
I'm going to give two clues. Actually they're both at
the same initials of course, the first one is Asps
and crowns and the second one is Alexandria and Caesar.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Oh, okay, Asps and cran so a and c and A.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
And Alexandria and Caesar both could be clues for this
play love it.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Oh they could both be closed with the same play.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, same answer.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Now, Jonathan, before we let you go, is your next
play going to be in this blank and blank form?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I think my next play may just simply be called
blank and blank.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That great idea, which could be great.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I'm certain the more I'm hearing it and more. But
I will of course credit the puzzler, and you guys
will get stock options.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
And wonderful perfect well stock options as wasn't an answer
to a previous puzzle. Well, thank you again, Jonathan, and
thank you listeners. If you have a moment, check out
our instagram at Hello Puzzlers. We post original puzzles and
other fun stuff, and of course we'll meet here tomorrow
for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
Hey puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. Jonathan
Mark Sherman once again joined us and we did a
keyboard puzzle where every answer is a word or phrase
using one of the named keys on a computer keyboard.
Your extra credit clue was this the Dante phrase abandon blank,
(18:38):
and we're looking for six words. This is from the
Inferno and the phrase is abandon all. Hope ye who
enter here? As Ady said that enter is a key
on a PC keyboard, although on my extended macdesk Dot
top keyboard I have enter way over on the far
right with the number pad, so we're pretty ecumenic all
(19:00):
about our keyboards here at the Puzzler. Thanks for playing
and join us here next time for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you. Hello puzzlers. My gut says that we should
start with a quick puzzle, So here it is. Can
you fill in the blanks in this sentence and let
(00:43):
me know what the blanks have in common? Are you ready?
Here's the sentence totally makes sense, like all of our sentences.
The woman's garden blank was stolen, which made her so
angry she blanked her teeth and tossed aside her dish
of blank, her pasta dish. We will tell you the
(01:06):
answer after the break. Hello buzzlers, welcome back to the
Buzzler Podcast. That's Harder control in your puzzle toothpaste. I'm
your host, Ady Jacobs, and I'm here with Chief Puzzle
Officer Greg Pliska and Greg, it sounds like I gave
(01:29):
a stumper this tough one.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I'm actually gonna I'm actually gonna call an audible. I'm
gonna invite our guests Jonathan Mark Sherman to weigh in
to see if he has any ideas. Maybe he and
I can work on this together. But I think you
might have a sense of what this is.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I feel that this is that we're talking about a
woman who some rascals stole her garden.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Gnome okay, yeah, good like.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
That Nash gn her teeth and toss aside her dish of.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
So see, this is where Jonathan's smarter than I am.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
No, no, no, no, no, no, We're all smart in our own way. Greg.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I was trying to anagram the words into each other,
so I was like, no, that anagrammochi. That doesn't anagram
into anything in Nash. So I actually had all those
words on my page, well, along with a lot of
other words. I had orzo and rake and.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Grit and gait and.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
All the possible garden implements. But well done, Jonathan.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Nice Jonathan, Yes, you're too smart for your own good. Greg.
I was just going with the g N because I
love I love weird silent letters and uh, and I
love the fact that it used to be called good Nome.
I feel that maybe we should bring it back for
to reduce confusion.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Would I would my teeth if we were.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well. That puzzle has very little to do with our
with our guests. But the good part is he got it.
He was very helpful. And our guest, as you might
remember from last two days, is the wonderful Jonathan Mark Sherman.
He's an actor. He was in Quiz Show, which we
might want to mention, and he as a playwright, really
(03:17):
prolific playwright, has written so many wonderful plays and we
are thrilled to have him back. Welcome Jonathan Mark Sherman,
Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be back.
And yes, I was indeed in Quiz Show.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Had one line and it got cut, but I'm happy
you wish.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
What was the line? Do you remember?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (03:36):
I remember it very very well because I got to
say it to the late great Paul Schofield and who
was playing Mark Van Doren in my role as student
number two, and Ethan Hawk was student number one.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Interesting his Columbia students in a scene we knew.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Was going to get cut because it was necessary, but
we were so we would have paid to play these students,
and yes in the movie, so I still get residual checks.
But my uh, my line was he's teaching Don Quixote
in the classroom. And my single line in Chrisha was
do you think the lance is a phallic compensation?
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That is an awesome line if you're gonna have one line.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
And the brilliant Sir Paul Scofield looked at me, you know,
sort of over his glasses, and his response after a pauses, no.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Very nice.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
How does he know he's not in.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
He's just trying to keep us, you know, his his
period correct Columbia students brown nosing Columbia students on truck.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
I got you. Well, that is a It's a great movie,
by the way, and it's I don't know how true
it is, but there's a very interesting subplot about sort
of the be versus the ethnic and the quiz show
rigged it because they didn't want the John Chaturo character
to be winning. A fascinating story. Anyway, By the way,
(05:12):
we have not rigged this puzzle. I want to make clear. Yes,
Greg has not even talked to Jonathan Mark Sherman before today,
so there's no way it could have happened. But welcome, Greg.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, thank you, thank you. I've been here all along.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Welcome back, welcome, stay, welcome.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Well. The great thing, Jonathan AJ mentioned your plays, and
you know, one of the things we notice in the
puzzle lab or patterns, and we noticed that no fewer
than four of your plays have titles of the form
blank and blank, right, that is, it's Serendipity and Serenity,
women in Wallace, Sons and Fathers, and Veins and Thumbtacks,
(05:53):
the last title of which is perhaps the most intriguing.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
True.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, no, And in fact, your previous guest, and Michael Showalter,
for my fiftieth birthday, gave a wonderful toast where he
made up several title the plays of my with with
with the blank and blank form, which I would have
(06:21):
to dig out to remember the best of it, but
they were pretty great.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
That's well. Michael might have also noticed that you're you
wrote the musical with Duncan. She called Bob and Carol
and Ted and Alice, which is sort of piling on
the ANNs.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
That's like three ann's right.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yeah, that's craziness, right, it's not even sms.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Right. But that's not all because you had a great
show off Broadway last year that we've talked about with
Jason Robert Brown. It's called The Connector. And let's face it,
that's a definition for the word.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And nicely done, Greg, what you are you are, correct sir.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's a little theme in your life. So what we
thought we'd do is a little puzzle about titles of
the same form as those plays of yours blank and
blank love it. So these will be films or books
or you know, TV shows, whatever. But the titles are
all blank and blank, and I'm going to give you
a clue using different words that have the same first
(07:24):
letters as those in the title.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Oh clever, and these are real books.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
These are all really Yes, I'm not doing the Michael
Showalter make up new titles. The answers are all real
blank and blank titles. But the clues would be things
like like Banks and Chases, which would be Bonnie and
Clyde ah or or Tom and Hound, which of course
(07:52):
is the movie Turner and Hooch with Tom Hanks and
a dog.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Okay, I didn't I one wasn't that of a.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, and that's why it's the example. So I just
ran it past you. You could pretend like you knew it.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Oh yeah, I knew that, okay. But by the way, Jonathan,
I have not looked at Greg's puzzle. So if you
need a phone a friend, but maybe you don't, probably don't.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Completely prepared to fail and miserably at it.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Oh goodness of Thord.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And well, the first one is a TV show and
the clue is Ladies and Schlemials.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Oh it just took me a second, but I got it. Oh,
and now I'm realizing, yes, use those two letters.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
It's L and S is the title and S.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Blank as a I think it really helps on this
one that I am the age I am.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yes, I would admit that, and that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
You know, I'm thinking back to sweater with a letter
on it, and you know, programming after Happy Days, turning
a show into a hit that might not otherwise have been.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Because I'm thinking about Laverne and surely.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Exactly exactly in their opening song.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Right beverage in corporate like.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
You were paid for these?
Speaker 3 (09:19):
These are actually you were paid for these because there's
a brilliant lyrics because we remember them all these years later.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
It's so true. They are very weird collection of words.
But wait, smil is sort of Yiddish for like a putts, right,
but I've never heard I like you wa you.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Shemil is Yiddish for a different Yiddish world.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
You gotta know Yiddish to understand Yiddish. It's Catch twenty two.
But yeah, I've never heard slamazl except in that song
Catch eighteen.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
As the book came dangerously close to being.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Titled, Ah good, all right, this is a novel. It's
called Wealth and Petersburgh.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
I think let's go to the Count himself. Another one
from Sasamechu. Let's go to Count Leo Tolstoy and war
and Peace.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Exactly very good, said among the you know, the wealthy
folks of Saint Petersburg. All right, how about this title
Romance and Juveniles.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I was, you know, helped by just speaking the other
day about the certain balcony that exists. So let's I
feel pretty confident we're looking for Romeo and juliet.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yes, very good, very good to play Romeo and Juliette.
All right, here's a this is a film. Uh lay
Wearers l e I Wearers and Space aliens.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
They wear.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
L and s.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
A film Laywearers, actually.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Two films, one one from two thousand and two and
one much more recently, one from this year, one from
this year.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Was it Disney or pixarsy a Disney film?
Speaker 4 (11:23):
Yeah, brain Freez.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
So lay Wearers someone from.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii, and why space.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Creature that becomes her friend A.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
Little girls just take my mouth and Lilo and Stitch
it up.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Shame we talked about this, Jonathan, No, shame.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
I have never seen somehow I like that I do teenagers,
you know that's well.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
I would put them right like in the sweet spot
of missing that movie because the first was two thousand
and two, probably you know, before they were born or
and then now they're too old for the movie, so
you yeah.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
But but but nonetheless, oh gosh, Lilo and Stitch k
reason to watch them both back to back.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
My teenage children say, why are we doing this?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Well, children, we're catching up, all right. Here's an older movie,
an older film, Thunderbird and Liberation.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That I'm not gonning.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And Thunderbird not in the sense of the drink or
the there's a liquor that's Thunderbird it's the sense of
the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I still don't know it. Oh wait, I have the
room now.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
It's t G and hell gotta go with t L.
You're still not helping Thunderbird in it. And it's about
liberation and they drive off a cliff at the end
of it.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Oh that good.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
So I mean.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
That well one of my favorite freeze frame endings. Because
you're like, anything could happen. We don't.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
You're like, no, no, no, we know. Uh, let's go.
Let's go with Thelma and Louise.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Brilliantly done. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Let's go back to Brad Pitt as we always.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Do, as you do, right? Was that not his? That
was that was his debut.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
They certainly made the splash.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Yeah, I know, yes, I know that. That an enormous
amount of people in my life. Uh we're talking, you know,
could say where they were, what movie theater they saw.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
It, Yes, exactly what they were wearing at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
It was weird.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I was like, well, I'm you know, I'm in a
different lane then we're working, we're working different looks.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
But no, yeah, it's amazing, very good.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
All right, I mean to do two more, two more?
This one is a comic strip Nivore and human.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I feel silly even pausing for Calvin.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yes, Calvin and the Boy.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Terrific.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Uh. And your last one, Your last one is two
words on one half of this and and one on
the other. It's gastronomic experimentation and hostility.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
So wait, it's a GE and H G.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
E and H gastronomic experimentation and hostility. And it's a book.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
All right, I'm I'm not getting it yet, but let's
g blank blank and H.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Yeah, had some serious gastronomic experimentation and one of the
characters is very hostile to that gastronomic experimentation. And it's
not an adult book.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Okay, that's good.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
It's a children's book.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Okay, Oh okay, it's a really children's book. It's not
like a young adult book.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
No, no, and age. The book itself was a result
of a bet that this author couldn't write an engaging
children's book with a vocabulary of fifty words.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Oh so we're going to the good doctor. We're going
to the great doctor. Because if we're going to call
check out the good doctor, let's call doctor. Let's go
with the outstanding work of literature.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
That's changed all of our lives. Green eggs and hand,
green eggs and eggs and ham. I am you know
that that's longer.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Well, it's fun.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
It's a very tricky clue. The clue is very sophisticated.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
There was an excellent accent.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
But those are not words that would be found in
green eggs and hen astronomic experiment, I will say. A
former Puzzler guest, Jordan Carlos, has a great bit in
a stand up comedy about how crazy this is, like
the most anti consent. It's like, no means no, it
(16:20):
should be over after the first page, like now I
don't want a green eggs and ham. The end, it's like,
what are you doing? Mister whoever? It was Sam Sam?
Speaker 2 (16:32):
I am yeah, a book about spam. Really, it's a
book about Sam email spam.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I am shocking. I don't know. It's like, well, Jonathan,
we loved having you, and we look forward to seeing
more of your plays and thank you again. We'll come
back anytime. Greg, do you have an extra credit for
the folks at home?
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I do? I do. This one is another play and
I'm going to give two clues. Actually they're both at
the same initials of course, the first one is Asps
and crowns and the second one is Alexandria and Caesar.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Oh, okay, Asps and cran so a and c and A.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
And Alexandria and Caesar both could be clues for this
play love it.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Oh they could both be closed with the same play.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, same answer.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Now, Jonathan, before we let you go, is your next
play going to be in this blank and blank form?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
I think my next play may just simply be called
blank and blank.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That great idea, which could be great.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I'm certain the more I'm hearing it and more. But
I will of course credit the puzzler, and you guys
will get stock options.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
And wonderful perfect well stock options as wasn't an answer
to a previous puzzle. Well, thank you again, Jonathan, and
thank you listeners. If you have a moment, check out
our instagram at Hello Puzzlers. We post original puzzles and
other fun stuff, and of course we'll meet here tomorrow
for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
Hey puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. Jonathan
Mark Sherman once again joined us and we did a
keyboard puzzle where every answer is a word or phrase
using one of the named keys on a computer keyboard.
Your extra credit clue was this the Dante phrase abandon blank,
(18:38):
and we're looking for six words. This is from the
Inferno and the phrase is abandon all. Hope ye who
enter here? As Ady said that enter is a key
on a PC keyboard, although on my extended macdesk Dot
top keyboard I have enter way over on the far
right with the number pad, so we're pretty ecumenic all
(19:00):
about our keyboards here at the Puzzler. Thanks for playing
and join us here next time for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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