June 5, 2025 • 19 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: our very own Chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska.
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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Transcript
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
the link between a minor league baseball team, a low
risk bond and a roadside assistance company? Again, that is
the link between a minor league baseball team, a low
risk bond, and a roadside assistant company. The answer and
more puzzling goodness after the break, Hello puddlers, Welcome back
(00:32):
to the Puzzler Podcast. The Salisbury Steak in your middle
school puzzling bafeteria. Oh no, you don't like Salisbury steak?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I mean well, I would say the general exception about
all middle school cafeteria food is that it's not good.
So you've tried to find the best of the not
good food.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I guess.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Isn't Salisbury's steak like some random cut of the meat
that's not you know, it's a cheap cut that you
pound into submission and.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
It's got great Well, it's got gravy.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Gravy on your Salisbury steak? Got there?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
You gon nice? Save I'm your host, AJ Jacobs. I'm
here with Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisk. Got Greg? Before
the break, we asked folks at home for the link
between a minor league baseball team a low risk bond
and a roadside assistance company. Anything come to mind.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I own two of the three. We have a low
risk bond, and I certainly have a Triple A membership. Gotcha,
but you tell you do not own a Triple A
baseball team.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
There you go, all right, well, there's still time. Do
you own any Triple A batteries? That's another one.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, so I have piles and.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Very good. Well. I brought this up because we have
today what I hope listeners will rate as a Triple
A puzzle, high quality, low risk. I came up with
this puzzle while doing my hobby, which, as you know,
is reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary. And one of the
things I love about reading the dictionary is seeing the
(02:01):
weird juxtapositions. So what words are right next to each
other on the page, including the word juxtaposition itself, which
is right next to juvenile delinquency?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Oh okay, who knew?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Albanian next to albatross, inline skate next to inmate. These
are what I call dictionary neighbors. And then I thought,
what if people's names were in the dictionary, what words
would be next to them? Who would be their alphabetical neighbors.
For instance, Gregarious.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That that would be.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Mine right below you, Greg, and I believe you are
relatively gregarious.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well you know it turns out Yeah, I think I
think that's accurate.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, and what about Pliska is right next to plis
to scene? Would you consider yourself place to see?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think I post to take them up to anthrops.
I think I've made it that far.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, we're old, but not that old. Then there's a
and iron scholar, which are Andrea Schoenberg's neighbors? Would that
be accurate? Andrea? Do you know a lot about metal
supports and fireplaces?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Ye? So I do?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
All right, Well, they're not always one hundred percent accurate.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's never too late to learn.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Of that's true. You can be a reason, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Exactly, Like what about you Aj Jacobs?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well I'll get to that in one moment. Okay, but
the the puzzle is going to be based on that.
It's going to be the name of a notable person,
and the clue is going to be the words that
would appear alphabetically right before these people's first and last
ar okay before so yes, right above. So if the
clue is there's a singer named Justify Behoove, that would be.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Justin Bieber.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah. The puzzle, by the way I came up with
the title, is called Bordello woozy because those are the
alphabetical neighbors of the words bordering words of praise. Now,
one quick thing. If the name itself is a word
like Bill and Bill Gates, I'm gonna go with the
word right before it bilk, so it'd be built, not.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Bill, which is not something one would associate with Bill Gates.
I don't think of him as bilking people.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
True, he's now a grate philanthropist, so that giving it
all away. I'm also going to skip over words that
have the same exact root. So you brought up what
is my name? My name would technically be Jacob's latter,
but not Jacob's Ladder because Jacob's ladder is in the dictionary.
But it's the same route. So I would be Jack
Tar Jacktar, which is a word for sailor, So yes,
(04:41):
are you ready? And Iron and greg Arius Yes Jacktar.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Let's go first.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I have an athlete. Her name is Serbo Croatian Wilful
and her sister Venue Wilful, both great athletes.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Serbo Croatian wilful. She's Croatian at all.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
No, although Djokovic is so yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
There are some great Serbo creation athletes, but she's not
one of them.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Andrea, you know who this is, of course.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Of course, Serena Williams.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
There you go, and her sister Venus. How about let's
go back to history. This is a historical figure named
Napkin Bonanza and he famously he famously lost at the
batting Cage of watchword.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, I be he did.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Everyone loses it the batting cage of Watch. It's dangerous,
very not very very, that is, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Right, and he lost at the Battle of Waterloo exactly.
How about this is a scientist. Her name is Mariachi Curfew,
and she discovered radishes, which is important deserving of a
nobel crime.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You know, I just want to say every town should
have a Mariachi Curfew, right. There is a time after
which the Mariachis.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Have to stop playing.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's reasonable.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Andrea, you know who this is.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Marie Currie.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Marie Currie, yes, exactly, who discovered radium.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
How about a singer named Taxpayer Swerve, and she recently
had the Equivocate Tour, Taxpayer Swerve, Yes, Taxpayer Swerve, and
recently just off the Equivocate Tour. Her real last novel
is in the dictionary.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I should think of the most obvious female singers.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Step one technique.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yes, of course this is Taylor Swift.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Exactly Taylor Swift. So t A Y becomes t A X.
This one I like. I think this one worked out well.
A historical figure named Frankinson roommate who was pre shrink
during the grease paint depredation.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
My brain is trying to parse the clue for any sense.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Any sense, any sense. Frankensense, Frankensense roommate is like an
allusion to the biblical story of of the birth of Christ.
You know, the magi on the road Frankensnse was rooming with.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And no room at the end.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, exactly, Franklin Roosevelt and he was depredation the what
the what was the other part?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Pre shrink? He was pre shrinking the grease paint depredation President, Yeah,
you got it. During the grease paint depredation.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Which was.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
All right, great, and there was a shortage of grease paint.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That was the biggest problem. That's right, all right, we
got some more. We got an actress named Julipe Robe,
Julipe Robe, who was star of pretext Wolverine, not Wolverine,
not the one.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
With Wolverine with you Jackman, but.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Pretext Wolverine.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Well, what would Julipe robe is?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Of course Julia Roberts correct, although it also sounds like
something you wear during the Kentucky Derby.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Right, yeah, it's not so bad. I thought. It's like,
it smells great.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Exactly, you have a little zip of cocktail and watch
the horse race.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Maybe during this movie she wore it, because yeah, she
did have that as her as one of her costumes.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
What was the movie clue?
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Pretext Wolverine, pretext Wolverine.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Everybody knows that, right, Andrea or pretty woman, pretty woman,
pretty woman?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
That origin story for Hugh Jackman worried.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Exactly. How about a writer named Jamberie Jowel and his
most famous book ululate eululate.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I think all of those words probably appear in his
most famous book.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Great point. He had a crazy vocabulary.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I mean, what a great what a great book for
lovers of wordplay and other things?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
That would be James Joyce.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's correct, And the book is Ulysses exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You didn't come up with Finnegans Wake? What precedes Finnegans Wake?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And that's a good question. I do know the guy
who wrote Gilligan's Wake, which was an entire book premised
on what if Finnigan's Wake was about guilt? Like it
was the longest commit to the bit joke I've ever seen.
I'm just going to keep going with a couple more.
(09:57):
We have an entertainer named Opprobrium Winery. She had a
very successful talisman shovel.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
That's think a terrible place. I'm going to do you
a Probrium Winery and they keep criticism on you for
drinking the chardonnay.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yes, not a place you want to go. No, Andrea,
you know this one, Oprah Winfrey, that is correct.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And she had a very successful what aj that was.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
A talisman shovel, A talisman shovel.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And you get a talisman shovel, you get a talisman shovel.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Good one.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's the TV show or talk talk show, sorry, television
would be later in the alphabet talk show.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Fun fact, her first name was spelled Orpa on her
birth certificate, but because that's a biblical name in the
Book of Ruth, but people, according to the Internet, mispronounced
it regularly and Oprah stuck. But if she had continued
with Orpa, she would be or ROTI Winery, which maybe
(11:02):
is a little better. All Right, I got this one.
I'm gonna say. It's fun to say, so I'm gonna
do it. He's a historical figure, winsome, chunky primate, miniskirt
of grease paint, bristle. There's grease paint.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Again, grease paint. It's you know, it's a common common thing.
What did you say?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
His name was.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Win some we w I N S O M E.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Chunky win some chunky, little chunky.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Well, yes, I don't think of him as winsome or cheerful,
but he was some later in life. Chunky primate, mini
skirt of grease paint bristle.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
That's the great Winston Churchill, prime primate, mini skirt, prime
Minister of Great Britain.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
That's it. You are you speak this language.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I'd like to see a primate miniskirt though, well, i'd
like to see Winston Churchill in a primate mini skirt.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Acting when some lee. Yes, that would be hopping around.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He's got a little miniskirt on.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
He's smoking a cigar and he's running grease paint bristle.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
There you go. Uh, all right, let me do two
more tongue morphine. She's a writer of belongings tongue morphine.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
That would be Tony Morrison.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Beloved, well done?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
All right?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
How about Lentil toll House, another writer who wrote Anklet Karate,
Lentil toll hoose, Anklet Karate.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Lentil toll House is such a great name, Lentil toll House. Oh,
he wrote anklic karate.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Let's see what would it be?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Would it be maybe.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Wapiti and you know, Pebo Bryson or something I don't know. Peace?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Wait is wapedia? Or what is?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
What? What PD? What PD is a animal? Right? What
PD is a kind of elk?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I don't know you're saying?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right? But I have w A p I D I
w A p I T I what PT?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Okay? Well PT? So you know it obviously? What do
you got?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It would be Leo Tolstoy, the author of Anna.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Karan Right and War and Peace Warrant.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
And you know when you finished these up, I have
a game to share.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Oh great, that is related? All right, last one is
another novelist. Let's stick with a novelist because it is
a word game. Jam Pack Austerity, who wrote Prickly Pair
and Prehistoric.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Prickly Pair and Prehistoric I read that, I mean kind
kind of evokes a similar little prickly, little prickly character
in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
That is correct, Andre Ohan Tron, Yes, and I just
like the oxymeronica feel of jam Pack Austerity. All right,
we'll stop there because I want to hear Greg's game
suggest Well.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I don't know if we've talked about this game before,
but it reminds me of this game called Dictionary Race.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
No, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And the way it works is you start with a
letter of the alphabet, so he randomly pick say a
letter N. Right, you can draw it out of a
scrabble bag or whatever you got. You got a random letter,
and then you randomly select characters.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I actually have a sheet.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I made for this game when I used to play
it a lot, where with fifty two different categories and
we would draw cards from a deck of cards.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
So see what category?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So say your first category is chemical elements. Okay, a
letter N, so you secretly write down, Beck, we can
all do this right down, write down a chemical element
that starts with N. And your goal is to advance
as little in the dictiontionary as possible. So you're and
you're trying not to go too far. So you write
(15:05):
down a chemical elements okay, whatever it might be, and
you can have more time than we're going to do now,
but we're just you know, just a sample here, and
then you say, you draw another category and say it's
countries of the world. Pick a country that comes after
your chemical.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Element in the alphabet.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Fun but again, you don't want to advance too far.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So what do you have?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Let's see, I would go to great and then you
keep doing this. You do you know, half a dozen
categories or so, and at the end of it you
all read your final word to see who advanced the
least far through the dictionary.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Love it well? I got to I did neon yep
because nitrogen is farther, and then Netherlands because that was
more closer to the a's than New Zealand and some others.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Very good, very good. Andrea, what'd you do?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I did nitrogen?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
I started with nitrogen, which is unfortunately after Nigeria. So
then I went to North Korea.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
See, this is exactly how it work, right, And sometimes
you go farther than you want to go. I actually
did neon as well. I'm checking to see if there's
a I don't know that. Oh, neodymium would have been better.
Just now I just wrote jotted down New Zealand, not
even thinking that, you know, there was a better choice.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
All right, So I'm the winner Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
But it's a very fun game. I love it. You
don't need a list of categories like I've got. People
could just pick the categories in advance, just sort of
say here's our categories and then randomly pick a letter
and go or take turns picking a category.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It's really it could be really fun.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
All right now I know what I'm doing this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And I also I do have an extra credit for
folks at home. A scientist, a famed historical scientist named
Irritate New Testament, and he discovered the lavish of graveyard.
Irritate New Testament discovered the lavish of graveyard.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Who is it?
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And what did he discover? Come back tomorrow for the
answer and thank you. Greg and Andrea. And in the meantime,
if you like the show, please check out our Instagram
feed at Hello Puzzlers, where 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 2 (17:38):
Hey puzzlers, it's your Chief puzzle Officer Greg. Let's go
once again with the extra credit answer from our previous episode.
Sarah Spain joined us one more time for Find the Foursome,
where we gave you one word in a group of four,
and she.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Had the name. You had to name the other components
in that group.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Now, your extra credit is a little controversial. The word
AJ gave all of us was plasma. And as soon
as we got off the air with Sarah, actually, while
we were in the air with Sarah wrapping up our
recording and Sarah and I said, hey, you know what,
there are actually two possible answers to this one. AJ's
intended answer was the components of blood, which are plasma,
(18:21):
red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. However, I
immediately thought of another one, which are the states of
matter solid, liquid, gas and plasma. One of the four
fundamental states of matter. Plasma has a lot of charged particles, ions, electrons.
(18:44):
It's what's in stars and the sun, and it's electrically conductive. Anyway,
it's different from solid liquid and gas. Lightning is plasma,
Neon lights are plasma. I'm sure the scientists who are
listening will correct me with more specific information about what
plasma is, but the point is it's one of the
four solid states of matter. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle,
(19:06):
and if you came up with yet another foursome that
could have worked with any of ours, please send it
to us. We love hearing from you.
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. What is
the link between a minor league baseball team, a low
risk bond and a roadside assistance company? Again, that is
the link between a minor league baseball team, a low
risk bond, and a roadside assistant company. The answer and
more puzzling goodness after the break, Hello puddlers, Welcome back
(00:32):
to the Puzzler Podcast. The Salisbury Steak in your middle
school puzzling bafeteria. Oh no, you don't like Salisbury steak?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I mean well, I would say the general exception about
all middle school cafeteria food is that it's not good.
So you've tried to find the best of the not
good food.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
I guess.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Isn't Salisbury's steak like some random cut of the meat
that's not you know, it's a cheap cut that you
pound into submission and.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
It's got great Well, it's got gravy.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Gravy on your Salisbury steak? Got there?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
You gon nice? Save I'm your host, AJ Jacobs. I'm
here with Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisk. Got Greg? Before
the break, we asked folks at home for the link
between a minor league baseball team a low risk bond
and a roadside assistance company. Anything come to mind.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I own two of the three. We have a low
risk bond, and I certainly have a Triple A membership. Gotcha,
but you tell you do not own a Triple A
baseball team.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
There you go, all right, well, there's still time. Do
you own any Triple A batteries? That's another one.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yes, so I have piles and.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Very good. Well. I brought this up because we have
today what I hope listeners will rate as a Triple
A puzzle, high quality, low risk. I came up with
this puzzle while doing my hobby, which, as you know,
is reading the Merriam Webster Dictionary. And one of the
things I love about reading the dictionary is seeing the
(02:01):
weird juxtapositions. So what words are right next to each
other on the page, including the word juxtaposition itself, which
is right next to juvenile delinquency?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Oh okay, who knew?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Albanian next to albatross, inline skate next to inmate. These
are what I call dictionary neighbors. And then I thought,
what if people's names were in the dictionary, what words
would be next to them? Who would be their alphabetical neighbors.
For instance, Gregarious.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
That that would be.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Mine right below you, Greg, and I believe you are
relatively gregarious.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well you know it turns out Yeah, I think I
think that's accurate.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, and what about Pliska is right next to plis
to scene? Would you consider yourself place to see?
Speaker 3 (02:50):
I think I post to take them up to anthrops.
I think I've made it that far.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Yeah, we're old, but not that old. Then there's a
and iron scholar, which are Andrea Schoenberg's neighbors? Would that
be accurate? Andrea? Do you know a lot about metal
supports and fireplaces?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Ye? So I do?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
All right, Well, they're not always one hundred percent accurate.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's never too late to learn.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Of that's true. You can be a reason, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Exactly, Like what about you Aj Jacobs?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well I'll get to that in one moment. Okay, but
the the puzzle is going to be based on that.
It's going to be the name of a notable person,
and the clue is going to be the words that
would appear alphabetically right before these people's first and last
ar okay before so yes, right above. So if the
clue is there's a singer named Justify Behoove, that would be.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Justin Bieber.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah. The puzzle, by the way I came up with
the title, is called Bordello woozy because those are the
alphabetical neighbors of the words bordering words of praise. Now,
one quick thing. If the name itself is a word
like Bill and Bill Gates, I'm gonna go with the
word right before it bilk, so it'd be built, not.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Bill, which is not something one would associate with Bill Gates.
I don't think of him as bilking people.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
True, he's now a grate philanthropist, so that giving it
all away. I'm also going to skip over words that
have the same exact root. So you brought up what
is my name? My name would technically be Jacob's latter,
but not Jacob's Ladder because Jacob's ladder is in the dictionary.
But it's the same route. So I would be Jack
Tar Jacktar, which is a word for sailor, So yes,
(04:41):
are you ready? And Iron and greg Arius Yes Jacktar.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Let's go first.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
I have an athlete. Her name is Serbo Croatian Wilful
and her sister Venue Wilful, both great athletes.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Serbo Croatian wilful. She's Croatian at all.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
No, although Djokovic is so yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
There are some great Serbo creation athletes, but she's not
one of them.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Andrea, you know who this is, of course.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Of course, Serena Williams.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
There you go, and her sister Venus. How about let's
go back to history. This is a historical figure named
Napkin Bonanza and he famously he famously lost at the
batting Cage of watchword.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, I be he did.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Everyone loses it the batting cage of Watch. It's dangerous,
very not very very, that is, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Right, and he lost at the Battle of Waterloo exactly.
How about this is a scientist. Her name is Mariachi Curfew,
and she discovered radishes, which is important deserving of a
nobel crime.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
You know, I just want to say every town should
have a Mariachi Curfew, right. There is a time after
which the Mariachis.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Have to stop playing.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It's reasonable.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Andrea, you know who this is.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
Marie Currie.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Marie Currie, yes, exactly, who discovered radium.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
How about a singer named Taxpayer Swerve, and she recently
had the Equivocate Tour, Taxpayer Swerve, Yes, Taxpayer Swerve, and
recently just off the Equivocate Tour. Her real last novel
is in the dictionary.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I should think of the most obvious female singers.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Step one technique.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yes, of course this is Taylor Swift.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Exactly Taylor Swift. So t A Y becomes t A X.
This one I like. I think this one worked out well.
A historical figure named Frankinson roommate who was pre shrink
during the grease paint depredation.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
My brain is trying to parse the clue for any sense.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Any sense, any sense. Frankensense, Frankensense roommate is like an
allusion to the biblical story of of the birth of Christ.
You know, the magi on the road Frankensnse was rooming with.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And no room at the end.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, exactly, Franklin Roosevelt and he was depredation the what
the what was the other part?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Pre shrink? He was pre shrinking the grease paint depredation President, Yeah,
you got it. During the grease paint depredation.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Which was.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
All right, great, and there was a shortage of grease paint.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
That was the biggest problem. That's right, all right, we
got some more. We got an actress named Julipe Robe,
Julipe Robe, who was star of pretext Wolverine, not Wolverine,
not the one.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
With Wolverine with you Jackman, but.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Pretext Wolverine.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Well, what would Julipe robe is?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Of course Julia Roberts correct, although it also sounds like
something you wear during the Kentucky Derby.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Right, yeah, it's not so bad. I thought. It's like,
it smells great.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Exactly, you have a little zip of cocktail and watch
the horse race.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Maybe during this movie she wore it, because yeah, she
did have that as her as one of her costumes.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
What was the movie clue?
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Pretext Wolverine, pretext Wolverine.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Everybody knows that, right, Andrea or pretty woman, pretty woman,
pretty woman?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
That origin story for Hugh Jackman worried.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Exactly. How about a writer named Jamberie Jowel and his
most famous book ululate eululate.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I think all of those words probably appear in his
most famous book.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Great point. He had a crazy vocabulary.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I mean, what a great what a great book for
lovers of wordplay and other things?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
That would be James Joyce.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
That's correct, And the book is Ulysses exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
You didn't come up with Finnegans Wake? What precedes Finnegans Wake?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And that's a good question. I do know the guy
who wrote Gilligan's Wake, which was an entire book premised
on what if Finnigan's Wake was about guilt? Like it
was the longest commit to the bit joke I've ever seen.
I'm just going to keep going with a couple more.
(09:57):
We have an entertainer named Opprobrium Winery. She had a
very successful talisman shovel.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
That's think a terrible place. I'm going to do you
a Probrium Winery and they keep criticism on you for
drinking the chardonnay.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yes, not a place you want to go. No, Andrea,
you know this one, Oprah Winfrey, that is correct.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And she had a very successful what aj that was.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
A talisman shovel, A talisman shovel.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
And you get a talisman shovel, you get a talisman shovel.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Good one.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's the TV show or talk talk show, sorry, television
would be later in the alphabet talk show.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Fun fact, her first name was spelled Orpa on her
birth certificate, but because that's a biblical name in the
Book of Ruth, but people, according to the Internet, mispronounced
it regularly and Oprah stuck. But if she had continued
with Orpa, she would be or ROTI Winery, which maybe
(11:02):
is a little better. All Right, I got this one.
I'm gonna say. It's fun to say, so I'm gonna
do it. He's a historical figure, winsome, chunky primate, miniskirt
of grease paint, bristle. There's grease paint.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Again, grease paint. It's you know, it's a common common thing.
What did you say?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
His name was.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Win some we w I N S O M E.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Chunky win some chunky, little chunky.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Well, yes, I don't think of him as winsome or cheerful,
but he was some later in life. Chunky primate, mini
skirt of grease paint bristle.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
That's the great Winston Churchill, prime primate, mini skirt, prime
Minister of Great Britain.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
That's it. You are you speak this language.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
I'd like to see a primate miniskirt though, well, i'd
like to see Winston Churchill in a primate mini skirt.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Acting when some lee. Yes, that would be hopping around.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He's got a little miniskirt on.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
He's smoking a cigar and he's running grease paint bristle.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
There you go. Uh, all right, let me do two
more tongue morphine. She's a writer of belongings tongue morphine.
Speaker 4 (12:19):
That would be Tony Morrison.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Beloved, well done?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
All right?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
How about Lentil toll House, another writer who wrote Anklet Karate,
Lentil toll hoose, Anklet Karate.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Lentil toll House is such a great name, Lentil toll House. Oh,
he wrote anklic karate.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Let's see what would it be?
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Would it be maybe.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Wapiti and you know, Pebo Bryson or something I don't know. Peace?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Wait is wapedia? Or what is?
Speaker 3 (13:00):
What? What PD? What PD is a animal? Right? What
PD is a kind of elk?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I don't know you're saying?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right? But I have w A p I D I
w A p I T I what PT?
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Okay? Well PT? So you know it obviously? What do
you got?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (13:18):
It would be Leo Tolstoy, the author of Anna.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Karan Right and War and Peace Warrant.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
And you know when you finished these up, I have
a game to share.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Oh great, that is related? All right, last one is
another novelist. Let's stick with a novelist because it is
a word game. Jam Pack Austerity, who wrote Prickly Pair
and Prehistoric.
Speaker 4 (13:45):
Prickly Pair and Prehistoric I read that, I mean kind
kind of evokes a similar little prickly, little prickly character
in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
That is correct, Andre Ohan Tron, Yes, and I just
like the oxymeronica feel of jam Pack Austerity. All right,
we'll stop there because I want to hear Greg's game
suggest Well.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I don't know if we've talked about this game before,
but it reminds me of this game called Dictionary Race.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
No, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And the way it works is you start with a
letter of the alphabet, so he randomly pick say a
letter N. Right, you can draw it out of a
scrabble bag or whatever you got. You got a random letter,
and then you randomly select characters.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
I actually have a sheet.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I made for this game when I used to play
it a lot, where with fifty two different categories and
we would draw cards from a deck of cards.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
So see what category?
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So say your first category is chemical elements. Okay, a
letter N, so you secretly write down, Beck, we can
all do this right down, write down a chemical element
that starts with N. And your goal is to advance
as little in the dictiontionary as possible. So you're and
you're trying not to go too far. So you write
(15:05):
down a chemical elements okay, whatever it might be, and
you can have more time than we're going to do now,
but we're just you know, just a sample here, and
then you say, you draw another category and say it's
countries of the world. Pick a country that comes after
your chemical.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Element in the alphabet.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Fun but again, you don't want to advance too far.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So what do you have?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Let's see, I would go to great and then you
keep doing this. You do you know, half a dozen
categories or so, and at the end of it you
all read your final word to see who advanced the
least far through the dictionary.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Love it well? I got to I did neon yep
because nitrogen is farther, and then Netherlands because that was
more closer to the a's than New Zealand and some others.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Very good, very good. Andrea, what'd you do?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I did nitrogen?
Speaker 4 (15:59):
I started with nitrogen, which is unfortunately after Nigeria. So
then I went to North Korea.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
See, this is exactly how it work, right, And sometimes
you go farther than you want to go. I actually
did neon as well. I'm checking to see if there's
a I don't know that. Oh, neodymium would have been better.
Just now I just wrote jotted down New Zealand, not
even thinking that, you know, there was a better choice.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
All right, So I'm the winner Netherlands.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
But it's a very fun game. I love it. You
don't need a list of categories like I've got. People
could just pick the categories in advance, just sort of
say here's our categories and then randomly pick a letter
and go or take turns picking a category.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
It's really it could be really fun.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
All right now I know what I'm doing this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And I also I do have an extra credit for
folks at home. A scientist, a famed historical scientist named
Irritate New Testament, and he discovered the lavish of graveyard.
Irritate New Testament discovered the lavish of graveyard.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Who is it?
Speaker 1 (17:09):
And what did he discover? Come back tomorrow for the
answer and thank you. Greg and Andrea. And in the meantime,
if you like the show, please check out our Instagram
feed at Hello Puzzlers, where 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 2 (17:38):
Hey puzzlers, it's your Chief puzzle Officer Greg. Let's go
once again with the extra credit answer from our previous episode.
Sarah Spain joined us one more time for Find the Foursome,
where we gave you one word in a group of four,
and she.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Had the name. You had to name the other components
in that group.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Now, your extra credit is a little controversial. The word
AJ gave all of us was plasma. And as soon
as we got off the air with Sarah, actually, while
we were in the air with Sarah wrapping up our
recording and Sarah and I said, hey, you know what,
there are actually two possible answers to this one. AJ's
intended answer was the components of blood, which are plasma,
(18:21):
red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. However, I
immediately thought of another one, which are the states of
matter solid, liquid, gas and plasma. One of the four
fundamental states of matter. Plasma has a lot of charged particles, ions, electrons.
(18:44):
It's what's in stars and the sun, and it's electrically conductive. Anyway,
it's different from solid liquid and gas. Lightning is plasma,
Neon lights are plasma. I'm sure the scientists who are
listening will correct me with more specific information about what
plasma is, but the point is it's one of the
four solid states of matter. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle,
(19:06):
and if you came up with yet another foursome that
could have worked with any of ours, please send it
to us. We love hearing from you.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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