November 7, 2023 • 9 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us all this week: singer-songwriter, radio host, actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Lisa Loeb.
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 Chat GPT” 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 (00:04):
Hello Puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast The Mini Turbo.
In your daily puzzle, Mario kart Race, I'm your host,
AJ Jacobs, and I am here with our amazing guest,
Lisa Lobe. Welcome, Lisa. Thank you so much for having
(00:28):
me and Lisa. One of my proudest accomplishments is that
I went to college with Lisa Lobe and I got
to see her perform before the rest of America.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I love that, And that's one of my accomplishments that
I got to know you a little bit in college
before I read all of your books, which I really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh, thank you, Lisa. Yeah, we weren't like best friends,
but we were in the like we were between friends
and acquaintances. I would say, like for the acquaintances.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
We overlapped in the Vendi A Gram of Happiness in
college exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We are delighted to have you. And speaking of music,
we have an interesting puzzle that you might enjoy and
it is written by our chief puzzle officer, Greg Pliska.
So Greg, what have you cooked up for Lisa?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, thanks for inviting me back. I I wasn't in
college with you guys at all, but I did listen,
and I have to admit I knew Lisa's music AJ
before I knew your books. Don't take it personally. It's
not a competition, no, no.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Well, she definitely broke out way before me, and in
a much bigger way, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
But on the flip side, we've done a book together, sure,
and Lisa and I haven't done a record together yet.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, well, I want to write I want to write
a song about AJ's college experience. You sort of super
into that. But anyway, let's keep going.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
All right, let's do a puzzle. This puzzle is called
strange chit chit changes and riffs. Of course, on the
Great David Bow hit changes, specifically the chorus where he
sings ch ch ch ch changes.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Now to ch change yeah changes.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
How many chitchas are there?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's actually four, I see, I checked this. There's four
right at the top of the chorus chit chit changes.
Turned out it's the strange chit cha changes. So there's
four before and then there's two in the middle. So
you can sing either one. Really, we'll accept both, or
split the difference three because but anyway, what if you
(02:34):
want to do five is a kind of bonus. It's fine.
What we've done here at the Puzzler Podcast is we've
reimagined the song as if Bowie was singing about some
other two syllable word that begins with the ch sound.
So we'll give you a clue to that word, and
then you get to sing the answer in the style
of chi cha cha cha changes.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Okay, I think I get it. It's it going to
be a ch word.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yes, I'll give you an example. It's a or a phrase.
In this case, it's the clue is a conveyance that
carries skiers up and down a mountain, And the answer
would be.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What is that thing you sit on? It t T
T bar Yeah, no, it's got a what do you
sit on?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Bernocular?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, it's a ski?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
What starts with chair share? Chair lifts? There you go,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That took a lot of goating.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, it's that's what these can be. Tricky. That's why
we have an example that doesn't tricky. Yeah, tricky.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It has a sh sound, but it's not really a
sh sound.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But okay, let's go right right exactly. That one doesn't
count against your you know, your weekly total. So it's fine.
It's an example. All right, here we go. Here's your
first one. This is the titular weapon in Tobe Hooper's
horror classic about a massacre in Texas.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Oh, I know this once. I watch this movie and
I was so scared. I had to have someone come
in and turn the video tape off because I couldn't
do it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Chit chain saw, Yes, exactly from the Texas chainsaw massacre.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Lisa, you're a Texas You're a Texas native.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I am so. I felt like it was my job
to watch the Texas chainsaw massacre. For some reason, my
friends and I were super into horror films when we
were in high school, things like the Birthday Party or
Happy Birthday to me. Sorry that the Birthday Party is
a band. But for some reason I thought it was
a good idea to watch the video of Texas chainsaw
massacre by myself. It was not a good idea, not
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And you couldn't even get up to turn off the video.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
No, I had to say, someone help me turn off
the video VC. Are you yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
A concept? My children, Our children don't even understand video
tapes and things like that, and getting up to turn
it off. You just sat on the They just sit
on the couch with the remote and everything happened exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
They're kind of like I dream of Genie. They just
blink their eyes and Samantha from you.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Know which, yes, all those shows our kids, I also
have no concept of it's yeah, okay, well, okay, here's
your next one. It's the financial services company that merged
with JP Morgan in two thousand, chch Chub Oh a
good financial services company that insurance, right, Chubb. But that's
(05:21):
not the one that merged with JP Morgan, JP Morgan.
The current name is now JP Morgan blank. And that's
a ch word. Also what you do when you run
after somebody like oh right, yes, or chichch chase bank
(05:42):
bank the two syllable versions, but you're absolutely bank chase.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I think she gets full of credit.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Oh is it supposed to be two syllables?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, it's two syllables, so che got it?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Okay, good, here's here's here's your third one. This beverage
or generated in India and is often ordered at Starbucks
as an alternative to coffee chit chaite, yes exactly, chi te,
which is actually a redundant name when you think about it,
because Chai just means tea.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I didn't know that. I didn't know Chai was tea.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, yeah, chai. It comes to derived from the Chinese
word for tea, which is chaw. So just a reminder
we're looking for a two syllable word or phrase that
starts with the ch sound. This one is admittedly a
sexist term for a movie, often a romance that a
woman wants to watch but her male partner doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Chick flick, Yes, exactly, exactly sounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, you know, depending upon the chick flick. I'm into it.
I'm there.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Yeah. The people may actually speak to each other. There
might be some great music in the background. You don't
miss too much if you go to the other room
to get your popcorn.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Right, very few explosions in karcra.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, conversations over car crashes.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, all right, let's do one more before we wrap
up for today. In a fancy dinner, this might come
after the entree, but before the dessert.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Check the check, the check. This could not the consumme.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
No, this could include ch ch chit cha cheddar.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Oh, the chit cheese plate.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yes, there you goch cheese plate.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Or cheese Oh gosh, a cheese course. That makes more sense.
You know, I'm never I can't eat that much food
at one sitting.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Oh, then start with the cheese course.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, that's what my nutrition is that I met with
years ago. Always said, get the thing you want first
and then see if you're still hungry.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Well that's a good that's a good move in life.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Really, it really is.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
That's a t shirt. Eat dessert first. I've seen it.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, it's true. If you feel like it.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Let me do an extra credit for our for our
listeners at home. If you know this one, don't you know,
don't shout it out. This is the animator best known
for his work on Looney Tunes characters like Bugs, Bunny,
Daffy Duck, and the Roadrunner and listeners. If you know
the answer, don't send it in or you know, submit
(08:16):
it anywhere or tweeted at us. You actually have to
leave your answer singing this on AJ's voicemail.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's true since I never listened to my voicemail. You
can leave as many messages as you want. Well, thank
you Greg, and thank you Lisa.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That was excellent. Lisa. Where can people get more Lisa Lobe.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
You can to check my website Lisalobe dot com. Spell
Lisa l O E B lovely.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, thank you Lisa, and thank you all for listening.
Please come back tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will
puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Hello puzzlers, this is Greg Pliska up from the basement
with the extra credit answer from our previous show. On
that show, we asked a Lisa Lobe to solve a
number of earbusses rebuses in audio form, and the extra
credit was this burn. That, of course, is a clue
(09:28):
for the phrase slow burn because I'm saying the word
burn very slowly. I'm sure you all got that one,
and I look forward to more puzzles with you soon
Hello Puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast The Mini Turbo.
In your daily puzzle, Mario kart Race, I'm your host,
AJ Jacobs, and I am here with our amazing guest,
Lisa Lobe. Welcome, Lisa. Thank you so much for having
(00:28):
me and Lisa. One of my proudest accomplishments is that
I went to college with Lisa Lobe and I got
to see her perform before the rest of America.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I love that, And that's one of my accomplishments that
I got to know you a little bit in college
before I read all of your books, which I really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Oh, thank you, Lisa. Yeah, we weren't like best friends,
but we were in the like we were between friends
and acquaintances. I would say, like for the acquaintances.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
We overlapped in the Vendi A Gram of Happiness in
college exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
We are delighted to have you. And speaking of music,
we have an interesting puzzle that you might enjoy and
it is written by our chief puzzle officer, Greg Pliska.
So Greg, what have you cooked up for Lisa?
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Well, thanks for inviting me back. I I wasn't in
college with you guys at all, but I did listen,
and I have to admit I knew Lisa's music AJ
before I knew your books. Don't take it personally. It's
not a competition, no, no.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Well, she definitely broke out way before me, and in
a much bigger way, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
But on the flip side, we've done a book together, sure,
and Lisa and I haven't done a record together yet.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, well, I want to write I want to write
a song about AJ's college experience. You sort of super
into that. But anyway, let's keep going.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
All right, let's do a puzzle. This puzzle is called
strange chit chit changes and riffs. Of course, on the
Great David Bow hit changes, specifically the chorus where he
sings ch ch ch ch changes.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Now to ch change yeah changes.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
How many chitchas are there?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
It's actually four, I see, I checked this. There's four
right at the top of the chorus chit chit changes.
Turned out it's the strange chit cha changes. So there's
four before and then there's two in the middle. So
you can sing either one. Really, we'll accept both, or
split the difference three because but anyway, what if you
(02:34):
want to do five is a kind of bonus. It's fine.
What we've done here at the Puzzler Podcast is we've
reimagined the song as if Bowie was singing about some
other two syllable word that begins with the ch sound.
So we'll give you a clue to that word, and
then you get to sing the answer in the style
of chi cha cha cha changes.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Okay, I think I get it. It's it going to
be a ch word.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yes, I'll give you an example. It's a or a phrase.
In this case, it's the clue is a conveyance that
carries skiers up and down a mountain, And the answer
would be.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
What is that?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What is that thing you sit on? It t T
T bar Yeah, no, it's got a what do you
sit on?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Bernocular?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, it's a ski?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
What starts with chair share? Chair lifts? There you go,
oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That took a lot of goating.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Well, it's that's what these can be. Tricky. That's why
we have an example that doesn't tricky. Yeah, tricky.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
It has a sh sound, but it's not really a
sh sound.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
But okay, let's go right right exactly. That one doesn't
count against your you know, your weekly total. So it's fine.
It's an example. All right, here we go. Here's your
first one. This is the titular weapon in Tobe Hooper's
horror classic about a massacre in Texas.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Oh, I know this once. I watch this movie and
I was so scared. I had to have someone come
in and turn the video tape off because I couldn't
do it.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Chit chain saw, Yes, exactly from the Texas chainsaw massacre.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Lisa, you're a Texas You're a Texas native.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I am so. I felt like it was my job
to watch the Texas chainsaw massacre. For some reason, my
friends and I were super into horror films when we
were in high school, things like the Birthday Party or
Happy Birthday to me. Sorry that the Birthday Party is
a band. But for some reason I thought it was
a good idea to watch the video of Texas chainsaw
massacre by myself. It was not a good idea, not
a good idea.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And you couldn't even get up to turn off the video.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
No, I had to say, someone help me turn off
the video VC. Are you yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:43):
A concept? My children, Our children don't even understand video
tapes and things like that, and getting up to turn
it off. You just sat on the They just sit
on the couch with the remote and everything happened exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
They're kind of like I dream of Genie. They just
blink their eyes and Samantha from you.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Know which, yes, all those shows our kids, I also
have no concept of it's yeah, okay, well, okay, here's
your next one. It's the financial services company that merged
with JP Morgan in two thousand, chch Chub Oh a
good financial services company that insurance, right, Chubb. But that's
(05:21):
not the one that merged with JP Morgan, JP Morgan.
The current name is now JP Morgan blank. And that's
a ch word. Also what you do when you run
after somebody like oh right, yes, or chichch chase bank
(05:42):
bank the two syllable versions, but you're absolutely bank chase.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I think she gets full of credit.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Oh is it supposed to be two syllables?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Yes, it's two syllables, so che got it?
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Got it?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Okay, good, here's here's here's your third one. This beverage
or generated in India and is often ordered at Starbucks
as an alternative to coffee chit chaite, yes exactly, chi te,
which is actually a redundant name when you think about it,
because Chai just means tea.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I didn't know that. I didn't know Chai was tea.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, yeah, chai. It comes to derived from the Chinese
word for tea, which is chaw. So just a reminder
we're looking for a two syllable word or phrase that
starts with the ch sound. This one is admittedly a
sexist term for a movie, often a romance that a
woman wants to watch but her male partner doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Chick flick, Yes, exactly, exactly sounds good to me.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, you know, depending upon the chick flick. I'm into it.
I'm there.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Yeah. The people may actually speak to each other. There
might be some great music in the background. You don't
miss too much if you go to the other room
to get your popcorn.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Right, very few explosions in karcra.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, conversations over car crashes.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, all right, let's do one more before we wrap
up for today. In a fancy dinner, this might come
after the entree, but before the dessert.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Check the check, the check. This could not the consumme.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
No, this could include ch ch chit cha cheddar.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Oh, the chit cheese plate.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yes, there you goch cheese plate.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Or cheese Oh gosh, a cheese course. That makes more sense.
You know, I'm never I can't eat that much food
at one sitting.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Oh, then start with the cheese course.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, that's what my nutrition is that I met with
years ago. Always said, get the thing you want first
and then see if you're still hungry.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Well that's a good that's a good move in life.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Really, it really is.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
That's a t shirt. Eat dessert first. I've seen it.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Yeah, it's true. If you feel like it.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Let me do an extra credit for our for our
listeners at home. If you know this one, don't you know,
don't shout it out. This is the animator best known
for his work on Looney Tunes characters like Bugs, Bunny,
Daffy Duck, and the Roadrunner and listeners. If you know
the answer, don't send it in or you know, submit
(08:16):
it anywhere or tweeted at us. You actually have to
leave your answer singing this on AJ's voicemail.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
It's true since I never listened to my voicemail. You
can leave as many messages as you want. Well, thank
you Greg, and thank you Lisa.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That was excellent. Lisa. Where can people get more Lisa Lobe.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
You can to check my website Lisalobe dot com. Spell
Lisa l O E B lovely.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, thank you Lisa, and thank you all for listening.
Please come back tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will
puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Hello puzzlers, this is Greg Pliska up from the basement
with the extra credit answer from our previous show. On
that show, we asked a Lisa Lobe to solve a
number of earbusses rebuses in audio form, and the extra
credit was this burn. That, of course, is a clue
(09:28):
for the phrase slow burn because I'm saying the word
burn very slowly. I'm sure you all got that one,
and I look forward to more puzzles with you soon
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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