July 1, 2024 • 12 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! AJ has a new book out! You can order "The Year of Living Constitutionally" right now!.
Puzzling with us today: author of The Sicilian Inheritance and host of "Under the Influence," Jo Piazza!
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 (00:05):
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler podcast The Intero
Bang at the end of your puzzling sentence. I am
your host, AJ Jacobs, and I am here with today's guest,
the amazing Joe Piazza. She's a podcaster, writer, journalist, author,
(00:28):
author of the new novel The Sicilian Inheritance, which is
also a podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome Joe, Hi, thanks for having me. I just love
it when someone uses in terra bang in a sentence.
I just I get so excited.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
That is great. I'm trying to come up with a
sentence now that would be used. Isn't that fantastic there
that would have an in terra bang at the end
of it. For those who don't know the joys of
in terra bank, it's a question mark and an exclamation point.
It's combined, right, it's not find Yeah, it's combined. Yeah. Yeah,
it's not one after the other. It's combined.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No, you're questioning something, but you're very excited.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
About that question, right, All right? Well, I love that
you're a fan as well, are you? And you're a
fan of puzzles at least somewhat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I am a puzzle fan and my whole family. We're
really a puzzling family. We have started. We do all
the New York Times puzzles together in the morning at.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Breakfast, which ones exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We do connections short all spelling bee, and then we
switch over to World, which is a geography puzzle game.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Because my seven year old has this ability to name
any country in the world by only seeing its outline.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
That's a great that's a great gift.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Amazing cocktail party trick is what it is.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And by the way, Greg and I were just talking
about World old because it is the the subject of
a lawsuit. The New York Times does not like World.
They no, but I'm rooting for worldal in this.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We do all right, we doo yeah. So we're a
puzzling family.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I also happen to love your name because I think
your name is very puzzly in many ways. First of all,
you probably know this, but it contains three two letter words,
which I know from scrabble. So Joe is jo is
a Scottish girlfriend. Then Pie it was p I is
(02:31):
of course the number three point one four azy not really,
it's Arizona. But Za last few years became slang for pizza.
So you've got three two letter words. I'm very jealous.
So Joe is not just a Scottish girlfriend. If you
spell it differently, Joe, it could mean, of course, coffee.
(02:53):
So that is the basis of this puzzle. Names like
yours first names that are homonyms of others. So in
this puzzle, if I gave a clue such as coffee
that belongs to the author of the Sicilian inheritance, the
answer would be Joe's.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Joe, Joe's Joe Jojo. Okay, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So they're all going to be in that form. So
are you ready? And then after I want to talk
about this Sicilian inheritance because it's got a little puzzle
attached to it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Oh it sure does.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, all right, so are you ready?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm ready. Let's do this.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
All right?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
This is what the born Identity star uses when he
goes to yoga class. Matt's Matt, Wow, that was fast,
you right, I know.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But I'm just surprised myself with that, because I was
very nervous when you told me what this was going
to be like. And I'm like, oh, okay, okay, all right.
I came in too hot. I came in really hot.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
No, no, just right, all right, here we go. What
about these This is what you might call stocks that
are owned by the singer of if I could turn
back time. Oh okay, hold on, and I'm I'm here
with hints too.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Not just let me think, let me think, let me think.
I think I've got it. You could also say stocked
stocks owned by the main character and clueless for this,
sure got it. Shares shares.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That is exactly right, So you get bonus points for
adding to the puzzle. Nicely done. All right, a few more,
are you ready? I'm ready to have about a small
stream owned by the star of Mother of the Bride,
and also the Blue Lagoon, which is I guess also
a body of water. Didn't realize that till now, So
a stream owned by the Blue Lagoon.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Star brooks Brook.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It is brooks Brook, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
My gosh. Okay, okay. I love this game. I mean
I love any game that I'm good at.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
You are very good. You are one hundred percent. Here's
another one another. We got some more movie actors for you.
When the star of the Gladiator walked around the set,
this was the soft sound that his toga made.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh, Wow, okay, it would be the Gladiator was not
mel Gibson, that was Kilts and that was Scotland. I'm
gonna go with Russell.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Russell's Russell's Russell's exactly Russell Russell, Russell Russe. That's it.
But I imagine the kill also rustled in its own way.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I feel like the Kilts also rustled.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, well, you're doing great. You have not let us
down yet. All right, couple more, what about the tiny
particles that make up the body of Happy Gilmore's main actor,
the tiny part of the tiny particles and you got
it our.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, I'm laughing because we just watched Happy Gilmore for
the first time in probably twenty years, and uh it
held up and Billy Madison did not. Oh interesting, Yeah,
Happy Gilmore is still funny, Billy Madison. Wow, I'm gonna
go with Adams Adams.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You got it. Adam Sandler's Adam. Oh, by the way,
Russell was Russell Crowe, Brooke was Brook Shields. In case
people didn't share with share share no other there's no weather.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
There's no weather.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But wait, so Happy Gilmore, that's the the golf hockey one.
But you're saying that was good but but.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
But Bill Billy Billy Madison was a weak man. Real
it just like, yeah, it was rough. It was rough
to watch as a forty four year old woman. But
Happy Gilmore still funny, still funny.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
All right, good, so there you go. News you can
use stick with Happy Gilmore people. All right, we got uh,
we'll do two more. Ok why not? Because they're quick?
All right. This is the person who adjusts the suits
of times twenty twenty three percent of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You were saving the hard ones for last.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, this was the hardest clue I got because.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Oh, okay, okay, yes, is it Taylor's tailor.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It is Taylor's tailor. You got it exactly. I mean
I was gonna say, pretty much the pop star of
all pop stars.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Forever, forever and ever forever.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, all right, last one, you are one hundred percent
all right. Well, this one might be a little tricky,
depending on how deep your Oprah knowledge goes. But this
is Oprah's best friend who also hosts CBS Mornings. What
if she was faced with a really strong wind that
(07:52):
might be called.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
M all right, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Take your time. I got nothing but time.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Oprah's best friend. Oprah's boyfriend is Studman, but true deadman
is not a homonym for wind, which is gusty, which
is oh, Gail, Gail, Gail Gil. It is Gail's Gail.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
You got it, Gail's Gale, very good, Gail King, whose
last name is also a noun. Yeah, she's very noun heavy. Well,
you did fantastic. You had nothing to worry about you,
you cruised right through. We're very impressed.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yay, that was so fun. I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
But tell me because you hinted at it before. Your
new novel, The Sicilian Inheritance is it's a novel, but
I believe it's based on a real life mystery.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
It is. It is so The Sicilian Inheritance, I mean
it is. It's a delicious adventure. It's a novel. It's fun,
it's a beach read. But it's loosely based on a
murder in my family from over one hundred years ago.
My great great grandmother, Lorenza was allegedly killed before she
could join the rest of the family in America, and
I wrote the book as fiction. I just wanted to
(09:10):
imagine what it would be like to be this woman
left behind in Sicily and a modern day woman goes
on an adventure there to try to solve this mystery.
But then, because I am a very thorough content creator,
when I finished writing the book, I went back to
Sicily to solve the murder in real life. And I've
been digging through old records and court documents and traveling
(09:35):
to this tiny ancient village where she was from and
interviewing the oldest people in town. And we made a
true crime podcast out of it, also called The Sicilian Inheritance,
which is on iHeart and wherever you can find your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
That is fantastic. All right, I'm in, I am hooked,
And how far are you along in the investigation?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
We've been investigating for about a year. We had a
petition the courts to get access to the homicide and
mafia records from nineteen sixteen, and then I had to
rush over there. I had to fly over to Sicily
at a moment's notice to go through them. And we
just still have there's a few more pieces of the
puzzle to put together, but I will tell you, the
(10:18):
bombshells that we've uncovered are pretty bananas.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
All right. This is exciting. I'm in, I'm in, but
be careful, be careful. I don't want it to end
with another murder in your family.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
We don't want that. We don't want that. That's exactly
my husband's like, really, this is what we're doing. And
I'm like, like, I love a mystery. I love a puzzle.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well there you go, all right, Well I love it.
And before we go, we always have an extra credit
for the folks at home, So here it is. These
are the gadgets that would amplify the voice of a
boxer and co star of The Hangover. We're cameo The Hangover?
(11:01):
What might that be? Thank you for listening, and please,
if you do have thirty seconds, please go rate the
Puzzler on your favorite podcast platform. It makes a huge
difference when people are looking to find us. And we
will meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that
will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Hello puzzlers, this is your chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska,
here to sing the extra credit answer from our previous episode,
AJ quiz me on a bunch of songs that are
questions by singing the answer to those questions to the
tune of the original song and your extra credit clue
was no. I believe in science and natural laws, even
(11:50):
in a young girl's heart. And the question that is
the answer to the question is do you believe in magic?
All right, well done puzzlers. If you believe, come back
tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles.
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler podcast The Intero
Bang at the end of your puzzling sentence. I am
your host, AJ Jacobs, and I am here with today's guest,
the amazing Joe Piazza. She's a podcaster, writer, journalist, author,
(00:28):
author of the new novel The Sicilian Inheritance, which is
also a podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Welcome Joe, Hi, thanks for having me. I just love
it when someone uses in terra bang in a sentence.
I just I get so excited.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
That is great. I'm trying to come up with a
sentence now that would be used. Isn't that fantastic there
that would have an in terra bang at the end
of it. For those who don't know the joys of
in terra bank, it's a question mark and an exclamation point.
It's combined, right, it's not find Yeah, it's combined. Yeah. Yeah,
it's not one after the other. It's combined.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No, you're questioning something, but you're very excited.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
About that question, right, All right? Well, I love that
you're a fan as well, are you? And you're a
fan of puzzles at least somewhat.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
I am a puzzle fan and my whole family. We're
really a puzzling family. We have started. We do all
the New York Times puzzles together in the morning at.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Breakfast, which ones exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We do connections short all spelling bee, and then we
switch over to World, which is a geography puzzle game.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Because my seven year old has this ability to name
any country in the world by only seeing its outline.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
That's a great that's a great gift.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Amazing cocktail party trick is what it is.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And by the way, Greg and I were just talking
about World old because it is the the subject of
a lawsuit. The New York Times does not like World.
They no, but I'm rooting for worldal in this.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
We do all right, we doo yeah. So we're a
puzzling family.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I also happen to love your name because I think
your name is very puzzly in many ways. First of all,
you probably know this, but it contains three two letter words,
which I know from scrabble. So Joe is jo is
a Scottish girlfriend. Then Pie it was p I is
(02:31):
of course the number three point one four azy not really,
it's Arizona. But Za last few years became slang for pizza.
So you've got three two letter words. I'm very jealous.
So Joe is not just a Scottish girlfriend. If you
spell it differently, Joe, it could mean, of course, coffee.
(02:53):
So that is the basis of this puzzle. Names like
yours first names that are homonyms of others. So in
this puzzle, if I gave a clue such as coffee
that belongs to the author of the Sicilian inheritance, the
answer would be Joe's.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Joe, Joe's Joe Jojo. Okay, I get it, I get it.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So they're all going to be in that form. So
are you ready? And then after I want to talk
about this Sicilian inheritance because it's got a little puzzle
attached to it.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Oh it sure does.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, all right, so are you ready?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
I'm ready. Let's do this.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
All right?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
This is what the born Identity star uses when he
goes to yoga class. Matt's Matt, Wow, that was fast,
you right, I know.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But I'm just surprised myself with that, because I was
very nervous when you told me what this was going
to be like. And I'm like, oh, okay, okay, all right.
I came in too hot. I came in really hot.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
No, no, just right, all right, here we go. What
about these This is what you might call stocks that
are owned by the singer of if I could turn
back time. Oh okay, hold on, and I'm I'm here
with hints too.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Not just let me think, let me think, let me think.
I think I've got it. You could also say stocked
stocks owned by the main character and clueless for this,
sure got it. Shares shares.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That is exactly right, So you get bonus points for
adding to the puzzle. Nicely done. All right, a few more,
are you ready? I'm ready to have about a small
stream owned by the star of Mother of the Bride,
and also the Blue Lagoon, which is I guess also
a body of water. Didn't realize that till now, So
a stream owned by the Blue Lagoon.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Star brooks Brook.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It is brooks Brook, exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
My gosh. Okay, okay. I love this game. I mean
I love any game that I'm good at.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
You are very good. You are one hundred percent. Here's
another one another. We got some more movie actors for you.
When the star of the Gladiator walked around the set,
this was the soft sound that his toga made.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Oh, Wow, okay, it would be the Gladiator was not
mel Gibson, that was Kilts and that was Scotland. I'm
gonna go with Russell.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Russell's Russell's Russell's exactly Russell Russell, Russell Russe. That's it.
But I imagine the kill also rustled in its own way.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I feel like the Kilts also rustled.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, well, you're doing great. You have not let us
down yet. All right, couple more, what about the tiny
particles that make up the body of Happy Gilmore's main actor,
the tiny part of the tiny particles and you got
it our.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, I'm laughing because we just watched Happy Gilmore for
the first time in probably twenty years, and uh it
held up and Billy Madison did not. Oh interesting, Yeah,
Happy Gilmore is still funny, Billy Madison. Wow, I'm gonna
go with Adams Adams.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
You got it. Adam Sandler's Adam. Oh, by the way,
Russell was Russell Crowe, Brooke was Brook Shields. In case
people didn't share with share share no other there's no weather.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
There's no weather.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
But wait, so Happy Gilmore, that's the the golf hockey one.
But you're saying that was good but but.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
But Bill Billy Billy Madison was a weak man. Real
it just like, yeah, it was rough. It was rough
to watch as a forty four year old woman. But
Happy Gilmore still funny, still funny.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
All right, good, so there you go. News you can
use stick with Happy Gilmore people. All right, we got uh,
we'll do two more. Ok why not? Because they're quick?
All right. This is the person who adjusts the suits
of times twenty twenty three percent of the year.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You were saving the hard ones for last.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, this was the hardest clue I got because.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Oh, okay, okay, yes, is it Taylor's tailor.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
It is Taylor's tailor. You got it exactly. I mean
I was gonna say, pretty much the pop star of
all pop stars.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Forever, forever and ever forever.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yeah, all right, last one, you are one hundred percent
all right. Well, this one might be a little tricky,
depending on how deep your Oprah knowledge goes. But this
is Oprah's best friend who also hosts CBS Mornings. What
if she was faced with a really strong wind that
(07:52):
might be called.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
M all right, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Take your time. I got nothing but time.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Oprah's best friend. Oprah's boyfriend is Studman, but true deadman
is not a homonym for wind, which is gusty, which
is oh, Gail, Gail, Gail Gil. It is Gail's Gail.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
You got it, Gail's Gale, very good, Gail King, whose
last name is also a noun. Yeah, she's very noun heavy. Well,
you did fantastic. You had nothing to worry about you,
you cruised right through. We're very impressed.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Yay, that was so fun. I love it.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
But tell me because you hinted at it before. Your
new novel, The Sicilian Inheritance is it's a novel, but
I believe it's based on a real life mystery.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
It is. It is so The Sicilian Inheritance, I mean
it is. It's a delicious adventure. It's a novel. It's fun,
it's a beach read. But it's loosely based on a
murder in my family from over one hundred years ago.
My great great grandmother, Lorenza was allegedly killed before she
could join the rest of the family in America, and
I wrote the book as fiction. I just wanted to
(09:10):
imagine what it would be like to be this woman
left behind in Sicily and a modern day woman goes
on an adventure there to try to solve this mystery.
But then, because I am a very thorough content creator,
when I finished writing the book, I went back to
Sicily to solve the murder in real life. And I've
been digging through old records and court documents and traveling
(09:35):
to this tiny ancient village where she was from and
interviewing the oldest people in town. And we made a
true crime podcast out of it, also called The Sicilian Inheritance,
which is on iHeart and wherever you can find your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
That is fantastic. All right, I'm in, I am hooked,
And how far are you along in the investigation?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
We've been investigating for about a year. We had a
petition the courts to get access to the homicide and
mafia records from nineteen sixteen, and then I had to
rush over there. I had to fly over to Sicily
at a moment's notice to go through them. And we
just still have there's a few more pieces of the
puzzle to put together, but I will tell you, the
(10:18):
bombshells that we've uncovered are pretty bananas.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
All right. This is exciting. I'm in, I'm in, but
be careful, be careful. I don't want it to end
with another murder in your family.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
We don't want that. We don't want that. That's exactly
my husband's like, really, this is what we're doing. And
I'm like, like, I love a mystery. I love a puzzle.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Well there you go, all right, Well I love it.
And before we go, we always have an extra credit
for the folks at home, So here it is. These
are the gadgets that would amplify the voice of a
boxer and co star of The Hangover. We're cameo The Hangover?
(11:01):
What might that be? Thank you for listening, and please,
if you do have thirty seconds, please go rate the
Puzzler on your favorite podcast platform. It makes a huge
difference when people are looking to find us. And we
will meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that
will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Hello puzzlers, this is your chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska,
here to sing the extra credit answer from our previous episode,
AJ quiz me on a bunch of songs that are
questions by singing the answer to those questions to the
tune of the original song and your extra credit clue
was no. I believe in science and natural laws, even
(11:50):
in a young girl's heart. And the question that is
the answer to the question is do you believe in magic?
All right, well done puzzlers. If you believe, come back
tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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