November 6, 2023 • 7 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. This satisfying
pop in your daily puzzle bubble wrap. I am your host,
AJ Jacobs, and I am here with our guest puzzler,
the Fantastic Musician author Serious XM radio host Lisa Lobe.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hello, Lisa, Hello, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm so happy to have you. And you're You're not
just a like a newbie to the puzzling world. You
are a puzzler and a puzzle creator.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I am. I got to create a puzzle with professional
Doug Peterson, who writes a lot of puzzles for The
New York Times, and a few years ago Will Shortz
reached out to me, which was one of the biggest
highlights of my life getting an email from Will Schwartz
and asked if I would be one of the people
who would help write a puzzle. And I learned what
(00:59):
it was like to make a puzzle with a professional
and how was it. It was amazing. It was actually
very similar to writing a song. There's a lot that
goes into writing a puzzle, that is thinking of a theme,
which is kind of what you do when you write
a song. You sort of think about what your song
is about, or there may be a phrase that leads
you to think about what your song is about that
anchors everything. And then you go around and try to
(01:20):
figure out what words will fit into the spaces that
you've created musically, and in this case it's more spatially,
not musically.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I did your crossword puzzle recently and it was very catchy.
It was a catchy jingle, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Thank you, yeah PATCHI not a difficult one, but it
was challenging enough.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Well, our puzzles are I think, challenging enough but not
too difficult. And let me talk about the first one. Well, Lisa,
why do you think what comes to mind when I
say this word? Fidelity?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Fidelity? Oh? I think it's some kind of a bank
thing or investments, right, but also wedding mayor.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Wait, let me try it again. Let me try it again,
though fidelity.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I don't know. I think that sounds like a commercial
that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It is the way I'm saying it, which I'm glad
you're not phased or unsettled or alarmed. But I was
saying it in a very high falsetto voice, So high fidelity.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Oh, fidelity yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't get that. I
was like banks. Meanwhile, it's a music it's it's like
a music reference. Perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
There you go. We are going to play what we
call earbuses. They're sort of ribuses for the ear. And
it's just like I did the High Fidelity where I'll
say a word and I'll say it in a certain way,
a certain tone or a certain tenor or a certain accent,
and you combine the word and the way that I
said it, and you're going to get a two word
(02:58):
answer or maybe three word, but usually too. So are
you ready?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I'm ready?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
These by the way, we're written by Chief puzzle Officer
Greg Pliska and associate puzzler Andre Schomberg. All right, number
one Riot.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Oh my gosh, i's rocket.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
No rocket Riot? All right, there it is rocket.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
What's a whisper rocket.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
There's a whisper jet. Okay, nice, yes, come on feel
the noise. That was their classic. Oh yeah, all right,
well done. I'll try to I'll try to enunciate more.
You're ready, muffin, muffin, muffin, I should have watched a
YouTube video to get better.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Muffin. Let me think you're saying muffin.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, you got the word right. I'm trying to do
an accent of some sort muffin.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
More muffing sounds like your your mouth is full of something.
But I don't think that's what it is. It's supposed
to be an accent of particular place.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, think of muffin. What kind of accent might go
with muffin?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I believe I have no idea what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
All right, Well it's not French. It's not a French accent.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It's not a French muffin. Oh English muffin. Oh that
was an English You could be Dick van dyke in
Mary Pofins.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
What a compliment?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I do you love English muffins?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, let me hear. How would you say it? You're
more of a professional.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I don't know. I'm not. I don't know. I'm not
a good with accents.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Maybe that's the problem. Muffin is a hard all right,
this one requires no accent. Are you ready?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I hope?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So? Crown, crown, crown, crown, crown, crown. Right, I'd said
it a certain number of times.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Three crowns crown three.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
My brain, No, No, that's good, you got it. Three
Another word for three triple crown.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Oh my god, my friend. You know where I think
I'm realizing as I'm talking to you. I think I
might be more of a visual puzzler. But anyway, let's
go it again.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Which is interesting for a musician. Yeah, all right, we
got we got two or three more? Okay, how about
this one?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Birds? Birds? There you go, okay, good? Yeah, that was good.
That was good.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
All right. This one's actually a little trickier. I'll give
you the category because it's a it's a TV character
from our childhood, because you're you're my family. Yeah, okay,
you ready. Jefferson, the word was Jefferson.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh Jefferson. Oh we see Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Weizy Jefferson exactly. Moving on up from the Jeffersons, well
well done. Where can people get more Lisa Lobe in
their lives?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
The best place is Lisa Lobe dot com because then
it will link you to things like Lisa Lobe Official
TikTok or my YouTube channel, Lisa Lobe Official YouTube Channel,
where you can see all the videos to so much
of my music music you might not even know yet.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Love it well, thank you, Lisa, thank you loved it.
And before we go as always, we have an extra
credit puzzle for the puzzlers at home. Okay, an earbus
for them, which is burn. Don't say it, don't say
it if you know, but I'm gonna do it again.
(06:26):
Oh she raised her hands, she knows, she knows. Okay, burn. Okay, Puzzlers,
Please don't forget to subscribe to the Puzzler Podcast and
I'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that
will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Hello puzzlers. Greg Pliska here up from the basement the
Puzzle Lab with the extra credit answer from our previous show.
On that show, we were discussing toponyms things named for places,
and I gave you a clue to this toponym. The
Icelandic word for gush was used to describe a particularly
(07:07):
active spring that shot water high into the air. It
also happened to be one of the first of this
kind of feature encountered by Europeans more widely, and thus
became the English word we use for one of these
naturally occurring water spouts. The answer, of course, is geyser.
The original Icelandic I believe is g e ysi r
(07:30):
refers to a very specific water spout in Iceland, but
now we use that word in English to mean any
of those natural occurring items. Stay out of the geysers
and do more puzzles. We'll see you next time.
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast. This satisfying
pop in your daily puzzle bubble wrap. I am your host,
AJ Jacobs, and I am here with our guest puzzler,
the Fantastic Musician author Serious XM radio host Lisa Lobe.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hello, Lisa, Hello, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm so happy to have you. And you're You're not
just a like a newbie to the puzzling world. You
are a puzzler and a puzzle creator.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I am. I got to create a puzzle with professional
Doug Peterson, who writes a lot of puzzles for The
New York Times, and a few years ago Will Shortz
reached out to me, which was one of the biggest
highlights of my life getting an email from Will Schwartz
and asked if I would be one of the people
who would help write a puzzle. And I learned what
(00:59):
it was like to make a puzzle with a professional
and how was it. It was amazing. It was actually
very similar to writing a song. There's a lot that
goes into writing a puzzle, that is thinking of a theme,
which is kind of what you do when you write
a song. You sort of think about what your song
is about, or there may be a phrase that leads
you to think about what your song is about that
anchors everything. And then you go around and try to
(01:20):
figure out what words will fit into the spaces that
you've created musically, and in this case it's more spatially,
not musically.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
I did your crossword puzzle recently and it was very catchy.
It was a catchy jingle, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Thank you, yeah PATCHI not a difficult one, but it
was challenging enough.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Well, our puzzles are I think, challenging enough but not
too difficult. And let me talk about the first one. Well, Lisa,
why do you think what comes to mind when I
say this word? Fidelity?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Fidelity? Oh? I think it's some kind of a bank
thing or investments, right, but also wedding mayor.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Wait, let me try it again. Let me try it again,
though fidelity.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I don't know. I think that sounds like a commercial
that I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It is the way I'm saying it, which I'm glad
you're not phased or unsettled or alarmed. But I was
saying it in a very high falsetto voice, So high fidelity.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Oh, fidelity yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't get that. I
was like banks. Meanwhile, it's a music it's it's like
a music reference. Perfect.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
There you go. We are going to play what we
call earbuses. They're sort of ribuses for the ear. And
it's just like I did the High Fidelity where I'll
say a word and I'll say it in a certain way,
a certain tone or a certain tenor or a certain accent,
and you combine the word and the way that I
said it, and you're going to get a two word
(02:58):
answer or maybe three word, but usually too. So are
you ready?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
I'm ready?
Speaker 1 (03:03):
These by the way, we're written by Chief puzzle Officer
Greg Pliska and associate puzzler Andre Schomberg. All right, number
one Riot.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Oh my gosh, i's rocket.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
No rocket Riot? All right, there it is rocket.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
What's a whisper rocket.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
There's a whisper jet. Okay, nice, yes, come on feel
the noise. That was their classic. Oh yeah, all right,
well done. I'll try to I'll try to enunciate more.
You're ready, muffin, muffin, muffin, I should have watched a
YouTube video to get better.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Muffin. Let me think you're saying muffin.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, you got the word right. I'm trying to do
an accent of some sort muffin.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
More muffing sounds like your your mouth is full of something.
But I don't think that's what it is. It's supposed
to be an accent of particular place.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Well, think of muffin. What kind of accent might go
with muffin?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
I believe I have no idea what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
All right, Well it's not French. It's not a French accent.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It's not a French muffin. Oh English muffin. Oh that
was an English You could be Dick van dyke in
Mary Pofins.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
What a compliment?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I do you love English muffins?
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Well, let me hear. How would you say it? You're
more of a professional.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I don't know. I'm not. I don't know. I'm not
a good with accents.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Maybe that's the problem. Muffin is a hard all right,
this one requires no accent. Are you ready?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I hope?
Speaker 1 (04:42):
So? Crown, crown, crown, crown, crown, crown. Right, I'd said
it a certain number of times.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Three crowns crown three.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
My brain, No, No, that's good, you got it. Three
Another word for three triple crown.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Oh my god, my friend. You know where I think
I'm realizing as I'm talking to you. I think I
might be more of a visual puzzler. But anyway, let's
go it again.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Which is interesting for a musician. Yeah, all right, we
got we got two or three more? Okay, how about
this one?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Birds? Birds? There you go, okay, good? Yeah, that was good.
That was good.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
All right. This one's actually a little trickier. I'll give
you the category because it's a it's a TV character
from our childhood, because you're you're my family. Yeah, okay,
you ready. Jefferson, the word was Jefferson.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Oh Jefferson. Oh we see Jefferson.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Weizy Jefferson exactly. Moving on up from the Jeffersons, well
well done. Where can people get more Lisa Lobe in
their lives?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
The best place is Lisa Lobe dot com because then
it will link you to things like Lisa Lobe Official
TikTok or my YouTube channel, Lisa Lobe Official YouTube Channel,
where you can see all the videos to so much
of my music music you might not even know yet.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Love it well, thank you, Lisa, thank you loved it.
And before we go as always, we have an extra
credit puzzle for the puzzlers at home. Okay, an earbus
for them, which is burn. Don't say it, don't say
it if you know, but I'm gonna do it again.
(06:26):
Oh she raised her hands, she knows, she knows. Okay, burn. Okay, Puzzlers,
Please don't forget to subscribe to the Puzzler Podcast and
I'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that
will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Hello puzzlers. Greg Pliska here up from the basement the
Puzzle Lab with the extra credit answer from our previous show.
On that show, we were discussing toponyms things named for places,
and I gave you a clue to this toponym. The
Icelandic word for gush was used to describe a particularly
(07:07):
active spring that shot water high into the air. It
also happened to be one of the first of this
kind of feature encountered by Europeans more widely, and thus
became the English word we use for one of these
naturally occurring water spouts. The answer, of course, is geyser.
The original Icelandic I believe is g e ysi r
(07:30):
refers to a very specific water spout in Iceland, but
now we use that word in English to mean any
of those natural occurring items. Stay out of the geysers
and do more puzzles. We'll see you next time.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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