July 16, 2025 • 15 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: actor, comedian, singer-songwriter, and co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom!
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. This is
a challenging one. My wife Julie said, it's a tough fee,
but I am optimistic that you'll crack it. What do
these names have in common? Buzz Aldron, Bob Ross, Caesar Chavez,
and Pixie Geldoff, the singer and daughter of Bob Geldoff.
(00:21):
So let me say it again with a little different emphasis.
Buzz Aldron, Bob Ross, Caesar Chavez, Pixie Geldoff, singer and
daughter of Bob Geldoff. With the Bob and a hint,
our guest is Rachel Blue, as in the Rachel Bloom.
The answer and more puzzling puzzles after the break, Hello puzzlers,
(00:51):
welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. The cave metaphor in
your puzzle platonic dialogue.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh that's deep, you go deep here.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That was very thank you. I'm your host, A J. Jacobs.
And that, of course, the man impressed with our death
is Chief Puzzle Officer Greg fliska Greg. Before the break,
we asked, what do these names have in common? Buzz Aldrin,
Bob Ro, Caesar Chovis, Pixie Geldof, Rachel Bloom, any thoughts.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, you know, I was just gonna say the great
thing about never reading the script is that I get
to be entertained by the opening. And I don't know
the answers to the puzzles. Buzz and Bob and Pixie
are all haircuts. That is a guessing. Caesar and a
Rachel are also haircuts. But I'm ignorant about these things,
(01:42):
so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Well, you are correct about three, and you guessed correctly
about two. The sort of the Caesar style haircut, it's
like looks.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Like oh little page boy ish.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, it's got the bangs in the front. George Clooney
had one early on and the Rachel was a famous
haircut that Rachel, the character on Friends had. Jennifer Anison
had the Rachel and it became a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And I'm hoping someday this podcast is going to be
so hot that people are going to get the AJ.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
The AJ is sort of the balding male pattern, balding.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Right, people are going to have it cut to look
just like great. I have another person that could finish. Yeah,
tell me fade unaway.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Wow, hear that people fade well done? That was clever.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
That was clever. My work is done.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I also thought Madame de Pompadour, but I'm guessing that's two.
It's too on.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Her and it's named for her. Yeah, it's named for pumpad.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, well done. I bring it up, of course, because
we have the wonderful Rachel Bloom, who does not have
a haircut named after her, but she is an incredibly
talented person. She is co creator and star of Crazy
Ex Girlfriend. She has a Netflix special Death Let me
do my special. Please welcome Rachel Bloom. Hello, Hello, So Rachel,
(03:09):
did you ever have a Rachel kind of it?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Never?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Really, my hair is too I have thick hair, but
it's kind of too wavy.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I think to have ever really pulled off the Rachel
got it?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And were you okay with having a haircut named after
you or he felt a little like, don't co opt
my name for your.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Oh if I felt ownership over the name Rachel, that
would be pathetic.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Well, today we have a puzzle from Chief Puzzle Officer
Greg Puliska, so I am going to turn it over
to him.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I was waiting for a haircut segue that was somehow
going to get to that.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
My favorite segue that you've done is speaking of.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Right, speaking of speaking, Greg to do some speaking, all right, Rachel.
So this is uh, you know, crazy Ex Girlfriend was
so great, such a big hit, and here in the
puzzle lab we thought maybe, just maybe it's because of
that X prefix that's in it, and so we've decided
to improve on a bunch of other things just by
(04:15):
sticking X in front of one of the words great. Right, So,
for example, if I said, this is the place on
the turnpike where you have to stop and pay someone
to praise you, that would be the ex toll booth.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
Oh boy, oh I love you.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's not just the toll booth to booth all right.
So let's see how this goes and maybe, you know,
maybe one of these will become a great hit. So
the first one is this. It's a musical film starring
Whoopee Goldberg. She plays a very pedantic nun.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Sister exact exactly very good.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That was fast upon sister act of course. Yeah, well
it was right in the sweet spot.
Speaker 6 (04:56):
Yeah, but it's also what other musicals? Is what you've
been in for film? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
How about this Stephen King novel about a scary clown
that haunts the New Jersey Turnpike. It's a very short title,
this novel. It's the one with Pennywise the clown.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
Exit.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, exit, what exit?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You remember?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's not it, it's exit, all right. The First Amendment guarantees this,
which allows you to take the two or the three
train anytime you want instead of the local one.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
Express.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Freedom, freedom, freedom of the express, yes, yes, freedom of yes.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Take any train you want.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And you used to live in New York, so you
do know that the the two and the three is express.
Did you live here?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
I do it?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How long did you live here?
Speaker 6 (05:54):
About six years? But I go back off into we
love to have you?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Did you? Did you meet Adam and Jack for the
show here or did you hook up with them when
you moved to LA and did the show?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I met Jack first in New York, years and years ago.
Jack produced the original song that.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
I had, Oh right, And then I met Adam out
here through a lean rash Packenna, who you already.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Have, of course, and that's Jack Dilgen and Adam Slashinger.
Of course we're on a first name basis, all of us,
so we us ago. All right, Uh, here's this one
is Uh, here's your next clube, downward facing dog showing
his ass, warrior flashing someone, and Cobra's underbelly. These are
all examples of these things.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Oh like yoga exposes Yoga exposes instead of very good.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I love it because you have to look on your face,
You're looking off in the distance, and then you're like, oh,
I got it, it's perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I will I will use this as opportunity to say
I love the song on Crazy Ex Girlfriend I'm so
good at yoga, which is very similar to how I
feel when I go to yoga. Not the so good part,
but I feel there's like a competitive edge, and people
who are good at it are like really showing off,
(07:19):
and I feel terrible, and that's why I don't go
to yoga.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Here's what I'll say is I've started doing slow flow classes.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Very gentle, just a slower flow where it's just very
lovely and welcoming and it's like we're gonna go slow, So.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
You recommend that I do? All right, Right, I'll try it.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Kinder gentler yoga.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I like it all right. Well, here's your next one.
When you write a paper, you have to put these
indicators at the end to show what sources you used,
and they are such a turn on.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
This is a hard one.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, I have a daughter who's in high school who
was struggling with these.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
These are excites, yes, yes, because you have to cite.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Right, yes, excitations, excitations deep in the bibliographic excitations, and
they were not exciting the other night.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
But the people should still have to go to the
library and read books and write.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I'm not sure she actually went to the library and
read any books, but she did cite them.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
Great, that's all you need, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
There is a movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger does pest
Control and it features the famous famous quote, I'll be
back monthly.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Jerry clever.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
This would be the exterminator.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The exterminator exactly, exactly, all right. After you get off
a plane, you often go to this area where everyone
shouts joyfully at the sight of their luggage.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Oh uh oh, baggage exclaim.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Baggage exclaim exactly. All of those have been kind of
spelling based. This one is a little more phonetic. The
spelling is slightly different, but it's what you might use
to call your spreadsheet.
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Oh, what you might.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Use to call your spreadsheet.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
And Excel sell an Excel an Excel phone, an Excel phone. Okay, okay, yeah,
you get credit for that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
And I feel nowadays, like with AI, you can call
your spreadsheet and have a conversation with it.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
I could have been answering all these just using chat GPT.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I guess you know, so far chat GPT is not
as smart as you are.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
So far give it, give it three months exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
It's gonna it's gonna suck this ship into its learning
mechanism and then it'll kill us. All all right, These
next two are connected. Las Vegas has a lot of
people impersonating this singer very clearly and directly. You need
his last name, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Oh, Elvis expressly.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Elvis expressly.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And there's an Elvis expressly song that's about something that
makes the romance last longer. M yea, what is that?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Wow?
Speaker 6 (10:46):
No, why am I not thinking of what that song is?
I know they'll tune.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
And it starts with a synonym for romance, the four
letter word that means romance.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Well, you used in the Ray Bradbury.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
No love making love Nope, love love is the first
word of the.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Song love not love you.
Speaker 6 (11:08):
Oh I'm sorry, love me tender.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Exactly, but you gotta make it last.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Longer, oh, love me extender, which does sound like a
product you'd find, Yes, that.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
Sounds like you'd find on certain websites.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
What we got time from? Well, speaking of romance, this
is the opening of the Book of Mormon, when all
the basic facts about the show are laid out by
the two protagonists who are on their way to Africa.
So this is this is a hard one to clue
properly because it's actually based upon something that has nothing
(11:46):
to do with any of that. The original phrase is
a is about sex.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
I'm sorry, we're adding we're adding.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
X to something. Yeah, what's what are those two guys
in Book of Mormon? They are what?
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Oh, oh, ex missionaries?
Speaker 6 (12:01):
No they are they are not missionaries.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yes, and if you were having sex, you might use
the missionary position, but this is the opening of the
Book of Mormon. It's the missionary exposition.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Yes, okay, okay, that's a.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Thinker's Yeah, there was no way to do that simply,
but I was so amused, but I had to, like
had to be and it turns out to just be
the Book of Mormaning. All right, your last one back
to musical theater. This is the opening of Fiddler on
the Roof, except Tavia is an international lawyer tracking down
fugitive criminals and bringing them back to their home countries.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Extra dish exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I'm so glad you're saying it too brilliantly.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Were you ever in a Fiddler production?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
No, no, that's the bucket list. I'll do anything.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, that would be great.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Yes, I agree.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Please, Well done, Rachel.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
This was so fun. Rachel. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You proved your puzzling uh credentials.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You wonder Allen said, Oh, she's going to be so
good at this.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Oh no, she was right, Okay great.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I was like, oh, I don't know, but no, Allen's
so great, so great, I'm going to go pick up
my daughter for the dentist excellent.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Hopefully this was more fun than that. That's all we
ask hopefully.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Well, Thank you, Rachel, Thank you puzzlers at home, and
thank you Greg. Greg. Do you have an extra credit
for the folks at home?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
And extra credit? And you know what else? I realized
the puzzle. I never said this while we were playing it,
but I called this puzzle extensions, right, And that's another
hair them to this.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I look at that. We didn't even make we didn't
even do that on purpose. But we're so in unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
All right, So you're extra credit listeners. Is this This
is the American revolutionary who purportedly said, I only regret
that I have but one breath to breathe out for
my country. I only regret that I have button one
breath to breathe out for my country. I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
All right, Well done. Think on that, people, and we'll
get you the answer tomorrow. But in the meantime, if
you have some time and are still hankering for puzzles,
then go check out our Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers,
where we post original puzzles and other fun stuff, and
we will meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
(14:27):
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Hey Puzzlers, at your Chief puzzle Officer Greg Pliska here
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
The very talented, very funny, very smart Rachel Bloom was
with us and we played a game that AJ called
Arianna Venti, as in Ariana Grande moved up one one
in a sequence of Starbucks level and so your extracretit
(15:03):
clue is the Mountain intelligence agency that is advanced on
one notch from some other thing, and that of course
is the Central Intelligence Agency. Those are all time zones,
so if you go one further west from Central time,
you get Mountain time. So whatever time zone you're in,
(15:24):
we hope you're enjoying the Puzzler, our own little puzzling
intelligence agency here on iHeartMedia
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. This is
a challenging one. My wife Julie said, it's a tough fee,
but I am optimistic that you'll crack it. What do
these names have in common? Buzz Aldron, Bob Ross, Caesar Chavez,
and Pixie Geldoff, the singer and daughter of Bob Geldoff.
(00:21):
So let me say it again with a little different emphasis.
Buzz Aldron, Bob Ross, Caesar Chavez, Pixie Geldoff, singer and
daughter of Bob Geldoff. With the Bob and a hint,
our guest is Rachel Blue, as in the Rachel Bloom.
The answer and more puzzling puzzles after the break, Hello puzzlers,
(00:51):
welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. The cave metaphor in
your puzzle platonic dialogue.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh that's deep, you go deep here.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
That was very thank you. I'm your host, A J. Jacobs.
And that, of course, the man impressed with our death
is Chief Puzzle Officer Greg fliska Greg. Before the break,
we asked, what do these names have in common? Buzz Aldrin,
Bob Ro, Caesar Chovis, Pixie Geldof, Rachel Bloom, any thoughts.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, you know, I was just gonna say the great
thing about never reading the script is that I get
to be entertained by the opening. And I don't know
the answers to the puzzles. Buzz and Bob and Pixie
are all haircuts. That is a guessing. Caesar and a
Rachel are also haircuts. But I'm ignorant about these things,
(01:42):
so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Well, you are correct about three, and you guessed correctly
about two. The sort of the Caesar style haircut, it's
like looks.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Like oh little page boy ish.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Well, it's got the bangs in the front. George Clooney
had one early on and the Rachel was a famous
haircut that Rachel, the character on Friends had. Jennifer Anison
had the Rachel and it became a thing.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And I'm hoping someday this podcast is going to be
so hot that people are going to get the AJ.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
The AJ is sort of the balding male pattern, balding.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Right, people are going to have it cut to look
just like great. I have another person that could finish. Yeah,
tell me fade unaway.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Wow, hear that people fade well done? That was clever.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
That was clever. My work is done.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
I also thought Madame de Pompadour, but I'm guessing that's two.
It's too on.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Her and it's named for her. Yeah, it's named for pumpad.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Well, well done. I bring it up, of course, because
we have the wonderful Rachel Bloom, who does not have
a haircut named after her, but she is an incredibly
talented person. She is co creator and star of Crazy
Ex Girlfriend. She has a Netflix special Death Let me
do my special. Please welcome Rachel Bloom. Hello, Hello, So Rachel,
(03:09):
did you ever have a Rachel kind of it?
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Never?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Really, my hair is too I have thick hair, but
it's kind of too wavy.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I think to have ever really pulled off the Rachel
got it?
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And were you okay with having a haircut named after
you or he felt a little like, don't co opt
my name for your.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Oh if I felt ownership over the name Rachel, that
would be pathetic.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Well, today we have a puzzle from Chief Puzzle Officer
Greg Puliska, so I am going to turn it over
to him.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
I was waiting for a haircut segue that was somehow
going to get to that.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
My favorite segue that you've done is speaking of.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Right, speaking of speaking, Greg to do some speaking, all right, Rachel.
So this is uh, you know, crazy Ex Girlfriend was
so great, such a big hit, and here in the
puzzle lab we thought maybe, just maybe it's because of
that X prefix that's in it, and so we've decided
to improve on a bunch of other things just by
(04:15):
sticking X in front of one of the words great. Right, So,
for example, if I said, this is the place on
the turnpike where you have to stop and pay someone
to praise you, that would be the ex toll booth.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
Oh boy, oh I love you.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That's not just the toll booth to booth all right.
So let's see how this goes and maybe, you know,
maybe one of these will become a great hit. So
the first one is this. It's a musical film starring
Whoopee Goldberg. She plays a very pedantic nun.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Sister exact exactly very good.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
That was fast upon sister act of course. Yeah, well
it was right in the sweet spot.
Speaker 6 (04:56):
Yeah, but it's also what other musicals? Is what you've
been in for film? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
How about this Stephen King novel about a scary clown
that haunts the New Jersey Turnpike. It's a very short title,
this novel. It's the one with Pennywise the clown.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
Exit.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, exit, what exit?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
You remember?
Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's not it, it's exit, all right. The First Amendment guarantees this,
which allows you to take the two or the three
train anytime you want instead of the local one.
Speaker 6 (05:38):
Express.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Freedom, freedom, freedom of the express, yes, yes, freedom of yes.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Take any train you want.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And you used to live in New York, so you
do know that the the two and the three is express.
Did you live here?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
I do it?
Speaker 1 (05:53):
How long did you live here?
Speaker 6 (05:54):
About six years? But I go back off into we
love to have you?
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Did you? Did you meet Adam and Jack for the
show here or did you hook up with them when
you moved to LA and did the show?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I met Jack first in New York, years and years ago.
Jack produced the original song that.
Speaker 6 (06:13):
I had, Oh right, And then I met Adam out
here through a lean rash Packenna, who you already.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Have, of course, and that's Jack Dilgen and Adam Slashinger.
Of course we're on a first name basis, all of us,
so we us ago. All right, Uh, here's this one
is Uh, here's your next clube, downward facing dog showing
his ass, warrior flashing someone, and Cobra's underbelly. These are
all examples of these things.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Oh like yoga exposes Yoga exposes instead of very good.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I love it because you have to look on your face,
You're looking off in the distance, and then you're like, oh,
I got it, it's perfect.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
I will I will use this as opportunity to say
I love the song on Crazy Ex Girlfriend I'm so
good at yoga, which is very similar to how I
feel when I go to yoga. Not the so good part,
but I feel there's like a competitive edge, and people
who are good at it are like really showing off,
(07:19):
and I feel terrible, and that's why I don't go
to yoga.
Speaker 5 (07:23):
Here's what I'll say is I've started doing slow flow classes.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
What's that?
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Very gentle, just a slower flow where it's just very
lovely and welcoming and it's like we're gonna go slow, So.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
You recommend that I do? All right, Right, I'll try it.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Kinder gentler yoga.
Speaker 6 (07:42):
Yeah, I like it.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I like it all right. Well, here's your next one.
When you write a paper, you have to put these
indicators at the end to show what sources you used,
and they are such a turn on.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
This is a hard one.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, I have a daughter who's in high school who
was struggling with these.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
These are excites, yes, yes, because you have to cite.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Right, yes, excitations, excitations deep in the bibliographic excitations, and
they were not exciting the other night.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
But the people should still have to go to the
library and read books and write.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I'm not sure she actually went to the library and
read any books, but she did cite them.
Speaker 6 (08:30):
Great, that's all you need, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
There is a movie in which Arnold Schwarzenegger does pest
Control and it features the famous famous quote, I'll be
back monthly.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
Jerry clever.
Speaker 6 (08:51):
This would be the exterminator.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
The exterminator exactly, exactly, all right. After you get off
a plane, you often go to this area where everyone
shouts joyfully at the sight of their luggage.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Oh uh oh, baggage exclaim.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Baggage exclaim exactly. All of those have been kind of
spelling based. This one is a little more phonetic. The
spelling is slightly different, but it's what you might use
to call your spreadsheet.
Speaker 6 (09:25):
Oh, what you might.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Use to call your spreadsheet.
Speaker 6 (09:31):
And Excel sell an Excel an Excel phone, an Excel phone. Okay, okay, yeah,
you get credit for that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
And I feel nowadays, like with AI, you can call
your spreadsheet and have a conversation with it.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
I could have been answering all these just using chat GPT.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I guess you know, so far chat GPT is not
as smart as you are.
Speaker 6 (09:55):
So far give it, give it three months exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
It's gonna it's gonna suck this ship into its learning
mechanism and then it'll kill us. All all right, These
next two are connected. Las Vegas has a lot of
people impersonating this singer very clearly and directly. You need
his last name, oh oh.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
Oh, Elvis expressly.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Elvis expressly.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
And there's an Elvis expressly song that's about something that
makes the romance last longer. M yea, what is that?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Wow?
Speaker 6 (10:46):
No, why am I not thinking of what that song is?
I know they'll tune.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
And it starts with a synonym for romance, the four
letter word that means romance.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Well, you used in the Ray Bradbury.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
No love making love Nope, love love is the first
word of the.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Song love not love you.
Speaker 6 (11:08):
Oh I'm sorry, love me tender.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Exactly, but you gotta make it last.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Longer, oh, love me extender, which does sound like a
product you'd find, Yes, that.
Speaker 6 (11:20):
Sounds like you'd find on certain websites.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
What we got time from? Well, speaking of romance, this
is the opening of the Book of Mormon, when all
the basic facts about the show are laid out by
the two protagonists who are on their way to Africa.
So this is this is a hard one to clue
properly because it's actually based upon something that has nothing
(11:46):
to do with any of that. The original phrase is
a is about sex.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
I'm sorry, we're adding we're adding.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
X to something. Yeah, what's what are those two guys
in Book of Mormon? They are what?
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Oh, oh, ex missionaries?
Speaker 6 (12:01):
No they are they are not missionaries.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Yes, and if you were having sex, you might use
the missionary position, but this is the opening of the
Book of Mormon. It's the missionary exposition.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
Yes, okay, okay, that's a.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Thinker's Yeah, there was no way to do that simply,
but I was so amused, but I had to, like
had to be and it turns out to just be
the Book of Mormaning. All right, your last one back
to musical theater. This is the opening of Fiddler on
the Roof, except Tavia is an international lawyer tracking down
fugitive criminals and bringing them back to their home countries.
Speaker 6 (12:40):
Extra dish exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
I'm so glad you're saying it too brilliantly.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Were you ever in a Fiddler production?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
No, no, that's the bucket list. I'll do anything.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, that would be great.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Yes, I agree.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Please, Well done, Rachel.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
This was so fun. Rachel. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You proved your puzzling uh credentials.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You wonder Allen said, Oh, she's going to be so
good at this.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Oh no, she was right, Okay great.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I was like, oh, I don't know, but no, Allen's
so great, so great, I'm going to go pick up
my daughter for the dentist excellent.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Hopefully this was more fun than that. That's all we
ask hopefully.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Well, Thank you, Rachel, Thank you puzzlers at home, and
thank you Greg. Greg. Do you have an extra credit
for the folks at home?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
And extra credit? And you know what else? I realized
the puzzle. I never said this while we were playing it,
but I called this puzzle extensions, right, And that's another
hair them to this.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
I look at that. We didn't even make we didn't
even do that on purpose. But we're so in unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
All right, So you're extra credit listeners. Is this This
is the American revolutionary who purportedly said, I only regret
that I have but one breath to breathe out for
my country. I only regret that I have button one
breath to breathe out for my country. I love it.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
All right, Well done. Think on that, people, and we'll
get you the answer tomorrow. But in the meantime, if
you have some time and are still hankering for puzzles,
then go check out our Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers,
where we post original puzzles and other fun stuff, and
we will meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
(14:27):
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Hey Puzzlers, at your Chief puzzle Officer Greg Pliska here
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
The very talented, very funny, very smart Rachel Bloom was
with us and we played a game that AJ called
Arianna Venti, as in Ariana Grande moved up one one
in a sequence of Starbucks level and so your extracretit
(15:03):
clue is the Mountain intelligence agency that is advanced on
one notch from some other thing, and that of course
is the Central Intelligence Agency. Those are all time zones,
so if you go one further west from Central time,
you get Mountain time. So whatever time zone you're in,
(15:24):
we hope you're enjoying the Puzzler, our own little puzzling
intelligence agency here on iHeartMedia
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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