June 4, 2025 • 17 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: sports journalist and host of the first ever daily women's sports podcast, iHeart's "Good Game with Sarah Spain," Sarah Spain! Sarah's first book, Runs in the Family, comes out this week from Simon and Schuster.
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, actually a riddle.
What men's professional sports team has a name that sounds
like the word for a female animal, namely a female horse.
This sports team is spelled differently but pronounced the same.
The answer and more puzzling puzzles after the break. Hello puzzlers,
(00:31):
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast The Elephant Diorama in
your Puzzle Natural History Museum. I'm your host, Adrew Jacobs.
I'm here, of course, with chief puzzle Officer Greg Puliska. Greg.
Before the break, we asked listeners about a men's professional
sports team that has a name that sounds like the
word for a female animal, specifically a female horse. Four
(00:54):
years are younger, and a thought.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm a Mets fan.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I can't say the name of it this time out loud.
I'm sorry to say no, but I we did. I
think we swept the first series against the Phillies this season,
so I'm very happy to mention the Philadelphia Phillies.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You got it correctly. So I thought it was interesting
from a gender standpoint, and because we have a guest
today who knows all about both men's and women's sports,
our guest is the great Sarah Spain, host of Good
Game with Sarah Spain. Welcome Sarah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That was a good one. My brain got stuck on mayor,
but I missed the miss.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
There you go, the mayors, Bavies.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, I got I was. I was stuck in the
same time, mayors. There's no team called.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
The Senators, the Washington Senators. From way back when Sarah,
I read in college that you were a heptathlete. For
those who are ignorant, can you tell us what a
heptathlete consists of?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Well, I have a puzzle for you. How many events
is that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I looked it up. I happen to know.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Lappy's gonna be. I know my heptad right be seven?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Or yes, yes it would.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Now I'm just now, I'm just messing with you. That is, yes,
it is long jump, high jump, eight hundred meters, two
hundred meters, hurdles, javelin and shot put.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Love it, Andre. Was there one or two that you
were were your favorites?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yes, javelin and hurdles that I would say, and then
long jump. My least favorite by far was the eight
hundred meters, which is essentially sprinting a half mile at
the end when you're already tired.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
But I love that the three you picked.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Like one is a throwing thing. O, there's a running
and jumping thing. The other is a jumping very different.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Why was a heptathle alcohol master of none? Although you
know what I've been saying that for you is my
entire life to explain my interest in many, many things,
and that it's okay that I'm not the expert of
any I just am pretty good at all of them.
And there's more to that quote that I have not
committed to memory. That is actually about how it's a
good thing. Oh, and beating a jack of all trades
(03:07):
instead of a master is the better way, but I've
never come.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Oh I happen to agree. And also what about Jill
of all trades? Shouldn't it be Jill of all?
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Right? Yes, it really should be. I should start I
should start correcting myself on that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
One one last thing before we get into the puzzle.
I once went down a YouTube rabbit hole about javelins.
And you might know about these two men from Spain
in nineteen fifty You know about them?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Oh, well, they figured out a better way to throw
the javelin. They spun around really quickly like the discus,
and then released it and it went much farther. But
then the governing body was like, well, we don't want
people to get speared in the face all the time, so.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Maybe somewise yeah, yeah, But I was like.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love when they come like the Fosberry flop in back.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Yeah, I'll have to look that up. The only javelin
reference I usually ever get is from Revenge of the Nerds,
when the javelin is the like floppy not not exactly regulation.
So I appreciate being informed about these Spanish man. I'll
have to go back and check it out.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
My pleasure. Well, we consider doing a puzzle about things
with seven parts, like the heptathlon or seven Wonders of
the Ancient World, but we are a short podcast, so
we decide to shorten things and do a puzzle well
four parts. So the four part this is a find
the foursome. So I'm gonna give you these are all
(04:34):
things that come in fours, like Mount Rushmore, has Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt.
So in this puzzle, I'll give you one of the
four and you try to tell me what the category is.
If you can't get it, I'll give you a second,
I'll give you a third, But you get them most.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
But the points go down, I imagine.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
And so does the respect for my limited intellect.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yes, well, yes, the points which are worth zero dollars anyway,
But you will. We are excited to try. Should we
start or do you need another example?
Speaker 4 (05:10):
No? I think I will, I'll know it, or I won't.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, how about Wimbledon, Wimbledon.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
I would say Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, et cetera.
These would be Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
You got it. She's on, she's in. By the way,
this is not part of the puzzle. But I didn't
know until yesterday. There is a quadrathlon with four sports
that does anyone know? The fourth? It's swimming, biking, running
like in the regular and the fourth is kayaking.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So they're interesting. I was unaware.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I didn't he interest.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
What if I gave you diamonds.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Diamonds they're a girl's best friend, They're what you play
baseball on. But I think you're probably talking about suits
in a card set.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Well done, look at that, you got it. Clubs, fades
and hearts for those who want completion. How about the Grant?
Oh no, let me talk, Sorry forget I said that Emmy?
How about the Emmy? What would you think? Let be
that flosome?
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Well, I would take this opportunity to tell you I
have two and.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Oh funny, I have one right behind me here.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I would say, probably you're speaking potentially if the egot
is the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar Tony combo, that just to
select few great entertainers and folks.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have exactly I was.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I'm just going to go out on a limb and
say when runs in the family gets turned into it
exactly right, and then there's the stage adaptation.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So close, and then I'll get reading the book the
musical could do the musical perfect perfect?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Do you sing? I mean, we could write you as
we could.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Do all right, fantast well done?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
What about John? What about John?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Well, let's see, there's an interesting statistic that I believe
there are more men named Dick or John who are
CEOs of fortune five hundred companies than there are women.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
There are women at all, Yes, not in the world,
of course, that makes it.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Let's see, I would say, maybe you're speaking of gosh,
there's a lot of options. If if this is religious,
I'm not going to get it.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Are they that's it?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Okay? But I think maybe there are two.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I thought of two possible. You thought of a couple others.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Yeah, is it not not saints.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Or you got it? It's in that area.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
It's something some sort of the Apostles in the Bible,
the Apostles.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Not the apostles, they were apostles. They were no, they
weren't apostles, but they wrote the.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Four Okay, uh yeah, like blank music. Oh I thought
you were going for the ten Commandments all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
The blank truth is the again this you're talking religion.
This is like if I ever got this category on Jeopardy.
Everyone would be like, wow, what a more on?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, give me the other, give me the other. John
that you were thinking?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
I mean I was.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I was.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
My brain was going Beatles.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
There you go, all right, we'll give you credit, and
John Paul Ringo, George. But it could also be John Luke,
Mark and Matthew, the Four Gospels, the.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Four Gospel Evangelists.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
For evangel.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I would say, sorry, Mom and Dad, but they let
me drop out of Sunday School immediately, so they know
that there wasn't going to be a better response.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
How about I think I read that you majored in English.
Did I make that up?
Speaker 4 (08:53):
You didn't make it up, You did read it.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay, yes, Joe, This.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
To me feels like it's a reference to the great
novel Little Women, Four Sisters.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
There it is. Your feeling is.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Me, Beth, Joe and got it? Murder is right? Now.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I was also an English major, So now I get
to be as a shamed.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Mary. No Margaret Margaret.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, well combine those two and it's in there somewhere.
Meg Meg Meg.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Meg short for Margaret or Megan. We were both right.
We get full credit, full credit, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
All right, just a couple more.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
We got thing that was the whole thing. Thing, that
was the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, I mean this feels like something I should know
is as a journalist, as someone who needs to understand
person place.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Oh that was ran.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
That's I only know of three in that.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Okay, maybe that's maybe I'm inventing that. My brain also
went to Adam's family characters. There was it, there was thing, there.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Was this is but you're into a sort of a
right area. Let me give you a second, give you
a second.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
One, oh, Stephen King novels. Oh no, no, no, that's
just it, that's just it.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Human torch. Human torch is the second one. So you
got thing, you got human torch, you got invisible woman.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Oh, this is another just absolute blank spot for me.
This is probably like Marvel characters or exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I'll give you the last one might be a little hint,
mister fantastic. So take that and put the number, and you.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Have some fantastic four. She got it, stated, yeah, as
it get right as a Disney employee, my uh my,
lacking Marvel knowledge is a problem.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yes, gotcha? All right? Maybe one more cumulus cumulus? Do
you need another?
Speaker 4 (11:02):
No, this would be types of clouds exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Okay, but can we name can you name the other three?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I know one from We all learned this in like
first and never used the information.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
One I know because spelling bee uses it a lot
in the plural form because it only has three letters
C I.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And R.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Serious series s C I R R U S yes serious.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then you've got and then there's fumul nimbus nimbus
who nicely done nimbus cumulo. Nimbus is sort of the hybrid.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh god. And the fourth one is igneous. No I
made those up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Those are rock stratus stratus stratus. All right, well, well done.
You know your fours and your seven's uh.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Not my bible, but and that's.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Can you can you name any of the ten commandments?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I'll just take one that shall not kill.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
That's a good one, that's an important one. Well, Sarah,
we have we have loved having you on as a
guest on the Puzzler. And have you done your New
York Times puzzles today? Did you do your spelling?
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Be or you've been I haven't, just too busy working.
But I'm curious what your starting wordle word is, if
you're willing to share.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
I no longer play wordle, but when I did. Uh,
now I'm forgetting what it was? Mate?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
What?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
What what's yours? Greg? I know you have one.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I used to a lot because it's got it, but
I don't play anymore either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
My wife gets a.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Bunch of twitters and you're starting be st oh t yeah, taste.
I just feel like it tends to I'm sure there
are algorithmically better choices, but it tends to when you
get one or two, they help a little bit more
than the ones where you just get the bowels, in
(13:15):
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
But yeah, no, a ST is a good the B
is a little less common as a letter.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You might I could go haste, I could go go
stare st lots of common letters.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I did read that Pope Leo the fourteenth is a
word player.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yes, one of us. I mean, I'm telling you that
in Chicago here we are probably the first pope who
went to Culver's, probably the first pope who drank malort,
probably the first pope cursed the White Sox bullpen. There
are so many also, and like again back to the
religious thing, I'm not really super invested in the pope them,
(13:51):
but it does feel weird to that you could just
be a pope named Bob from Chicago. Like, yes, it
does feel Not that I ever thought the previous popes
weren't just regular human beings who were born and became
pop but like, it feels hard to imagine just a
guy from the South side of Chicago being quite anointed
in the same way as some random Italian dude that
(14:12):
sounds you know, like popey.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, the photos of him at the White Sex team
are so great, You're like that, dude.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Well, I wondered, I was gonna look this up. But
has wordle done papal as one of their five letter words?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
I would guess, so, yeah, you know what my worst
while we're on wordle, I do have a beef with wordle. Okay,
I'll say there's only two words remaining. You'll put a
different word and they'll be like, nah, technically that is
a word, but based on how the puzzle usually goes,
it's not one that we would have. And it's like,
that's not what you said. You said there's two words remaining.
I gave you a word that exists. It's just too complicated.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
For you to use word lest.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, right, this is annoying. I get that they don't.
You don't also don't want to do a word a word.
It's a word you'd never heard of. But they shouldn't
lie and say there's only two words left when you
clearly just came up with a word.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So did they say that, oh yeah, that is a word,
but we don't count it, or they just say yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They basically they say this. So if you go you
can look at the AI bot that will tell you
how you fared. Was this a good choice? Did you
guess the right thing here to eliminate the most all
that stuff, and it'll say there were only two words remaining,
and based on how wordle operates, this was not a
(15:26):
good guess, Like you don't. It wasn't one of the
two word even though it's a word.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
And I'm like, all right, all right, Well that's that's
the challenge with all the puzzles, right, you got to
define the terrain. And there are lots of things that
are words that are not words that people would know commonly,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
So yeah, well, I do have an extra credit for
the folks at home, which is plasma plasma. And I
happen to know this because it's very close to my heart,
so to speak. I on Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire partly because of this. I told that story, but
(16:06):
maybe I'll tell it very quickly again later in the meantime.
I just want to thank listeners, and I want to
thank Sarah Spain for coming on check out our podcast
Good Game with Sarah Spain and her upcoming book Runs
in the Family. Thank you so much for puzzling with us.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Sarah, thanks for having me. It was so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Oh good. We had a great time. And folks, if
you are jonesing for more puzzles, check out our Instagram
feed at Hello Puzzlers, where we post original puzzles and
other fun stuff. And we'll meet here tomorrow for more
puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you pudgelingly.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Heay, Puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. We
played a game with Sarah Spain that was all country
names that are inside other names or phrases. Your extra
credit clue was this tricky one little Richard hit with
a rhyming title or a very excited exclamation advising you
(17:11):
to not travel to a certain West African country. Now,
many of you might have recognized the little Richard hit
is good golly miss Molly, and of course the country
version is good golly miss Malli, meaning the country of Mali,
home of the great Mansa Musa, the head of the
Malian Empire, and one of the loveliest countries in West Africa.
(17:34):
I am led to understand I've never been there, so
ignore that travel advice. Good golly go to Malli and
good Golly, come back tomorrow for some more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle, actually a riddle.
What men's professional sports team has a name that sounds
like the word for a female animal, namely a female horse.
This sports team is spelled differently but pronounced the same.
The answer and more puzzling puzzles after the break. Hello puzzlers,
(00:31):
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast The Elephant Diorama in
your Puzzle Natural History Museum. I'm your host, Adrew Jacobs.
I'm here, of course, with chief puzzle Officer Greg Puliska. Greg.
Before the break, we asked listeners about a men's professional
sports team that has a name that sounds like the
word for a female animal, specifically a female horse. Four
(00:54):
years are younger, and a thought.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I'm a Mets fan.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I can't say the name of it this time out loud.
I'm sorry to say no, but I we did. I
think we swept the first series against the Phillies this season,
so I'm very happy to mention the Philadelphia Phillies.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
You got it correctly. So I thought it was interesting
from a gender standpoint, and because we have a guest
today who knows all about both men's and women's sports,
our guest is the great Sarah Spain, host of Good
Game with Sarah Spain. Welcome Sarah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That was a good one. My brain got stuck on mayor,
but I missed the miss.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
There you go, the mayors, Bavies.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, I got I was. I was stuck in the
same time, mayors. There's no team called.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
The Senators, the Washington Senators. From way back when Sarah,
I read in college that you were a heptathlete. For
those who are ignorant, can you tell us what a
heptathlete consists of?
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Well, I have a puzzle for you. How many events
is that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I looked it up. I happen to know.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Lappy's gonna be. I know my heptad right be seven?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Or yes, yes it would.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Now I'm just now, I'm just messing with you. That is, yes,
it is long jump, high jump, eight hundred meters, two
hundred meters, hurdles, javelin and shot put.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Love it, Andre. Was there one or two that you
were were your favorites?
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Yes, javelin and hurdles that I would say, and then
long jump. My least favorite by far was the eight
hundred meters, which is essentially sprinting a half mile at
the end when you're already tired.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
But I love that the three you picked.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Like one is a throwing thing. O, there's a running
and jumping thing. The other is a jumping very different.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Why was a heptathle alcohol master of none? Although you
know what I've been saying that for you is my
entire life to explain my interest in many, many things,
and that it's okay that I'm not the expert of
any I just am pretty good at all of them.
And there's more to that quote that I have not
committed to memory. That is actually about how it's a
good thing. Oh, and beating a jack of all trades
(03:07):
instead of a master is the better way, but I've
never come.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Oh I happen to agree. And also what about Jill
of all trades? Shouldn't it be Jill of all?
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Right? Yes, it really should be. I should start I
should start correcting myself on that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
One one last thing before we get into the puzzle.
I once went down a YouTube rabbit hole about javelins.
And you might know about these two men from Spain
in nineteen fifty You know about them?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Oh, well, they figured out a better way to throw
the javelin. They spun around really quickly like the discus,
and then released it and it went much farther. But
then the governing body was like, well, we don't want
people to get speared in the face all the time, so.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Maybe somewise yeah, yeah, But I was like.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
I love when they come like the Fosberry flop in back.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Yeah, I'll have to look that up. The only javelin
reference I usually ever get is from Revenge of the Nerds,
when the javelin is the like floppy not not exactly regulation.
So I appreciate being informed about these Spanish man. I'll
have to go back and check it out.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
My pleasure. Well, we consider doing a puzzle about things
with seven parts, like the heptathlon or seven Wonders of
the Ancient World, but we are a short podcast, so
we decide to shorten things and do a puzzle well
four parts. So the four part this is a find
the foursome. So I'm gonna give you these are all
(04:34):
things that come in fours, like Mount Rushmore, has Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt.
So in this puzzle, I'll give you one of the
four and you try to tell me what the category is.
If you can't get it, I'll give you a second,
I'll give you a third, But you get them most.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
But the points go down, I imagine.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
And so does the respect for my limited intellect.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Yes, well, yes, the points which are worth zero dollars anyway,
But you will. We are excited to try. Should we
start or do you need another example?
Speaker 4 (05:10):
No? I think I will, I'll know it, or I won't.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Okay, how about Wimbledon, Wimbledon.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
I would say Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, et cetera.
These would be Grand Slam tennis tournaments.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
You got it. She's on, she's in. By the way,
this is not part of the puzzle. But I didn't
know until yesterday. There is a quadrathlon with four sports
that does anyone know? The fourth? It's swimming, biking, running
like in the regular and the fourth is kayaking.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
So they're interesting. I was unaware.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I didn't he interest.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
What if I gave you diamonds.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Diamonds they're a girl's best friend, They're what you play
baseball on. But I think you're probably talking about suits
in a card set.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Well done, look at that, you got it. Clubs, fades
and hearts for those who want completion. How about the Grant?
Oh no, let me talk, Sorry forget I said that Emmy?
How about the Emmy? What would you think? Let be
that flosome?
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Well, I would take this opportunity to tell you I
have two and.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Oh funny, I have one right behind me here.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I would say, probably you're speaking potentially if the egot
is the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar Tony combo, that just to
select few great entertainers and folks.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Have exactly I was.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
I'm just going to go out on a limb and
say when runs in the family gets turned into it
exactly right, and then there's the stage adaptation.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So close, and then I'll get reading the book the
musical could do the musical perfect perfect?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Do you sing? I mean, we could write you as
we could.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Do all right, fantast well done?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
All right?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
What about John? What about John?
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Well, let's see, there's an interesting statistic that I believe
there are more men named Dick or John who are
CEOs of fortune five hundred companies than there are women.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
There are women at all, Yes, not in the world,
of course, that makes it.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Let's see, I would say, maybe you're speaking of gosh,
there's a lot of options. If if this is religious,
I'm not going to get it.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Are they that's it?
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Okay? But I think maybe there are two.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I thought of two possible. You thought of a couple others.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Yeah, is it not not saints.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Or you got it? It's in that area.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
It's something some sort of the Apostles in the Bible,
the Apostles.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Not the apostles, they were apostles. They were no, they
weren't apostles, but they wrote the.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Four Okay, uh yeah, like blank music. Oh I thought
you were going for the ten Commandments all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
The blank truth is the again this you're talking religion.
This is like if I ever got this category on Jeopardy.
Everyone would be like, wow, what a more on?
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, give me the other, give me the other. John
that you were thinking?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
I mean I was.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
I was.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
My brain was going Beatles.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
There you go, all right, we'll give you credit, and
John Paul Ringo, George. But it could also be John Luke,
Mark and Matthew, the Four Gospels, the.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Four Gospel Evangelists.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
For evangel.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
I would say, sorry, Mom and Dad, but they let
me drop out of Sunday School immediately, so they know
that there wasn't going to be a better response.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
How about I think I read that you majored in English.
Did I make that up?
Speaker 4 (08:53):
You didn't make it up, You did read it.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Okay, yes, Joe, This.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
To me feels like it's a reference to the great
novel Little Women, Four Sisters.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
There it is. Your feeling is.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Me, Beth, Joe and got it? Murder is right? Now.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
I was also an English major, So now I get
to be as a shamed.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Mary. No Margaret Margaret.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, well combine those two and it's in there somewhere.
Meg Meg Meg.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Meg short for Margaret or Megan. We were both right.
We get full credit, full credit, thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
All right, just a couple more.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
We got thing that was the whole thing. Thing, that
was the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Yeah, I mean this feels like something I should know
is as a journalist, as someone who needs to understand
person place.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Oh that was ran.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
That's I only know of three in that.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
Okay, maybe that's maybe I'm inventing that. My brain also
went to Adam's family characters. There was it, there was thing, there.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Was this is but you're into a sort of a
right area. Let me give you a second, give you
a second.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
One, oh, Stephen King novels. Oh no, no, no, that's
just it, that's just it.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
No.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Human torch. Human torch is the second one. So you
got thing, you got human torch, you got invisible woman.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
Oh, this is another just absolute blank spot for me.
This is probably like Marvel characters or exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I'll give you the last one might be a little hint,
mister fantastic. So take that and put the number, and you.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Have some fantastic four. She got it, stated, yeah, as
it get right as a Disney employee, my uh my,
lacking Marvel knowledge is a problem.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Yes, gotcha? All right? Maybe one more cumulus cumulus? Do
you need another?
Speaker 4 (11:02):
No, this would be types of clouds exactly.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Okay, but can we name can you name the other three?
Speaker 3 (11:08):
I know one from We all learned this in like
first and never used the information.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
One I know because spelling bee uses it a lot
in the plural form because it only has three letters
C I.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
And R.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Serious series s C I R R U S yes serious.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And then you've got and then there's fumul nimbus nimbus
who nicely done nimbus cumulo. Nimbus is sort of the hybrid.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh god. And the fourth one is igneous. No I
made those up.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Those are rock stratus stratus stratus. All right, well, well done.
You know your fours and your seven's uh.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Not my bible, but and that's.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Can you can you name any of the ten commandments?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I'll just take one that shall not kill.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
That's a good one, that's an important one. Well, Sarah,
we have we have loved having you on as a
guest on the Puzzler. And have you done your New
York Times puzzles today? Did you do your spelling?
Speaker 4 (12:28):
Be or you've been I haven't, just too busy working.
But I'm curious what your starting wordle word is, if
you're willing to share.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
I no longer play wordle, but when I did. Uh,
now I'm forgetting what it was? Mate?
Speaker 2 (12:42):
What?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
What what's yours? Greg? I know you have one.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
I used to a lot because it's got it, but
I don't play anymore either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
My wife gets a.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Bunch of twitters and you're starting be st oh t yeah, taste.
I just feel like it tends to I'm sure there
are algorithmically better choices, but it tends to when you
get one or two, they help a little bit more
than the ones where you just get the bowels, in
(13:15):
my opinion.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
But yeah, no, a ST is a good the B
is a little less common as a letter.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
You might I could go haste, I could go go
stare st lots of common letters.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I did read that Pope Leo the fourteenth is a
word player.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yes, one of us. I mean, I'm telling you that
in Chicago here we are probably the first pope who
went to Culver's, probably the first pope who drank malort,
probably the first pope cursed the White Sox bullpen. There
are so many also, and like again back to the
religious thing, I'm not really super invested in the pope them,
(13:51):
but it does feel weird to that you could just
be a pope named Bob from Chicago. Like, yes, it
does feel Not that I ever thought the previous popes
weren't just regular human beings who were born and became
pop but like, it feels hard to imagine just a
guy from the South side of Chicago being quite anointed
in the same way as some random Italian dude that
(14:12):
sounds you know, like popey.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Yeah, the photos of him at the White Sex team
are so great, You're like that, dude.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Well, I wondered, I was gonna look this up. But
has wordle done papal as one of their five letter words?
Speaker 4 (14:26):
I would guess, so, yeah, you know what my worst
while we're on wordle, I do have a beef with wordle. Okay,
I'll say there's only two words remaining. You'll put a
different word and they'll be like, nah, technically that is
a word, but based on how the puzzle usually goes,
it's not one that we would have. And it's like,
that's not what you said. You said there's two words remaining.
I gave you a word that exists. It's just too complicated.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
For you to use word lest.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, right, this is annoying. I get that they don't.
You don't also don't want to do a word a word.
It's a word you'd never heard of. But they shouldn't
lie and say there's only two words left when you
clearly just came up with a word.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So did they say that, oh yeah, that is a word,
but we don't count it, or they just say yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They basically they say this. So if you go you
can look at the AI bot that will tell you
how you fared. Was this a good choice? Did you
guess the right thing here to eliminate the most all
that stuff, and it'll say there were only two words remaining,
and based on how wordle operates, this was not a
(15:26):
good guess, Like you don't. It wasn't one of the
two word even though it's a word.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
And I'm like, all right, all right, Well that's that's
the challenge with all the puzzles, right, you got to
define the terrain. And there are lots of things that
are words that are not words that people would know commonly,
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
So yeah, well, I do have an extra credit for
the folks at home, which is plasma plasma. And I
happen to know this because it's very close to my heart,
so to speak. I on Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire partly because of this. I told that story, but
(16:06):
maybe I'll tell it very quickly again later in the meantime.
I just want to thank listeners, and I want to
thank Sarah Spain for coming on check out our podcast
Good Game with Sarah Spain and her upcoming book Runs
in the Family. Thank you so much for puzzling with us.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
Sarah, thanks for having me. It was so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Oh good. We had a great time. And folks, if
you are jonesing for more puzzles, check out our Instagram
feed at Hello Puzzlers, where we post original puzzles and
other fun stuff. And we'll meet here tomorrow for more
puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you pudgelingly.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Heay, Puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. We
played a game with Sarah Spain that was all country
names that are inside other names or phrases. Your extra
credit clue was this tricky one little Richard hit with
a rhyming title or a very excited exclamation advising you
(17:11):
to not travel to a certain West African country. Now,
many of you might have recognized the little Richard hit
is good golly miss Molly, and of course the country
version is good golly miss Malli, meaning the country of Mali,
home of the great Mansa Musa, the head of the
Malian Empire, and one of the loveliest countries in West Africa.
(17:34):
I am led to understand I've never been there, so
ignore that travel advice. Good golly go to Malli and
good Golly, come back tomorrow for some more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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