August 25, 2025 • 17 mins
Please take our membership survey! We want ideas and input! https://bit.ly/3ILfsz3
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: stand-up comedian Gary Gulman!
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.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you, Hello puzzlers. I thought we could start with
a quick quiz. As you probably know, every US state
has an official state bird. All states, by the way,
(00:42):
have an official amphibian and crustacean that I didn't know.
Some have an official state microbe. That is true, so
it's good to see germs getting their due. But anyway,
all states have official state birds. So the quiz today is, greg,
can you say which of these states has the northern
cardinal as its state bird? Is it Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
(01:07):
North Carolina, Ohio, or Virginia. Which of the fifty US
states has the northern Cardinal is a state bird? Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Ohio? Or is it Virginia? The answer and
more puzzling goodness after the break. Hello buzzlers, Welcome back
(01:30):
to the Puzzler podcast The Spiral Tusk On Your Puzzle,
Nar Wall I am your host, A J. Jacobson. I'm here,
of course, Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisker. Greg. Before the break,
I asked, which US state has the Northern Cardinal? Is
a state bird, right, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia.
What is your guest? It is all of them. Ah,
you got it, It is all of them.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Because I when you've started, I thought, oh, he's I
know what bird is the most common state bird, which
I would have said was the cardinal at.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
That But why is it even common? There are thousands
of bird species.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Why there are hundreds of thousands of cardinals they're everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I don't know. I feel it's it's I don't want
to slutshamee, but it's like very promiscuous for the Northern
Cardinal to be like, oh, sure, I'll be on your
I'll be your official bird. I mean, New Mexico has
the Roadrunner and that's the only state with the roadrunner,
and that is and it's appropriate right. Well, anyway, the
reason I brought this up. I'm dying. I have a
(02:32):
good segue. Okay, I'm read a double segue. It is
an appropriate opener for two reasons. First, our guest has
a bird adjacent last name Goldman L one L, not
two l's. Second, our guest you know if you don't
know him, which you should. He is a brilliant comedian
(02:53):
who famously came up with a riff several years ago
about US state names and state abbreviations, which we will
be discussing. So please welcome. And this is not an exaggeration.
One of the greatest comedians in all fifty states and countries.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Gary Golman, Oh, thank you, Age damn honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I really think you might be a dream Puzzler podcast
guest because you love words and word play. I think
I can say. The New York Times described your stand
up as brainy word drunk art, word drunk art.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
What a great I yeah. And I'm also an avid puzzler.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Excellent, And what are your puzzlers of choice?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Every day? I do Connections and New York Times crossword Puzzle.
I just finished the chapter about the spelling bee in
your book, and I stopped doing the spelling Bee because
it was driving me nuts trying to find the last
you every day. It just it was taking up way
(04:05):
too much time and I couldn't halfway do it, and
it just uh so I decided to cut that down
because I'm I'm trying to write a book as well,
so I can't give that time over to the spelling Bee.
But I will return to it someday because it is
really I didn't realize until I read your book that
(04:25):
it was the most popular and also as maddening as
any any puzzle as I've done.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Were you always trying for genius or queen bee? Because
that the queen bee is a real sickness I feel.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, ultimately I was going for for queen bees.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Oh that's the problem.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, and it's ridiculous. But even some days genius was elusive.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, no, I know some days it is so speaking
of words, as that's what you do with words, You
speak them or you write them. But one of your routines,
you have so many great routines, but one of them,
which went viral for good reason, was about the two
(05:10):
letter abbreviations for states that you use when addressing a letter.
The postal codes, which are not always the same as
the first two letters of the state, like Tennessee is
not te it's TN. So you created this fictional scenario
of how this happened, how the postal Service assembled the
(05:30):
best and brightest abbreviators from all over the world, and
they sat down. They started with Alabama. No problem, al
for Alabama, but then came Alaska, which threw them into
a crisis. Also, al can't do it again? And what
about Michigan and Missouri and Minnesota. It is a hilarious
(05:51):
and unique routine that I highly recommend check it out
on YouTube. How did you come up with that idea
to do a refund postal codes?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I mean, originally I noticed that a lot of the
states started with the same first two letters. When I
was in second grade, we got this. We had a
Scholastic book fair and you were allowed to take two books,
and I took one book was Alvin Swapshop, and the
other book was called The Arrow Book of States. And
(06:26):
when you don't have that many books, you tend to
read them over.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Into old wood and you memorize, especially as a kid,
and I just for some reason I memorized the capitals
and then I was like, all right, now I'm going
to memorize the two letter abbreviations.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But it was hard. And then when I started doing comedy,
one of my first jokes that I tried to write
was about because I was I was, I mean, chiefly
an observational comedian. And what you realize when you get
into stand up is that, oh my gosh, a lot
of this material has been covered. Everybody has noticed that
the black box is in the airplane, and they should
(07:05):
make the whole thing out of the black box, and
so you start to dig it deep. When I was
and I thought, well, nobody has done anything about how
the states start with the first two letters, and so
I kind of took a pass at it very early on.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Well, in honor of that riff, I am going to
give you a puzzle in which the clues are a phrase.
The clues are phrases that have the same letters as
the postal code of the state mentioned in the clue.
So that sounds complicated, it's not. So if I said,
for instance, July fourth and Idaho, then the answer to
(07:45):
that one would be Independence Day in id So you
say a two word phrase and then the two letters
of the state. So does that make sense? Does that? Yeah,
that's a really good one. Right here we go. The
second Sunday in May in Maryland Memorial Day. Oh, I
(08:08):
like that. Maybe that is the second. No, that's more
like the fourth. I think that's like the fourth Sunday
in May. It's the end of May.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That would be Monday. So the second Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
The second Sunday in May, it's an It is a day.
It is a day.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
But whose day is it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
It is the woman who, by the way, would email
you letters but spell out the word at in your address,
Gary At. Oh my gosh, how did.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I forget this Mother's Day?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Mother's Day? That's it exactly. Wow, you're really familiar with
my jokes. I am. Watch out, there's gonna be some references,
all right. Where what do you put on your pancakes
in Mississippi? What do you put on your pancakes in Mississippi?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Okay? I think I know it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Maple syrup, Yes, maple syrup and ms uh. And by
the way, being familiar with your jokes, I know that
one of your childhood teachers mispronounced it as Mississippi, Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Mississippi when she was counting off the drinking fountain timer Mississippi.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wait, wait, the drinking fountain timer.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, yeah, she was the drinking fountain timer. She would
say you get three Mississippi. But then she would say
one Mississippi, two Mississippi.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You wouldn't get as much water as you needed.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, you would get three, three less syllables of honor.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right, and you busted her. That's what I like. All right,
I got a couple more. We got negative four hundred
and sixty degrees fahrenheit in Arizona. Negative four hundred and
sixty degrees fahrenheit, the coldest, which, by the way, I
don't think Arizona has. There's nowhere in Arizona that is
(10:05):
this temperature. I actually looked it up flag Staff. The
record was negative thirty degrees in nineteen thirty seven. You
have to go back to nineteen thirty seven. But this
one is Oh, I know this absolute zero, absolute zero,
and az that is exactly correct. All right? What about
(10:28):
a guide to sex positions in Kansas? A guide to
a sex position from India.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
They don't have sex positions in Kansas.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
It's a very short guy, no offense to our Kansas listeners.
It means nothing.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
You need an ass kisser now a KS. I'm going
to say, uh, Kama Sutra.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That's right, the Kamma Sutra and ks. And by the way,
I don't know if is a Kama suit sutra ortetra.
I apologize, I will say, being familiar with your work,
I had we listened, uh yesterday, my kids and I
to your karate kid routine, because that is the official pronunciation,
(11:20):
and the fact that you said it eighteen times it
just got funnier every time it was karate kid? All right?
How about if I sing like this in Oklahoma? You
(11:41):
might describe it as what if I sang where the
wind comes sweeping down the plane and the wave in wait?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Sure, I'm just happy happy every time you sing, agent,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I appreciate the positivity.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oklahoma is okay? And you were trying to sing off key.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I yes, I thought okay was a perfectly good answer.
Your singing was okay. Oh there you go. Good point,
really good point. All right, I'm gonna end with one more.
How about one about but well, this is a little edutainment,
little information. The author of the Scarlet Letter actually died
(12:27):
in New Hampshire. He was on a trip with his
best friend his like they had a bromance.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So New Hampshire is NH. And this man wrote about
the part of the country that I grew up in,
which is the north shore of Massachusetts. And it was
set in Salem, Massachusetts. I grew up in Peabody, which
used to be part of Salem, NH. Nathaniel Hawthorne, that's it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You got it well done. I mean, I feel you
have such a way with words. Did you ever read
the Dictionary as a kid or as an adult?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
No, but my father was was very adamant about looking things,
looking things up, and and so I knew my way
around a dictionary. We always had a couple of dictionaries
in the in the house. And and yeah, I would
thumb through the dictionary frequently. And then early on in
(13:28):
my comedy career, I got really into the the thesaurus.
I I always had when I when I wrote, and
I love that And and also, I mean interest in
a thesaurus also makes you so good at a crossword puzzles,
because it's a lot of some of it is cryptic,
but a lot of it is is synonyms and and
(13:49):
figuring out alternatives to.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, well you I had never knowed. I
knew that there were a few words for loser in Yiddish,
but you you really nailed them. Wait can you just
remind me of some of them? It's hard to remember
them all.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
There's schmock, Putts, Schmendrick, mcgeggy, smil mazzl Hendrick, Nebbish.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And uh in there. Oh Yeahdrick, I love that. I
don't even think.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So is so is Nebbish. Nebbish is really the ideal Nebbish.
I think they always used to say was was uh
Woody Allen.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, he's a Nebbish.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Can I throw one other word at you? Which I
was watching The Great Depression and you talked about how
uh the millennials who you, whom you love? You know,
you're not one of these gen xers who's always complaining
about them, but you do have one one bone to
pick with them, which is that they took the word
(15:00):
literally and they made it. Yeah, literally is now literally figuratively.
And that word, which I've learned from doing the Puzzler
maybe Greg taught me contronym. It's a word that is
both it's it's uh meaning and the opposite, So it
(15:21):
is an.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I found that in Connections the other day. I think
one of them is oh yeah, is one of the
big ones. Yeah yeah, right, I'd never I had never
seen contronym, and so we learned another word. I mean,
I I honestly believe that the crosswords and the connections
is actually good training for for comedians. I don't feel
(15:47):
I don't feel guilty at all doing them. I really
feel that they're they're helpful in terms of getting your
brain in the space to write and and to be clever.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I love it. See we've been saying that same thing.
It is puzzles are good for you. Well, that was fantastic, Gary,
I've got before You're coming back tomorrow, thankfully. But before
before we let you go, I'm gonna give an extra
credit for the folks at home. If there are not
(16:18):
enough people getting vaccinated in Hawaii, you may never achieve this.
If there are not enough people getting vaccinated in Hawaii,
you may never achieve this. And with that, I will
thank Gary, I'll thank Greg, I'll thank the listeners. If
you need more puzzles in the meantime, please check out
our Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers don't spell out the
(16:39):
app like Gary's mom. It's at Hello Puzzlers where we
post original visual puzzles and other fun stuff, and of
course we'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you, Hello puzzlers. I thought we could start with
a quick quiz. As you probably know, every US state
has an official state bird. All states, by the way,
(00:42):
have an official amphibian and crustacean that I didn't know.
Some have an official state microbe. That is true, so
it's good to see germs getting their due. But anyway,
all states have official state birds. So the quiz today is, greg,
can you say which of these states has the northern
cardinal as its state bird? Is it Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
(01:07):
North Carolina, Ohio, or Virginia. Which of the fifty US
states has the northern Cardinal is a state bird? Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Ohio? Or is it Virginia? The answer and
more puzzling goodness after the break. Hello buzzlers, Welcome back
(01:30):
to the Puzzler podcast The Spiral Tusk On Your Puzzle,
Nar Wall I am your host, A J. Jacobson. I'm here,
of course, Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisker. Greg. Before the break,
I asked, which US state has the Northern Cardinal? Is
a state bird, right, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia.
What is your guest? It is all of them. Ah,
you got it, It is all of them.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Because I when you've started, I thought, oh, he's I
know what bird is the most common state bird, which
I would have said was the cardinal at.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
That But why is it even common? There are thousands
of bird species.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Why there are hundreds of thousands of cardinals they're everywhere.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I don't know. I feel it's it's I don't want
to slutshamee, but it's like very promiscuous for the Northern
Cardinal to be like, oh, sure, I'll be on your
I'll be your official bird. I mean, New Mexico has
the Roadrunner and that's the only state with the roadrunner,
and that is and it's appropriate right. Well, anyway, the
reason I brought this up. I'm dying. I have a
(02:32):
good segue. Okay, I'm read a double segue. It is
an appropriate opener for two reasons. First, our guest has
a bird adjacent last name Goldman L one L, not
two l's. Second, our guest you know if you don't
know him, which you should. He is a brilliant comedian
(02:53):
who famously came up with a riff several years ago
about US state names and state abbreviations, which we will
be discussing. So please welcome. And this is not an exaggeration.
One of the greatest comedians in all fifty states and countries.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Gary Golman, Oh, thank you, Age damn honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I really think you might be a dream Puzzler podcast
guest because you love words and word play. I think
I can say. The New York Times described your stand
up as brainy word drunk art, word drunk art.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
What a great I yeah. And I'm also an avid puzzler.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Excellent, And what are your puzzlers of choice?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Every day? I do Connections and New York Times crossword Puzzle.
I just finished the chapter about the spelling bee in
your book, and I stopped doing the spelling Bee because
it was driving me nuts trying to find the last
you every day. It just it was taking up way
(04:05):
too much time and I couldn't halfway do it, and
it just uh so I decided to cut that down
because I'm I'm trying to write a book as well,
so I can't give that time over to the spelling Bee.
But I will return to it someday because it is
really I didn't realize until I read your book that
(04:25):
it was the most popular and also as maddening as
any any puzzle as I've done.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Were you always trying for genius or queen bee? Because
that the queen bee is a real sickness I feel.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, ultimately I was going for for queen bees.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Oh that's the problem.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Yeah, and it's ridiculous. But even some days genius was elusive.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yeah, no, I know some days it is so speaking
of words, as that's what you do with words, You
speak them or you write them. But one of your routines,
you have so many great routines, but one of them,
which went viral for good reason, was about the two
(05:10):
letter abbreviations for states that you use when addressing a letter.
The postal codes, which are not always the same as
the first two letters of the state, like Tennessee is
not te it's TN. So you created this fictional scenario
of how this happened, how the postal Service assembled the
(05:30):
best and brightest abbreviators from all over the world, and
they sat down. They started with Alabama. No problem, al
for Alabama, but then came Alaska, which threw them into
a crisis. Also, al can't do it again? And what
about Michigan and Missouri and Minnesota. It is a hilarious
(05:51):
and unique routine that I highly recommend check it out
on YouTube. How did you come up with that idea
to do a refund postal codes?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I mean, originally I noticed that a lot of the
states started with the same first two letters. When I
was in second grade, we got this. We had a
Scholastic book fair and you were allowed to take two books,
and I took one book was Alvin Swapshop, and the
other book was called The Arrow Book of States. And
(06:26):
when you don't have that many books, you tend to
read them over.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Into old wood and you memorize, especially as a kid,
and I just for some reason I memorized the capitals
and then I was like, all right, now I'm going
to memorize the two letter abbreviations.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
But it was hard. And then when I started doing comedy,
one of my first jokes that I tried to write
was about because I was I was, I mean, chiefly
an observational comedian. And what you realize when you get
into stand up is that, oh my gosh, a lot
of this material has been covered. Everybody has noticed that
the black box is in the airplane, and they should
(07:05):
make the whole thing out of the black box, and
so you start to dig it deep. When I was
and I thought, well, nobody has done anything about how
the states start with the first two letters, and so
I kind of took a pass at it very early on.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Well, in honor of that riff, I am going to
give you a puzzle in which the clues are a phrase.
The clues are phrases that have the same letters as
the postal code of the state mentioned in the clue.
So that sounds complicated, it's not. So if I said,
for instance, July fourth and Idaho, then the answer to
(07:45):
that one would be Independence Day in id So you
say a two word phrase and then the two letters
of the state. So does that make sense? Does that? Yeah,
that's a really good one. Right here we go. The
second Sunday in May in Maryland Memorial Day. Oh, I
(08:08):
like that. Maybe that is the second. No, that's more
like the fourth. I think that's like the fourth Sunday
in May. It's the end of May.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
That would be Monday. So the second Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
The second Sunday in May, it's an It is a day.
It is a day.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
But whose day is it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
It is the woman who, by the way, would email
you letters but spell out the word at in your address,
Gary At. Oh my gosh, how did.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
I forget this Mother's Day?
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Mother's Day? That's it exactly. Wow, you're really familiar with
my jokes. I am. Watch out, there's gonna be some references,
all right. Where what do you put on your pancakes
in Mississippi? What do you put on your pancakes in Mississippi?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Okay? I think I know it.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Maple syrup, Yes, maple syrup and ms uh. And by
the way, being familiar with your jokes, I know that
one of your childhood teachers mispronounced it as Mississippi, Mississippi.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Mississippi when she was counting off the drinking fountain timer Mississippi.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Wait, wait, the drinking fountain timer.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Well, yeah, she was the drinking fountain timer. She would
say you get three Mississippi. But then she would say
one Mississippi, two Mississippi.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
You wouldn't get as much water as you needed.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, you would get three, three less syllables of honor.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Right, and you busted her. That's what I like. All right,
I got a couple more. We got negative four hundred
and sixty degrees fahrenheit in Arizona. Negative four hundred and
sixty degrees fahrenheit, the coldest, which, by the way, I
don't think Arizona has. There's nowhere in Arizona that is
(10:05):
this temperature. I actually looked it up flag Staff. The
record was negative thirty degrees in nineteen thirty seven. You
have to go back to nineteen thirty seven. But this
one is Oh, I know this absolute zero, absolute zero,
and az that is exactly correct. All right? What about
(10:28):
a guide to sex positions in Kansas? A guide to
a sex position from India.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
They don't have sex positions in Kansas.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
It's a very short guy, no offense to our Kansas listeners.
It means nothing.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
You need an ass kisser now a KS. I'm going
to say, uh, Kama Sutra.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
That's right, the Kamma Sutra and ks. And by the way,
I don't know if is a Kama suit sutra ortetra.
I apologize, I will say, being familiar with your work,
I had we listened, uh yesterday, my kids and I
to your karate kid routine, because that is the official pronunciation,
(11:20):
and the fact that you said it eighteen times it
just got funnier every time it was karate kid? All right?
How about if I sing like this in Oklahoma? You
(11:41):
might describe it as what if I sang where the
wind comes sweeping down the plane and the wave in wait?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Sure, I'm just happy happy every time you sing, agent,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
I appreciate the positivity.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Oklahoma is okay? And you were trying to sing off key.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I yes, I thought okay was a perfectly good answer.
Your singing was okay. Oh there you go. Good point,
really good point. All right, I'm gonna end with one more.
How about one about but well, this is a little edutainment,
little information. The author of the Scarlet Letter actually died
(12:27):
in New Hampshire. He was on a trip with his
best friend his like they had a bromance.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So New Hampshire is NH. And this man wrote about
the part of the country that I grew up in,
which is the north shore of Massachusetts. And it was
set in Salem, Massachusetts. I grew up in Peabody, which
used to be part of Salem, NH. Nathaniel Hawthorne, that's it.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
You got it well done. I mean, I feel you
have such a way with words. Did you ever read
the Dictionary as a kid or as an adult?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
No, but my father was was very adamant about looking things,
looking things up, and and so I knew my way
around a dictionary. We always had a couple of dictionaries
in the in the house. And and yeah, I would
thumb through the dictionary frequently. And then early on in
(13:28):
my comedy career, I got really into the the thesaurus.
I I always had when I when I wrote, and
I love that And and also, I mean interest in
a thesaurus also makes you so good at a crossword puzzles,
because it's a lot of some of it is cryptic,
but a lot of it is is synonyms and and
(13:49):
figuring out alternatives to.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Oh yeah, yeah, well you I had never knowed. I
knew that there were a few words for loser in Yiddish,
but you you really nailed them. Wait can you just
remind me of some of them? It's hard to remember
them all.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
There's schmock, Putts, Schmendrick, mcgeggy, smil mazzl Hendrick, Nebbish.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
And uh in there. Oh Yeahdrick, I love that. I
don't even think.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
So is so is Nebbish. Nebbish is really the ideal Nebbish.
I think they always used to say was was uh
Woody Allen.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Yeah, he's a Nebbish.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Can I throw one other word at you? Which I
was watching The Great Depression and you talked about how
uh the millennials who you, whom you love? You know,
you're not one of these gen xers who's always complaining
about them, but you do have one one bone to
pick with them, which is that they took the word
(15:00):
literally and they made it. Yeah, literally is now literally figuratively.
And that word, which I've learned from doing the Puzzler
maybe Greg taught me contronym. It's a word that is
both it's it's uh meaning and the opposite, So it
(15:21):
is an.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I found that in Connections the other day. I think
one of them is oh yeah, is one of the
big ones. Yeah yeah, right, I'd never I had never
seen contronym, and so we learned another word. I mean,
I I honestly believe that the crosswords and the connections
is actually good training for for comedians. I don't feel
(15:47):
I don't feel guilty at all doing them. I really
feel that they're they're helpful in terms of getting your
brain in the space to write and and to be clever.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I love it. See we've been saying that same thing.
It is puzzles are good for you. Well, that was fantastic, Gary,
I've got before You're coming back tomorrow, thankfully. But before
before we let you go, I'm gonna give an extra
credit for the folks at home. If there are not
(16:18):
enough people getting vaccinated in Hawaii, you may never achieve this.
If there are not enough people getting vaccinated in Hawaii,
you may never achieve this. And with that, I will
thank Gary, I'll thank Greg, I'll thank the listeners. If
you need more puzzles in the meantime, please check out
our Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers don't spell out the
(16:39):
app like Gary's mom. It's at Hello Puzzlers where we
post original visual puzzles and other fun stuff, and of
course we'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.