May 2, 2025 • 20 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Today, A.J. and Greg give you a little peek behind the curtain and take you on a tour of the Puzzle Lab.
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 (00:01):
Hello, puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. Our guest
this week was actor Josh Radner of How I Met
Your Mother, but he also was a director. He directed
a movie called Happy Thank You More Please. That is
all one word, no spaces, Happy, thank you more Please.
This could be the longest one word movie title in history.
(00:25):
I couldn't find it a longer. If you can, let
us know at the puzzler dot com that's where you
send you in an emails. But it brings up a
related question, which is what is the longest movie title
of all time? What has the most letters and the
most words? And I won't tell you what the title is.
I won't make you guess, although it would be very
(00:47):
impressive if you knew this title. But is it twenty
one words long, twenty five words long, or twenty nine
words long? For reference, one of the longest in history
is the Sasha Baron Cohen movie Borat Cultural Learnings of
America for make benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which is
(01:09):
a comparatively brief twelve words. So is the longest movie
title twenty one or twenty five or twenty nine? I'll
let you know that And the title itself when we
come back. Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast.
(01:30):
The upbeat music accompanying the list of side effects in
your puzzle pharmaceutical commercial. I am your host, AJ Jacobs,
and I'm here, of course, with Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Kliska.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Greg.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Before the break, we asked how many words are in
the longest movie title ever according to the Guinness Book
of World Records, twenty one words, twenty five words, or
twenty nine words.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I'll take the twenty nine. We'll go with twenty none.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, you happen to got it. The answer is twenty
nine words. It's a nineteen seventy nine Italian movie by
the great Lena of vertem Vertemuler, and so it's not
like a quote totally obscure movie. I am not gonna
say the title for fear of getting angry letters from
our Italian puzzlers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh god, it's in Italian.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's in Italian. I will give you the translation, which
is a bloody affair in the municipality of Sicily between
two men due to a widow. Political motives are suspected
love death, shimmy, beautiful Lougan Tarantella's Crackers and Wine. That
is the full title.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
That it's like that sounds like my vacation last summer.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It just sounds like a word salex. She took a
bunch of wweet word salad. But all of this was
to get our brains in gear for two puzzles today,
and both are related to the aforementioned guest, Josh Radner.
So one is by Greg and one is by Andrea. Greg,
why don't you kick us off?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Sure? Well, obviously we talked with Josh a lot about
the long running about how I Met your mother, and
about the long running joke between Ted and Robin where
they salute every time someone uses a phrase with the
word major or general or another similar word.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
In it, like major malfunction exactly exactly, and the oh
salute every time someone says that.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So this puzzle, In this puzzle, I'm basically going to
describe a military figure and you give me the original phrase.
I'll give you the imagined military name to which you
would salute, although you can't no one can see you saluting,
so you don't have to actually do that, and you
tell me what phrase it's based upon. For example, would
(03:45):
be if I said, the officer in charge of making
things go wrong?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That, of course, is that is major malfunction, major.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Malfunction, right, got it, all right? The officer in charge
of professional baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Ooh, okay, so it has to be it could be general.
It could be major colonel professional baseball. Oh, major league,
of course, major league, sir, yes, sir, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
How about the officer who will knock you out?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
All right, knock you out? So that could be I'm
wondering the best way to approach it is through the
general major side or the other side. I guess simultaneous.
Knock you out is a k of knock you out.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It's a general.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Oh, general anesthesia, general anesthesia, of course, yeah, good one.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
How about how would the officer in charge of happy
sounding music?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Oh, happy sounding music would be? What is that? Musak?
Happy sounding music? Is it a hot? Is it like
a sergeant? Private?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Now you're gonna quiz me on military ranks? It's one
of the ranks we've already used.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay, So major or general? Happy sounding music? General pop major.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Pop major major it is major major?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Oh major chords major.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Major key major scale. Actually of generals. How about the
officer in charge of comprehensive health insurance.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Comprehensive health health insurance. So that would be uh, general coverage.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, could be. I'm fine, I can give that to you.
It's actually I was looking for major medical.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Major medical. Okay, yeah, well they are both they work
together and the military wing.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How about the officer position that was held by Albert Einstein.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Hmmm, all right, so he was a physical major physicist.
He was a general relativity general relativity.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yes, nice, All right, we've done a lot of majors
in generals. Let's branch out a little bit. This is
the officer who is accurate even when everyone else is
making things up.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That accurate when everyone else is making things up?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Vice? Admiral is an end sign? All right? It is accurate.
He's the lone voice of truth.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yes, the one little true bit among all the fictitious craziness.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh man, I don't know. I'm drawing a blank. Give me.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It's a little a position that is not spelled the
same way as it sounds, for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Colonel, Colonel of knowledge, Colonel of truth, Colonel of truth,
little colonel of truth. Gosh, okay, good, good one.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
This is not an officer. This is actually an enlisted
soldier who is.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Naked, private parts, prime, private parts. Yeah, that's them, okay,
private parts.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Very good. How about the officer who gives the kids
a spanking.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Oh, corporal punishment.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Corporal punishment, very good. The officer who appears when you
make popcorn?
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Hmmm, Reddenbacher, is that colonel, let's say, a Kentucky colonel,
Colonel of corn, Colonel of corn, colonel.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
I was thinking of colonel stuck in your teeth, but
that's fine. Enlisted soldier who is hired in a film noir.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Hired in a film noir. Okay, so that would be
detective and yeah, yeah, detect. There's the uh, well, I'm
trying to think of all the this is.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
We've used this one already too. It's a repeat.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Oh, it's a repeat. It's not dick, even though that's
a detective.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
It is something detective.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Oh, a major detective, general detective, colonel, detective, enlist.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It's an enlisted soldier, not an.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Office private detective.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Private detective. Very good. All right, I got a few more.
None of these. We haven't used any of these yet.
How about the officer in charge of jiu jitsu training
martial arts. Yes, very good. The naval officer with an
old eight bit computer.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh, an old eight bit computer would be a naval officer.
So then we're going admiral and.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Best selling computer in the nineteen.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Eighties TRS eighty atari, oh pet Commodore.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Commodore, Commodore sixty four. Yeah, all right, this is quite
a quite a stretch, this one. The officer who approaches humbly.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Okay, Teddy, maybe is there now?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
When you when you come to somebody.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
You crawl cow town, you come with hat in hand.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Yeah, not hat.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Though, captain, captain in hand.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Captain in hand, cap in hand.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
All right, as long as you say it's a stretch,
I am forgiving yep, all right, I'm saluting you, Greg
for such a clever puzzle. But it's not the only puzzle. Today.
We have a puzzle, and this puzzle is my penance
(09:49):
for making a mistake. These two made relentless fun of
me because I said in a clue that Neil Patrick
Harris I could not tell the color of his hair.
I watched. Now, granted I was watching on an iPhone,
so I cut me a little slack. I knew his
(10:12):
hair wasn't dark frown. They looked kind of redish, but
apparently it is not. It is not reddish. It is
very much blonde. Platinum blonde is Neil Patrick.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
No, it's not. But it's not platinum blonde either.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
All right, it's not platinum blonde. It's blondeish, dirty blonde.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's blonde.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
For so, they have Andrea has constructed an entire puzzle
based on my innocent mistake. So what do you got, Andrea, Well, first.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Of all, people at home feel free to write in
and weigh in. Neil Patrick, Harris, blonde or redhead? I
think defensively answer anyway. But I mean maybe there are
other people like you out there, don't.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I would love it, come support me even if I'm
not if I'm not right.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
But for today, this has given me the idea for
a puzzle which I've written for both you and Greg.
If Greg, so, I've taken a bunch of things that
have a color in the name or title, and specifically
a naturally occurring hair color, with blonde, black, brown, et cetera.
(11:25):
Colors like that.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
You're saying purple is not a naturally occurring hair color.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I am. I am saying that. Indeed, so all of
these famous people, books, fans, movies, and other works. They
all exist in the same alternate universe where Neil Patrick
Harris is in fact a redhead.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I can only imagine. Okay, So, as.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
An example, in our real world universe, Sean White is
a snowboarder with red hair. But in the Ginger verse,
which is what I've decided to call this crazy, uh,
there is a surfer whose name is Sean Redhead and
he has white hair.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yep, I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Everything is reversed, all right.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yes, a little off. Everything's a little off, got it? Okay?
Are you ready? Okay? So the first one is band
with the one hit wonder What's Down?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Great? All right, we're off to a good start. A
j How you go.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
First, Blondie, What's debby Harry? How about that?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
That is yes, they are not They are not a
one hit Wonder.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Band, that's true.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
What's down is the name of the song?
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yes, so that's.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
No What's down?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's the What's down is the opposite what's up?
Speaker 1 (12:55):
What's up? I see? So what's up is the name
of the song.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
But it's not the Red Hot Chilis because that would
be Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
There are a lot of bands with with these.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Also, that wouldn't call them a one hit wonder, would
would you?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
No? Not at all? So what's who's sang?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Maybe this band is too obscure.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Maybe no, I mean we're just too old.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, I don't this is an old band.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Oh wait a minute, wait, so the original band name
does not have a does not have red in it,
it has a different hair color. Yes, so it's like,
what about I have no idea if this is right?
What about four non redheads?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Nona? Yeah, they are the ones who sang What's Up God?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Which I love?
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I love?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yes, Okay. This is a book and also a movie
where protagonist Anastasia Steele engages in a wholesome vanilla relationship
with an emotionally available billionaire.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's nice.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I would read that wholesome vanilla relationship. All right, I
think we got yeah, not come plicated. It's fifty shades
of red head.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Red head or red, yeah, red head red in this case,
it's yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, the more complimentary.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Fifty shades of gray, but fifty shades of red.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yes, exactly. Okay. Uh. This is the author of the
best selling novel The Michael Angelo Cipher.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
So the Da Vinci Code yeah, yeah, and that would
be uh yeah, red exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yep, correct, correct, Okay, uh this is the fairy tale
in which a princess takes a bite out of an
orange and it gives her insomnia.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
It's that sleeping beauty.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Is It's got to be no, yeah, no, red snow.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Red, which I admit does not it's not it doesn't
totally translate. But that's that's what happens in this crazy universe.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, it's a crazy yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
He is the star of movies like School of Pop
and Boxing Panda, and he also sings in the rock
duo Gives Up Easily.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
D and producer of a pilot never aired about one
of my books.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Oh yeah, that's right. So this is Jack White, not
to be confused with the guitar guitarist for the Black
Stripes named Jack Black.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
But Jack Red. They're both Jack.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Red, Jack Red. Of course I just went for the opposites.
I'm so confused, Jack Red.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
All right, Jack, but enough of.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Jack Black, not off of Jack White.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
You got it, You got it, you got it. Okay.
This is a movie starring Natalie Portman, about a dancer
who is able to earn the lead role at her
Ballet Company through a combination of good sleep and a
healthy work life. Stylace.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Oh, that's nice.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's a nice movie.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I like these non conflict movies.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Red would never have met very It's a very boring universe,
Red Swan. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yes, yes, okay, Let's do an Oscar wild novel in
which a painting gets more and more beautiful as the
saintly and pure protagonist carries out more and more good deeds,
all while aging gracefully.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
What you're saying is that in the Ginger verse, everything
is nicer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Does sound sound pleasant?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Doesn't Maybe that's what I wanted. I wanted Neil Patrick
Harris's character to be nicer. Is that so wrong? Uh?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
He's nice.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
He is not nice, He's like a Harris. He's a delight.
He is a delight Barney, though Barnie's got some issues.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
This is the picture of Dorian Red correct very nice,
all right.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
This is one of the stars of the Silver Girls.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Ahh okay, I think I know.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It, Arthur, Arthur. No, it's Betty Red, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
It is Betty.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Red by the way, I did like I've been researching
our upcoming guest Michael Showalter, and he has a section
in his book called about the author, and then he
has another section called about be Arthur, about the Arthur,
and it's just facts about the Arthur.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Very funny.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
All right, well you got it one more for us. Sure.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
This is an Edgar Allan Poe poem that begins what's
upon a bright day at noon? While I pondered? Strong
and rejuvenated?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I love it. This is a good This is a
less common hair color word like red and white and gray. Right,
this is good? Aj you know the answer?
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh well, raven, I suppose you could say raven haired.
So it's red, just called red, right or the red.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
The redhead red?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Well done, Andrea nicely to love those. Now I'll never
forget that Neil Patrick Harris's hair is red red.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
I know. Now I'm going to be confused about which
it actually is.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I'm sick and with the red. All right, well that
was very instructive. Thank you, Greg, Thank you, Andrea. Thank
you listeners. And by the way, listeners, if you do
have i'd take forty two seconds please go rate The
Puzzler on your favorite podcast platform, because that's how people
(18:35):
find us. And we love when people find us, it's
just more puzzling, and speaking of which, we'll meet you
here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska here with the extra credit
answer from our previous episode. I did a game with
Aj that one of our listeners helped create, and it's
all phrases that rhyme with may Day because it was
a may Day puzzle. Your extra credit clue was this help.
We're horses and we want more food, so we're making
this sound that of course is hey nay, but you
(19:11):
got to say it three times.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Hey nay, Hey nay, hey nay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Thanks for playing along. We'll see you here next time
for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly. Thanks
for playing along with the team here at the Puzzler
with AJ Jacobs. I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer.
Our executive producers are Neelie Lohman and Adam Neuhouse of
(19:38):
New House Ideas and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is produced by Jody Afragan and Brittany Brown of
Roulette Productions, with production support from Claire Bidegar Curtis. Our
associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg. The Puzzler with AJ Jacobs
is a co production.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
With New House Ideas and is distributed by Iced Pathos
Rats New Yeah rearrange that it's distributed by iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
If you want to know more about puzzling puzzles, please
check out the book The Puzzler by AJ Jacobs, a
history of puzzles that The New York Times called fun
and funny. It features an original puzzle hunt by yours Truly,
and is available wherever you get your books and puzzlers.
For all your puzzling needs, go visit the puzzler dot com.
(20:31):
See you there,
Hello, puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. Our guest
this week was actor Josh Radner of How I Met
Your Mother, but he also was a director. He directed
a movie called Happy Thank You More Please. That is
all one word, no spaces, Happy, thank you more Please.
This could be the longest one word movie title in history.
(00:25):
I couldn't find it a longer. If you can, let
us know at the puzzler dot com that's where you
send you in an emails. But it brings up a
related question, which is what is the longest movie title
of all time? What has the most letters and the
most words? And I won't tell you what the title is.
I won't make you guess, although it would be very
(00:47):
impressive if you knew this title. But is it twenty
one words long, twenty five words long, or twenty nine
words long? For reference, one of the longest in history
is the Sasha Baron Cohen movie Borat Cultural Learnings of
America for make benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which is
(01:09):
a comparatively brief twelve words. So is the longest movie
title twenty one or twenty five or twenty nine? I'll
let you know that And the title itself when we
come back. Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast.
(01:30):
The upbeat music accompanying the list of side effects in
your puzzle pharmaceutical commercial. I am your host, AJ Jacobs,
and I'm here, of course, with Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Kliska.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Greg.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Before the break, we asked how many words are in
the longest movie title ever according to the Guinness Book
of World Records, twenty one words, twenty five words, or
twenty nine words.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I'll take the twenty nine. We'll go with twenty none.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Well, you happen to got it. The answer is twenty
nine words. It's a nineteen seventy nine Italian movie by
the great Lena of vertem Vertemuler, and so it's not
like a quote totally obscure movie. I am not gonna
say the title for fear of getting angry letters from
our Italian puzzlers.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh god, it's in Italian.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's in Italian. I will give you the translation, which
is a bloody affair in the municipality of Sicily between
two men due to a widow. Political motives are suspected
love death, shimmy, beautiful Lougan Tarantella's Crackers and Wine. That
is the full title.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
That it's like that sounds like my vacation last summer.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
It just sounds like a word salex. She took a
bunch of wweet word salad. But all of this was
to get our brains in gear for two puzzles today,
and both are related to the aforementioned guest, Josh Radner.
So one is by Greg and one is by Andrea. Greg,
why don't you kick us off?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Sure? Well, obviously we talked with Josh a lot about
the long running about how I Met your mother, and
about the long running joke between Ted and Robin where
they salute every time someone uses a phrase with the
word major or general or another similar word.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
In it, like major malfunction exactly exactly, and the oh
salute every time someone says that.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So this puzzle, In this puzzle, I'm basically going to
describe a military figure and you give me the original phrase.
I'll give you the imagined military name to which you
would salute, although you can't no one can see you saluting,
so you don't have to actually do that, and you
tell me what phrase it's based upon. For example, would
(03:45):
be if I said, the officer in charge of making
things go wrong?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That, of course, is that is major malfunction, major.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Malfunction, right, got it, all right? The officer in charge
of professional baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Ooh, okay, so it has to be it could be general.
It could be major colonel professional baseball. Oh, major league,
of course, major league, sir, yes, sir, all right.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
How about the officer who will knock you out?
Speaker 1 (04:19):
All right, knock you out? So that could be I'm
wondering the best way to approach it is through the
general major side or the other side. I guess simultaneous.
Knock you out is a k of knock you out.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
It's a general.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Oh, general anesthesia, general anesthesia, of course, yeah, good one.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
How about how would the officer in charge of happy
sounding music?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Oh, happy sounding music would be? What is that? Musak?
Happy sounding music? Is it a hot? Is it like
a sergeant? Private?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Now you're gonna quiz me on military ranks? It's one
of the ranks we've already used.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay, So major or general? Happy sounding music? General pop major.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Pop major major it is major major?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Oh major chords major.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Major key major scale. Actually of generals. How about the
officer in charge of comprehensive health insurance.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Comprehensive health health insurance. So that would be uh, general coverage.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, could be. I'm fine, I can give that to you.
It's actually I was looking for major medical.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Major medical. Okay, yeah, well they are both they work
together and the military wing.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How about the officer position that was held by Albert Einstein.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Hmmm, all right, so he was a physical major physicist.
He was a general relativity general relativity.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yes, nice, All right, we've done a lot of majors
in generals. Let's branch out a little bit. This is
the officer who is accurate even when everyone else is
making things up.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
That accurate when everyone else is making things up?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Is it?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Vice? Admiral is an end sign? All right? It is accurate.
He's the lone voice of truth.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yes, the one little true bit among all the fictitious craziness.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Oh man, I don't know. I'm drawing a blank. Give me.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It's a little a position that is not spelled the
same way as it sounds, for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Colonel, Colonel of knowledge, Colonel of truth, Colonel of truth,
little colonel of truth. Gosh, okay, good, good one.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
This is not an officer. This is actually an enlisted
soldier who is.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Naked, private parts, prime, private parts. Yeah, that's them, okay,
private parts.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Very good. How about the officer who gives the kids
a spanking.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Oh, corporal punishment.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Corporal punishment, very good. The officer who appears when you
make popcorn?
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Hmmm, Reddenbacher, is that colonel, let's say, a Kentucky colonel,
Colonel of corn, Colonel of corn, colonel.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
I was thinking of colonel stuck in your teeth, but
that's fine. Enlisted soldier who is hired in a film noir.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Hired in a film noir. Okay, so that would be
detective and yeah, yeah, detect. There's the uh, well, I'm
trying to think of all the this is.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
We've used this one already too. It's a repeat.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Oh, it's a repeat. It's not dick, even though that's
a detective.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
It is something detective.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Oh, a major detective, general detective, colonel, detective, enlist.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
It's an enlisted soldier, not an.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Office private detective.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Private detective. Very good. All right, I got a few more.
None of these. We haven't used any of these yet.
How about the officer in charge of jiu jitsu training
martial arts. Yes, very good. The naval officer with an
old eight bit computer.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Oh, an old eight bit computer would be a naval officer.
So then we're going admiral and.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Best selling computer in the nineteen.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Eighties TRS eighty atari, oh pet Commodore.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Commodore, Commodore sixty four. Yeah, all right, this is quite
a quite a stretch, this one. The officer who approaches humbly.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Okay, Teddy, maybe is there now?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
When you when you come to somebody.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
You crawl cow town, you come with hat in hand.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Yeah, not hat.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Though, captain, captain in hand.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Captain in hand, cap in hand.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
All right, as long as you say it's a stretch,
I am forgiving yep, all right, I'm saluting you, Greg
for such a clever puzzle. But it's not the only puzzle. Today.
We have a puzzle, and this puzzle is my penance
(09:49):
for making a mistake. These two made relentless fun of
me because I said in a clue that Neil Patrick
Harris I could not tell the color of his hair.
I watched. Now, granted I was watching on an iPhone,
so I cut me a little slack. I knew his
(10:12):
hair wasn't dark frown. They looked kind of redish, but
apparently it is not. It is not reddish. It is
very much blonde. Platinum blonde is Neil Patrick.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
No, it's not. But it's not platinum blonde either.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
All right, it's not platinum blonde. It's blondeish, dirty blonde.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
It's blonde.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
For so, they have Andrea has constructed an entire puzzle
based on my innocent mistake. So what do you got, Andrea, Well, first.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Of all, people at home feel free to write in
and weigh in. Neil Patrick, Harris, blonde or redhead? I
think defensively answer anyway. But I mean maybe there are
other people like you out there, don't.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I would love it, come support me even if I'm
not if I'm not right.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
But for today, this has given me the idea for
a puzzle which I've written for both you and Greg.
If Greg, so, I've taken a bunch of things that
have a color in the name or title, and specifically
a naturally occurring hair color, with blonde, black, brown, et cetera.
(11:25):
Colors like that.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
You're saying purple is not a naturally occurring hair color.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I am. I am saying that. Indeed, so all of
these famous people, books, fans, movies, and other works. They
all exist in the same alternate universe where Neil Patrick
Harris is in fact a redhead.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
I can only imagine. Okay, So, as.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
An example, in our real world universe, Sean White is
a snowboarder with red hair. But in the Ginger verse,
which is what I've decided to call this crazy, uh,
there is a surfer whose name is Sean Redhead and
he has white hair.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yep, I got it.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Everything is reversed, all right.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Yes, a little off. Everything's a little off, got it? Okay?
Are you ready? Okay? So the first one is band
with the one hit wonder What's Down?
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Great? All right, we're off to a good start. A
j How you go.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
First, Blondie, What's debby Harry? How about that?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
That is yes, they are not They are not a
one hit Wonder.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Band, that's true.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
What's down is the name of the song?
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Yes, so that's.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
No What's down?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's the What's down is the opposite what's up?
Speaker 1 (12:55):
What's up? I see? So what's up is the name
of the song.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
But it's not the Red Hot Chilis because that would
be Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
There are a lot of bands with with these.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Also, that wouldn't call them a one hit wonder, would
would you?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
No? Not at all? So what's who's sang?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Maybe this band is too obscure.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
Maybe no, I mean we're just too old.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, I don't this is an old band.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Oh wait a minute, wait, so the original band name
does not have a does not have red in it,
it has a different hair color. Yes, so it's like,
what about I have no idea if this is right?
What about four non redheads?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Nona? Yeah, they are the ones who sang What's Up God?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Which I love?
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I love?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yes, Okay. This is a book and also a movie
where protagonist Anastasia Steele engages in a wholesome vanilla relationship
with an emotionally available billionaire.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
That's nice.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I would read that wholesome vanilla relationship. All right, I
think we got yeah, not come plicated. It's fifty shades
of red head.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Red head or red, yeah, red head red in this case,
it's yeah, it's.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, the more complimentary.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Fifty shades of gray, but fifty shades of red.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yes, exactly. Okay. Uh. This is the author of the
best selling novel The Michael Angelo Cipher.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
So the Da Vinci Code yeah, yeah, and that would
be uh yeah, red exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yep, correct, correct, Okay, uh this is the fairy tale
in which a princess takes a bite out of an
orange and it gives her insomnia.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
It's that sleeping beauty.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
Is It's got to be no, yeah, no, red snow.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Red, which I admit does not it's not it doesn't
totally translate. But that's that's what happens in this crazy universe.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, it's a crazy yeah, all right.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
He is the star of movies like School of Pop
and Boxing Panda, and he also sings in the rock
duo Gives Up Easily.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
D and producer of a pilot never aired about one
of my books.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Oh yeah, that's right. So this is Jack White, not
to be confused with the guitar guitarist for the Black
Stripes named Jack Black.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
But Jack Red. They're both Jack.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Red, Jack Red. Of course I just went for the opposites.
I'm so confused, Jack Red.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
All right, Jack, but enough of.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Jack Black, not off of Jack White.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
You got it, You got it, you got it. Okay.
This is a movie starring Natalie Portman, about a dancer
who is able to earn the lead role at her
Ballet Company through a combination of good sleep and a
healthy work life. Stylace.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Oh, that's nice.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's a nice movie.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
I like these non conflict movies.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Red would never have met very It's a very boring universe,
Red Swan. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Yes, yes, okay, Let's do an Oscar wild novel in
which a painting gets more and more beautiful as the
saintly and pure protagonist carries out more and more good deeds,
all while aging gracefully.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
What you're saying is that in the Ginger verse, everything
is nicer. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Does sound sound pleasant?
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Doesn't Maybe that's what I wanted. I wanted Neil Patrick
Harris's character to be nicer. Is that so wrong? Uh?
Speaker 3 (16:36):
He's nice.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
He is not nice, He's like a Harris. He's a delight.
He is a delight Barney, though Barnie's got some issues.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
This is the picture of Dorian Red correct very nice,
all right.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
This is one of the stars of the Silver Girls.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Ahh okay, I think I know.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
It, Arthur, Arthur. No, it's Betty Red, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
It is Betty.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Red by the way, I did like I've been researching
our upcoming guest Michael Showalter, and he has a section
in his book called about the author, and then he
has another section called about be Arthur, about the Arthur,
and it's just facts about the Arthur.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Very funny.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
All right, well you got it one more for us. Sure.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
This is an Edgar Allan Poe poem that begins what's
upon a bright day at noon? While I pondered? Strong
and rejuvenated?
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I love it. This is a good This is a
less common hair color word like red and white and gray. Right,
this is good? Aj you know the answer?
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Oh well, raven, I suppose you could say raven haired.
So it's red, just called red, right or the red.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
The redhead red?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Well done, Andrea nicely to love those. Now I'll never
forget that Neil Patrick Harris's hair is red red.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
I know. Now I'm going to be confused about which
it actually is.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
I'm sick and with the red. All right, well that
was very instructive. Thank you, Greg, Thank you, Andrea. Thank
you listeners. And by the way, listeners, if you do
have i'd take forty two seconds please go rate The
Puzzler on your favorite podcast platform, because that's how people
(18:35):
find us. And we love when people find us, it's
just more puzzling, and speaking of which, we'll meet you
here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska here with the extra credit
answer from our previous episode. I did a game with
Aj that one of our listeners helped create, and it's
all phrases that rhyme with may Day because it was
a may Day puzzle. Your extra credit clue was this help.
We're horses and we want more food, so we're making
this sound that of course is hey nay, but you
(19:11):
got to say it three times.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Hey nay, Hey nay, hey nay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Thanks for playing along. We'll see you here next time
for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly. Thanks
for playing along with the team here at the Puzzler
with AJ Jacobs. I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer.
Our executive producers are Neelie Lohman and Adam Neuhouse of
(19:38):
New House Ideas and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is produced by Jody Afragan and Brittany Brown of
Roulette Productions, with production support from Claire Bidegar Curtis. Our
associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg. The Puzzler with AJ Jacobs
is a co production.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
With New House Ideas and is distributed by Iced Pathos
Rats New Yeah rearrange that it's distributed by iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
If you want to know more about puzzling puzzles, please
check out the book The Puzzler by AJ Jacobs, a
history of puzzles that The New York Times called fun
and funny. It features an original puzzle hunt by yours Truly,
and is available wherever you get your books and puzzlers.
For all your puzzling needs, go visit the puzzler dot com.
(20:31):
See you there,
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
Popular Podcasts
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
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.