November 13, 2023 • 8 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us all this week: writer, actor, and comedian Michael Ian Black.
Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses.
Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.
Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.
The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.
Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, your daily
microdose of delightfully baffling entertainment. And today we have a
movie themed puzzle for our guest, the amazing comedian and
(00:24):
actor star of many motion pictures including Wet Hot American Summer,
Michael ian Black. Welcome, Michael, hi AJ.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Nice to be here. I'm looking forward to puzzling along
with you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Thank you for using puzzling as a verb. And I
know that you're not just a talented entertainer, but you're
also a fan of puzzles.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I love a good puzzle. I'm a longtime crossword puzzler.
I'm a wordler, I'm a spelling beeer, I'm a boggler.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I like a puzzle, and I do you remember you
once tweeted that you and I both like I think
you called it the redheaded stepchild of New York Times puzzles,
the acrostick.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I do like an acrosstic because it across to goal
keep me occupied all day. I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, you're the only person I know who does an
acrosstic with an actual pen or pencil. They used to
have it on online and then they took it off
oh scam.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No, no, no, no, no, I'm not interested in that.
I'm not interested in that new Thankel technology. Look I've
got a VCR. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a lie.
But when it comes to across stick, I like doing
it the old fashioned way.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Fair enough, all right, are you ready for our puzzle today?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I am?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
All right. So this puzzle is based on a new
character that I'm workshopping called guy who enthusiastically describes movies
he has not seen. So, for instance, this character might say, oh, yeah,
I hear there's this great movie about the Las Vegas
football team and their search for Noah's boat, which has
(02:06):
gone missing.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I was concerned when you said in football teams. I thought, oh,
I'm not gonna remember what that is. But I do
remember what it is, and I know what this is.
This is Raiders, a lost ark, obyous exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You got it, And I'm surprised. I thought you had
a couple of Super Bowl rings. You're always posting about that.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, because when I was in the NFL, the Raiders
were not in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I see that makes sense. Okay, So that was that's
the idea. Are you ready for your first real one. Yes, Okay,
I'm gonna get into character center myself and here we go.
Oh man, I cannot wait to see this movie. It
is about Jerry Seinfeld's zany neighbor who clones himself and
(02:47):
then he and his clone have a fight to the
death mixed martial arts bow right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, uh, what was the postman's name on that show
of Newman? This is got to be Newman versus Newman,
or perhaps, and I'm just speculating here, Kramer versus Kramer.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It is that I was thinking the latter. But okay,
if there is a Newman versus Newman, we would give
you double credit. We're going to IMDb that right now.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, I know, all right, you can option it. You're
a powerful person, all right. Your second movie is Okay,
this is gonna be a great movie. I can't wait
to see it. It's where the thirty third President of
the United States and his wife Bess, they come in
third in the horse race.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Okay, the thirty third President of the United States and
his wife. His wife is best, right, So in a
horse race, you either win place or show in. The
thirty third president obviously Harry Truman, so it's got to
be the Truman Show.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I love it, and I felt like I was in
your mind as you figured it out. That's so thank you.
All right, you're doing great. Number three Okay, this movie,
oh man, it's this is an epic tale, the tale
of an A list movie star who slapped someone at
the Academy Awards and oh yeah, and it was such
(04:14):
an uproar that he had to escape Hollywood and move
to Seattle.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Set. Okay, So that was Will Smith and it was
such an uproar that he had to move to Seattle, Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Uh, look at my eyes when you said Washington, I
know I got that ours can.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, Washington, I got. But Will Smith, Oh, mister Smith
goes to Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Duh beautiful. All right, here is number four. We got
two more. Number four is Oh it's a thriller set
in the exciting world of probate court. Can these two
young men find a high quality document to bequeath their
money to the next generation?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Well, in a probate cor you know, there's two young
men and it's a good will hunting.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It is good will hunting.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Why did you can't I can't even quite put that together?
But why that makes sense. Can they find their hunting for.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Well, I just thought i'd throw in, Oh, you're right.
I didn't even need that. I was just trying to
give you a little Matt damon and to me, all right,
well that that is a that is a good point.
That's from doing years of New York Times crossword puzzles,
you have figured out what's a good clue. Well you
got it, nonetheless, despite the red herring, yep, And let
(05:39):
me end with one. It's a little tricky, it's a
little slightly different, but I think you can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It've gotten aggressively harder. I'm gonna sure that's by design,
but I mean probate court. I didn't know what that was.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yes, I had to look it up as well, but
it turned out to be Will related.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So finally, this is an epic story of a dust
cloud in space. It's got hydrogen atoms, some helium, and
it condenses, condenses, gets hotter and hotter, finally fusion. In
the third act.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
A nebula a cloud in space. So that's that's nebula,
but I don't think that's what it is. And it
condenses into a into a star.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yes, I like where you're going at point.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
The star is.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Cornus, the star is born exactly, a star is born.
Any of the three. I would accept any of the three,
and the original or the remakes. Well done, well done,
you know your physics. Thank you for this, and tell
us where people can get more of Michael ian Black.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Well aj. If you want to find me, you can
see me on Twitter at Michael ian Black, or you
can subscribe to my substack. I've just started. I'm writing
about all sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I actually just read a recent one about deism, so
I like it. You say you're not. You don't love
atheism or agnosticism, so you're going with diesel. Have you
thought about naturalism? That's a nice phrase. I like naturalist.
I'll have to look it out, all right, think about it. Well,
thank you, Michael, And as always, before we wrap up,
(07:19):
we have an extra credit puzzle for the puzzlers at home.
You're welcome to play along, Michael, But in your mind,
here's a movie. It's a heartwarming story for animal lovers.
It's about a golden doodle, a Border Collie and a
docs and who spend their days hanging around a water
supply and puzzlers. Please come back tomorrow for the answer
(07:46):
to the extra credit question and for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Hello again, puzzlers, This is Greg Pliska and I've got
the extra credit answer from our previous show. On that show,
we played a game called Capital Gains. In each case,
you were given a sentence with a blank in it,
and that blank could be filled phonetically with the name
of a US state capital to make the sentence make sense.
(08:23):
Here was your extra credit clue. While most people use
their fingers. If you can touch your face with a blank,
boo becomes an even sillier child's game, and the answer
is the capital of Kansas, Topeka. If you can touch
your face with a toe peka boo becomes an even
(08:45):
sillier child's game. Good luck touching your face with your toes,
and we'll see you for more puzzles next time.
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, your daily
microdose of delightfully baffling entertainment. And today we have a
movie themed puzzle for our guest, the amazing comedian and
(00:24):
actor star of many motion pictures including Wet Hot American Summer,
Michael ian Black. Welcome, Michael, hi AJ.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Nice to be here. I'm looking forward to puzzling along
with you.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Thank you for using puzzling as a verb. And I
know that you're not just a talented entertainer, but you're
also a fan of puzzles.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I love a good puzzle. I'm a longtime crossword puzzler.
I'm a wordler, I'm a spelling beeer, I'm a boggler.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I like a puzzle, and I do you remember you
once tweeted that you and I both like I think
you called it the redheaded stepchild of New York Times puzzles,
the acrostick.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I do like an acrosstic because it across to goal
keep me occupied all day. I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Well, you're the only person I know who does an
acrosstic with an actual pen or pencil. They used to
have it on online and then they took it off
oh scam.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
No, no, no, no, no, I'm not interested in that.
I'm not interested in that new Thankel technology. Look I've
got a VCR. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a lie.
But when it comes to across stick, I like doing
it the old fashioned way.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Fair enough, all right, are you ready for our puzzle today?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I am?
Speaker 1 (01:41):
All right. So this puzzle is based on a new
character that I'm workshopping called guy who enthusiastically describes movies
he has not seen. So, for instance, this character might say, oh, yeah,
I hear there's this great movie about the Las Vegas
football team and their search for Noah's boat, which has
(02:06):
gone missing.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
I was concerned when you said in football teams. I thought, oh,
I'm not gonna remember what that is. But I do
remember what it is, and I know what this is.
This is Raiders, a lost ark, obyous exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You got it, And I'm surprised. I thought you had
a couple of Super Bowl rings. You're always posting about that.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, because when I was in the NFL, the Raiders
were not in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I see that makes sense. Okay, So that was that's
the idea. Are you ready for your first real one. Yes, Okay,
I'm gonna get into character center myself and here we go.
Oh man, I cannot wait to see this movie. It
is about Jerry Seinfeld's zany neighbor who clones himself and
(02:47):
then he and his clone have a fight to the
death mixed martial arts bow right.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, uh, what was the postman's name on that show
of Newman? This is got to be Newman versus Newman,
or perhaps, and I'm just speculating here, Kramer versus Kramer.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It is that I was thinking the latter. But okay,
if there is a Newman versus Newman, we would give
you double credit. We're going to IMDb that right now.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
That would be amazing.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, I know, all right, you can option it. You're
a powerful person, all right. Your second movie is Okay,
this is gonna be a great movie. I can't wait
to see it. It's where the thirty third President of
the United States and his wife Bess, they come in
third in the horse race.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Okay, the thirty third President of the United States and
his wife. His wife is best, right, So in a
horse race, you either win place or show in. The
thirty third president obviously Harry Truman, so it's got to
be the Truman Show.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I love it, and I felt like I was in
your mind as you figured it out. That's so thank you.
All right, you're doing great. Number three Okay, this movie,
oh man, it's this is an epic tale, the tale
of an A list movie star who slapped someone at
the Academy Awards and oh yeah, and it was such
(04:14):
an uproar that he had to escape Hollywood and move
to Seattle.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Set. Okay, So that was Will Smith and it was
such an uproar that he had to move to Seattle, Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Uh, look at my eyes when you said Washington, I
know I got that ours can.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, Washington, I got. But Will Smith, Oh, mister Smith
goes to Washington.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Duh beautiful. All right, here is number four. We got
two more. Number four is Oh it's a thriller set
in the exciting world of probate court. Can these two
young men find a high quality document to bequeath their
money to the next generation?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Well, in a probate cor you know, there's two young
men and it's a good will hunting.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
It is good will hunting.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Why did you can't I can't even quite put that together?
But why that makes sense. Can they find their hunting for.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Well, I just thought i'd throw in, Oh, you're right.
I didn't even need that. I was just trying to
give you a little Matt damon and to me, all right,
well that that is a that is a good point.
That's from doing years of New York Times crossword puzzles,
you have figured out what's a good clue. Well you
got it, nonetheless, despite the red herring, yep, And let
(05:39):
me end with one. It's a little tricky, it's a
little slightly different, but I think you can do it.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It've gotten aggressively harder. I'm gonna sure that's by design,
but I mean probate court. I didn't know what that was.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yes, I had to look it up as well, but
it turned out to be Will related.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So finally, this is an epic story of a dust
cloud in space. It's got hydrogen atoms, some helium, and
it condenses, condenses, gets hotter and hotter, finally fusion. In
the third act.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
A nebula a cloud in space. So that's that's nebula,
but I don't think that's what it is. And it
condenses into a into a star.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Yes, I like where you're going at point.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
The star is.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Cornus, the star is born exactly, a star is born.
Any of the three. I would accept any of the three,
and the original or the remakes. Well done, well done,
you know your physics. Thank you for this, and tell
us where people can get more of Michael ian Black.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Well aj. If you want to find me, you can
see me on Twitter at Michael ian Black, or you
can subscribe to my substack. I've just started. I'm writing
about all sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
I actually just read a recent one about deism, so
I like it. You say you're not. You don't love
atheism or agnosticism, so you're going with diesel. Have you
thought about naturalism? That's a nice phrase. I like naturalist.
I'll have to look it out, all right, think about it. Well,
thank you, Michael, And as always, before we wrap up,
(07:19):
we have an extra credit puzzle for the puzzlers at home.
You're welcome to play along, Michael, But in your mind,
here's a movie. It's a heartwarming story for animal lovers.
It's about a golden doodle, a Border Collie and a
docs and who spend their days hanging around a water
supply and puzzlers. Please come back tomorrow for the answer
(07:46):
to the extra credit question and for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Hello again, puzzlers, This is Greg Pliska and I've got
the extra credit answer from our previous show. On that show,
we played a game called Capital Gains. In each case,
you were given a sentence with a blank in it,
and that blank could be filled phonetically with the name
of a US state capital to make the sentence make sense.
(08:23):
Here was your extra credit clue. While most people use
their fingers. If you can touch your face with a blank,
boo becomes an even sillier child's game, and the answer
is the capital of Kansas, Topeka. If you can touch
your face with a toe peka boo becomes an even
(08:45):
sillier child's game. Good luck touching your face with your toes,
and we'll see you for more puzzles next time.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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