September 12, 2025 • 21 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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello puzzlers. I thought maybe we could start with a
quick puzzle. Here are three countries, Canada, Lebanon, Mexico. What
do these contrees have in common? Notice I'm flagging the
second syllable count trees. The answer and again that is Canada, Lebanon, Mexico.
(00:25):
What do they have in common? The answer and more
puzzling goodness after the break, Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to
the Puzzler podcast The Bacon, Egg and Cheese at your
Favorite puzzle.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Modega, my favorite sandwich.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
There you go. Well that was Andrea Schoenberg, Senior Puzzler.
I don't eat bacon, I eat egg and cheese, but
I can taste it even though I'm a vegetarian. It's good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I don't eat it a lot because you know, it's
not entirely healthy. But boy, I could walk by, walk
by one of those street carts and smell that bacon,
egg and cheese being made. I'm like, I need one
of those right now. So I hope that's how people
feel about the podcast. I need that right now.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We are, as Andrea says, The Bacon, Egg and Cheese
a puzzle podcast exactly Before the break, we ask what
do these countries have in common Canada, Lebanon, and Mexico.
And I did say contrees and the little wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I think this is harder than your usual opening puzzle.
I think it because you don't mention the country flags
when you.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Talk about well, I said, notice, I'm flagging the.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh see, you're too clever for me even.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Oh I find that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Wait, countrees. These all the flags of these countries have
trees on them. The maple leaf in the Canadian flag.
I assume Lebanon has a cedar on it.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
You assume correctly.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
And all I remember at the next flag is the
bird with the arrows in its talons. But maybe there's
a tree there too.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
There is a snake.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There's a snake.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
An eagle is eating a snake. Wait, it's quite a
crazy and interesting flag. But he's over a garland of
leaves and cactus. They've got double vegetation.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Amazing. Are you saying these are the only three countries?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
There are quite a few of those are the big ones? Actually,
Canada and Lebanon are the big ones. The Cypress flag
has a garland of leaves under the map of cypress,
which is, by.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
The way, the only flag with a map of the
country on it, I believe.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Excellent point. Now, I was hoping, as a puzzle nerd
that it would be cypress leaves, but it is not
a cypress tree. It is olive trees. I did this because,
first of all, I came up with it. I was
on a little Many family vacation in Quebec City, beautiful city,
and I noticed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
We were there for the holidays last year.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Oh look at that missed We missed.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You by a year, six months, six months. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I saw the red maple leaf. I thought, oh, red leaf.
That's a nice autumnal puzzle. But it's not just autumn.
It is also Friday, which means it is in the
puzzle lab. Among other things. We have the mail bag
from readers, so printed out emails. Today is exciting because
we have two very different letters about the same animal.
(03:28):
And I'm not going to tell you what that animal
is yet, but you're about to find out. Letter number
one is from Eric Gus. Now Eric, by the way,
a special shout out to him because he always has
great feedback and he sends in his own puzzles. We've
done a couple of them on the air. They are delightful.
Eric's letter this time is about a puzzle I gave
(03:49):
a while back about animals with names that sound exactly
like a verb. So a flying mammal steps up to
home plate is a bat bats exactly? Shaggy tibetan animal
chatter is on and on, Yes, there it is. But
(04:09):
one clue I gave was a dairy animal intimidates, and
the answer I was looking for.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Is buffalo buffaloes.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
No it is not you and Eric the same with.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Cow cows, cow cow, because you might argue that a
buffaloes are dairy animals. Right, we have buffalo, buffalo, cheese buffalo.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think it's a very solid point,
he writes. He does say an alternate but worst answer
would be buffalo buffalo, So he he does say that
it is a worst answer. I'm not sure it is.
But he also referenced the great buffalo sentence with eight
buffalos in a row. Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo.
(04:54):
I don't know if that was eight. Please go back
out and send it other letter. But yes, that, of
course is a crazy but grammatical sentence. Thank you Eric
for that. But what's particularly exciting is that that's not
the only buffalo letter we received it. Yeah, it was
(05:16):
quite a theme in the reader mail.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Are you saying we're gonna need like a separate filing
area for the buffalo mail.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I think we do need a buffalo folder.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Regular mail and buffalo mail.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I mean, if this trend continues, ready, Okay, Yeah, So
this one is from Tom Steele, who is an associate
professor of bibliography at the University.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Of Oklahoma, so an expert on buffalo.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I mean, it is an awesome job. It's also a
very you know, it's a it's a word nerdy occupation.
And thank you Tom. So Tom wrote subject header bison
are not buffalo now background. The puzzle was about franken animals,
animals that we could combine. So I gave a clue
(06:07):
mammal on the western plains with big red claws and
an antenna, and I was going for buffalobster, buffalo lobster.
But Tom Steele writes in his email, the clue you
gave for buffalo lobster mammal on the western planes was incorrect.
(06:28):
A mammal on the western planes is bison, not buffalo,
not even a member of the buffalo family. So that
was interesting. And you know, he's got a point. He
does have a point because the buffalo are the are
distinct from the bison. A true buffalo is native to
(06:49):
Africa and Asia, and bisons are found in North America
and Europe. So I do deeply and humbly apologize to
Tom and all of the buffalo and bison out there.
But I loved big butt. Yep, on this buffalo. We
got a butt.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
It's a big hairy buffalo, but.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Big harry buffalo butt from Greg Plisk. Greg, tell me
about your take on this.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So I believe Tom is technically correct in terms of
especially if you are a zoologist, if you are someone
who studies animals, you would make this distinction between the
cape buffalo or the water buffalo and the which are
the African and Asian animals and the American bison. The
(07:37):
problem with the English language is that English speakers keep
evolving it, and we say things, and we say them
enough that the lexicographers say, well, you know, everybody who
speaks English is saying this, and so therefore that is
now part of the language. And if you look in
Merriam Webster's Dictionary. One of the definitions of buffalo, the
third one after water buffalo and cape buffalo, is a
(07:59):
member of the genus bison. And similarly, if you if
you look under bison, it gives you as synonymous with bison,
the word buffalo. So we clumsy and flawed English speakers
have screwed up the distinction that Tom is rightly making.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So the lesson is if you say something enough times,
it becomes true. Yeah, which seems like for our political age.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Very exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well that now I did when I was researching this,
I did go to a Mirriam Webster article on their
blog about all commonly confused animals. So before we we
have more to say about distinctions and pedantry. But before
(08:51):
we do that, I'll do a little pedantry on distinguishing
these animals. Okay, So I'm going to give you a
little quiz. Great, I'm ready, And by the way, we
have special guests Adam Newhouse, who is a puzzler producer,
and Adam please weigh in on this as well. Okay,
(09:12):
first I'm gonna give you a clue to what the
two animals are, and then I'll give you a little
trivia quiz about how to distinguish them. So first clue,
one you see later, the other you see in a while.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Sure, Adam, do you have any idea what's going on here?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
These are two animals. One you see later.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh oh, oh, I.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Know, the other you see in a y.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So like when we're leaving, i'd say, see you later,
alligator and you very nice, you'd say in.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
A while, crocodile.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Exactly all right, there you go, often confused alligator and crocodile.
Which one of these, Adam and Greg, has a you
snaped shower up?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Say that five times fast.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
It is quite a ton twist. Which of these has
a U shaped snout? And which has a V shaped snout?
Speaker 4 (10:10):
First of all, the U and the V very close,
depending on the angle on which you're looking at.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
It, I am, depending on the font.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Their handwriting is not very good, and in fact, those
two one of those letters evolved from the other.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Adam, I need you.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
I would just be taking a guess in fifty to
fifty shot, I'm gonna go crocodile.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Crocodile is which U shaped you shaped? Fine, I'm gonna
say Crocodile's V shaped.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I was rooting for Adam, for Adam, but Greg is correct.
Crocodiles have V shaped snouts. All right, Well I got one.
I got one more commonly confused pair of animals. Okay,
are you ready? One is an NFL team and the
other sounds like a deep.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Meaning panther, bear, lion, tiger, Tigers. They're tigers.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
They have they have. I believe they hold the record
for the only undefeated.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well they do. The Miami Dolphins undefeated the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
And they are confused sometimes with a word that sounds
like meaning.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I know what, you know what it is? The other No,
what is it? Porpoise?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Dolphin and porpoise?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And what's the difference the dolphins different mammal a fish? No,
not that much.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
They're pretty there. They're pretty close. Again, they're pretty close,
and they actually comes down to the nose again.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Now you shaped snout again?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Okay, this one is not U shaped. But one has
a longer beak and one has a shorter beak. What
do you think who has the first?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
The dolphin has the shorter beak snout? Agree with you
on that one?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Agree with him, Adam, just a hint, do not agree
with him?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I'm the stand in for the audience that's listening against.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
All right, well, Adam was right and Greg was wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
We've established I have no idea what I'm talking about.
When it comes to animal snouts.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Dolphins have an elongated beak and porpoises have a shortened beak.
So you have the bottle nosed dolphin, which I guess
is a bottle is kind of long. All right, Well,
there's also frog and toad and hair and rabbit, but
we won't get to that because we have got Greg
also has some thoughts on fine distinctions.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Speaking of pedantry as the chief pedant here of the
Puzzler podcast. No. I, so you know about Learned League Trivia,
right right, the greatest trivia league in all the land,
founded by the pseudonymic so I can't say that word now,
by the guy whose real name is not forced An
a Integrity, but he writes great questions. But in the
(13:13):
off season, players are given the opportunity to create a
sort of mini contest twelve questions on a different topic.
And this last offseason a player named sears C. I
don't know anything more about this person's name. Most close
players in the league use their last name and first initial.
So sears C created twelve questions on the topic of
(13:35):
pedantry that was exactly on this subject. It was a
sort of two things that often get confused, and you
had to answer you had he didn't tell you. He
kind of clued him the way you did, vaguely enough
that you might you first you had to figure out, oh,
it's dolphin and porpoise, and then he'd say which one
is the one with the long snout, and you'd have
(13:55):
to say dolphin basically. So I'm going to do some
of these with you.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Love it all right? I would love to be joined
by Andrea Schoenberg, Senior post right, adam time on in Okay,
go ahead, okay.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So, if you're on the high seas and you see
loose crates adrift on the waves, it could be the
debris or lost cargo from a shipwreck. That's not to
be confused with the cargo that was deliberately thrown overboard
in an attempt to lighten the ship in a tight spot.
So what are those two words? Is this something to
do with flotsam? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, and what's the what's its neighbor flotsam? Andrea, you
remember jetson jetsam exactly. I actually have a mnemonic for
this because I was like, I have to figure out
you jettison jetson jetsam. You jettison jetsam, So that is
the one you purposely throw.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Over, and flotsam is just floating.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It's just floating, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Here's here's another one. In colonial America and in medieval times,
there were two instruments of punishment. One involved a wooden
frame that had holes through which one could place the
wrongdoer's feet, and the other involved a wooden frame that
had holes through which one could place the wrong doer's
head and hands.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, I happen, I guys, I'm sorry, I have to
take this, but I had a whole chapter on this
in my last book on the Constitution. Because the pillary
and the stock, I believe it's stock, not stocks. Stocks. Okay,
both pillary and the stocks were both considered uncruel and
(15:36):
unusual cruel and usual punishment back then. And the distinction
is the pillary is just the head in the hands,
and if you add the feet, you get the stocks. Yep, am,
I right, you're correct, all right, you want.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
To avoid either of them, but you're correct, all right.
One of these is a spread made by boiling fruit
juice with sugar, and it's resilient, transparent, partly transparent, and gelatinous.
One of these is a thick spread made by boiling
fruit pulp and a lot more sugar. In fact, it
(16:12):
has to be at least fifty five percent sugar according
to the FDA. And the third is the thickest and
the chunkiest, with slices or even whole fruit in it,
and it's often nearly opaque. What are those three things?
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Oh, that's good, that's good. That's tricky. I have some theories.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I'm thinking. I'm thinking jam and jam and jelly for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I'm think it preserves. Yeah, you got the three words
very good, which.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Is rd, jelly and preserves. Wait, so what about conserves.
You didn't even throw it.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I didn't even throw that in there. That is Yeah,
that goes off into a slightly different thing. Which one
is the more transparent, gelatinous one that has is fruit
juice with sugar.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I say that's jelly, that's my Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I'm gonna say jam, but well, you know my mouth jelly.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
You know good one? All right? So then one is thick,
thicker and made by boiling fruit pulp and has a
lot more sugar. And then third is more thick and
chunky with slices or even whole fruit.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I feel like the last one, Preserves means it's preserving
the fruit.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Oh look at light, see you're thinking like a puzzler now, Adam,
all right, you're correct. Preserves is the thickest and chunkiest,
and then jam is the one in between. It's thick's
got fruit pulp and a lot more sugar.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
All right, Good to know, Good to know. Thank you
Greg for your pedantry, Thank you Adam and Andrea for
helping with the fine distinctions. That is it for today's episode.
But if you have a couple of minutes and have
an itch for more puzzles, please check out our Instagram
(18:02):
feed at Hello Puzzlers. It's at Hello Puzzlers, and we
put off original puzzles. In fact, I think we might
just put up some more of these fine distinctions for you.
So check that out and of course we'll see you
next week or more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Puzzling gwinn, Hey Puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the
puzzle Lab with the extra credit answer from our previous episode,
we played a game naming things in different categories that
all used only a single vowel.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
You can as many times as you want, but only
one vowel. In your extra credit was to come up
with articles of clothing, one for each of the vowels.
So for the letter A, I have on my list bandana, kaftan,
yashmak abaya, balaklava, crava, pajamas, panama hat, sandals, and of
(19:04):
course other things are possible, but those are the ones
I had. For the letter E, I've got jersey, breeches, helmet,
an article of clothing, sure and vestments. And for the
letter I have got two bikini which is a classic,
and night shirt which also works. For the letter Oh,
there are three. I came up with boot, long John's
(19:28):
and poncho. And you know, I realized you could wear
all of those together as a kind of strange cold
weather winter ensemble. Boots, long Johns and a poncho. And finally,
for the letter you, there are two.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
There is the moo moo m u muu, relatively common
dress back from the sixties. Yes, big flowing dress and
a two to two less commonly worn outside.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Of ballet class. So there you go. Thanks for playing
with us. If you got other ones that didn't make
the list, drop us a line to hear from you.
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
(20:15):
New House Ideas and Jonathan Strickland of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is produced by Jody.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Abrigan and Britney Brown of Roulette Productions, with production support
from Claire Bitegar Curtis.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Our senior puzzler is Andrea Schoenberg.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
The Puzzler with Aj Jacobs is a co production with
New House Ideas and is distributed by shaped Ricatta's Beautiful
Cheese Sculptures delivered straight to your door.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
No No, No no No Rearrange the letters distributed by
iHeart Podcasts. 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
(21:04):
and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs, go visit the
puzzler dot com. See you there,
Hello puzzlers. I thought maybe we could start with a
quick puzzle. Here are three countries, Canada, Lebanon, Mexico. What
do these contrees have in common? Notice I'm flagging the
second syllable count trees. The answer and again that is Canada, Lebanon, Mexico.
(00:25):
What do they have in common? The answer and more
puzzling goodness after the break, Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to
the Puzzler podcast The Bacon, Egg and Cheese at your
Favorite puzzle.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Modega, my favorite sandwich.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
There you go. Well that was Andrea Schoenberg, Senior Puzzler.
I don't eat bacon, I eat egg and cheese, but
I can taste it even though I'm a vegetarian. It's good.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I don't eat it a lot because you know, it's
not entirely healthy. But boy, I could walk by, walk
by one of those street carts and smell that bacon,
egg and cheese being made. I'm like, I need one
of those right now. So I hope that's how people
feel about the podcast. I need that right now.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We are, as Andrea says, The Bacon, Egg and Cheese
a puzzle podcast exactly Before the break, we ask what
do these countries have in common Canada, Lebanon, and Mexico.
And I did say contrees and the little wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I think this is harder than your usual opening puzzle.
I think it because you don't mention the country flags
when you.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Talk about well, I said, notice, I'm flagging the.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Oh see, you're too clever for me even.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Oh I find that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Wait, countrees. These all the flags of these countries have
trees on them. The maple leaf in the Canadian flag.
I assume Lebanon has a cedar on it.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
You assume correctly.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
And all I remember at the next flag is the
bird with the arrows in its talons. But maybe there's
a tree there too.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
There is a snake.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
There's a snake.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
An eagle is eating a snake. Wait, it's quite a
crazy and interesting flag. But he's over a garland of
leaves and cactus. They've got double vegetation.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Amazing. Are you saying these are the only three countries?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
There are quite a few of those are the big ones? Actually,
Canada and Lebanon are the big ones. The Cypress flag
has a garland of leaves under the map of cypress,
which is, by.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
The way, the only flag with a map of the
country on it, I believe.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Excellent point. Now, I was hoping, as a puzzle nerd
that it would be cypress leaves, but it is not
a cypress tree. It is olive trees. I did this because,
first of all, I came up with it. I was
on a little Many family vacation in Quebec City, beautiful city,
and I noticed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
We were there for the holidays last year.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Oh look at that missed We missed.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You by a year, six months, six months. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
I saw the red maple leaf. I thought, oh, red leaf.
That's a nice autumnal puzzle. But it's not just autumn.
It is also Friday, which means it is in the
puzzle lab. Among other things. We have the mail bag
from readers, so printed out emails. Today is exciting because
we have two very different letters about the same animal.
(03:28):
And I'm not going to tell you what that animal
is yet, but you're about to find out. Letter number
one is from Eric Gus. Now Eric, by the way,
a special shout out to him because he always has
great feedback and he sends in his own puzzles. We've
done a couple of them on the air. They are delightful.
Eric's letter this time is about a puzzle I gave
(03:49):
a while back about animals with names that sound exactly
like a verb. So a flying mammal steps up to
home plate is a bat bats exactly? Shaggy tibetan animal
chatter is on and on, Yes, there it is. But
(04:09):
one clue I gave was a dairy animal intimidates, and
the answer I was looking for.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Is buffalo buffaloes.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
No it is not you and Eric the same with.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Cow cows, cow cow, because you might argue that a
buffaloes are dairy animals. Right, we have buffalo, buffalo, cheese buffalo.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think it's a very solid point,
he writes. He does say an alternate but worst answer
would be buffalo buffalo, So he he does say that
it is a worst answer. I'm not sure it is.
But he also referenced the great buffalo sentence with eight
buffalos in a row. Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo.
(04:54):
I don't know if that was eight. Please go back
out and send it other letter. But yes, that, of
course is a crazy but grammatical sentence. Thank you Eric
for that. But what's particularly exciting is that that's not
the only buffalo letter we received it. Yeah, it was
(05:16):
quite a theme in the reader mail.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Are you saying we're gonna need like a separate filing
area for the buffalo mail.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I think we do need a buffalo folder.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Regular mail and buffalo mail.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
I mean, if this trend continues, ready, Okay, Yeah, So
this one is from Tom Steele, who is an associate
professor of bibliography at the University.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Of Oklahoma, so an expert on buffalo.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I mean, it is an awesome job. It's also a
very you know, it's a it's a word nerdy occupation.
And thank you Tom. So Tom wrote subject header bison
are not buffalo now background. The puzzle was about franken animals,
animals that we could combine. So I gave a clue
(06:07):
mammal on the western plains with big red claws and
an antenna, and I was going for buffalobster, buffalo lobster.
But Tom Steele writes in his email, the clue you
gave for buffalo lobster mammal on the western planes was incorrect.
(06:28):
A mammal on the western planes is bison, not buffalo,
not even a member of the buffalo family. So that
was interesting. And you know, he's got a point. He
does have a point because the buffalo are the are
distinct from the bison. A true buffalo is native to
(06:49):
Africa and Asia, and bisons are found in North America
and Europe. So I do deeply and humbly apologize to
Tom and all of the buffalo and bison out there.
But I loved big butt. Yep, on this buffalo. We
got a butt.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
It's a big hairy buffalo, but.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Big harry buffalo butt from Greg Plisk. Greg, tell me
about your take on this.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So I believe Tom is technically correct in terms of
especially if you are a zoologist, if you are someone
who studies animals, you would make this distinction between the
cape buffalo or the water buffalo and the which are
the African and Asian animals and the American bison. The
(07:37):
problem with the English language is that English speakers keep
evolving it, and we say things, and we say them
enough that the lexicographers say, well, you know, everybody who
speaks English is saying this, and so therefore that is
now part of the language. And if you look in
Merriam Webster's Dictionary. One of the definitions of buffalo, the
third one after water buffalo and cape buffalo, is a
(07:59):
member of the genus bison. And similarly, if you if
you look under bison, it gives you as synonymous with bison,
the word buffalo. So we clumsy and flawed English speakers
have screwed up the distinction that Tom is rightly making.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So the lesson is if you say something enough times,
it becomes true. Yeah, which seems like for our political age.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Very exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well that now I did when I was researching this,
I did go to a Mirriam Webster article on their
blog about all commonly confused animals. So before we we
have more to say about distinctions and pedantry. But before
(08:51):
we do that, I'll do a little pedantry on distinguishing
these animals. Okay, So I'm going to give you a
little quiz. Great, I'm ready, And by the way, we
have special guests Adam Newhouse, who is a puzzler producer,
and Adam please weigh in on this as well. Okay,
(09:12):
first I'm gonna give you a clue to what the
two animals are, and then I'll give you a little
trivia quiz about how to distinguish them. So first clue,
one you see later, the other you see in a while.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Sure, Adam, do you have any idea what's going on here?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
These are two animals. One you see later.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Oh oh, oh, I.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Know, the other you see in a y.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
So like when we're leaving, i'd say, see you later,
alligator and you very nice, you'd say in.
Speaker 4 (09:49):
A while, crocodile.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Exactly all right, there you go, often confused alligator and crocodile.
Which one of these, Adam and Greg, has a you
snaped shower up?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Say that five times fast.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
It is quite a ton twist. Which of these has
a U shaped snout? And which has a V shaped snout?
Speaker 4 (10:10):
First of all, the U and the V very close,
depending on the angle on which you're looking at.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
It, I am, depending on the font.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Their handwriting is not very good, and in fact, those
two one of those letters evolved from the other.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Adam, I need you.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
I would just be taking a guess in fifty to
fifty shot, I'm gonna go crocodile.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Crocodile is which U shaped you shaped? Fine, I'm gonna
say Crocodile's V shaped.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I was rooting for Adam, for Adam, but Greg is correct.
Crocodiles have V shaped snouts. All right, Well I got one.
I got one more commonly confused pair of animals. Okay,
are you ready? One is an NFL team and the
other sounds like a deep.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Meaning panther, bear, lion, tiger, Tigers. They're tigers.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
They have they have. I believe they hold the record
for the only undefeated.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Well they do. The Miami Dolphins undefeated the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
And they are confused sometimes with a word that sounds
like meaning.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
I know what, you know what it is? The other No,
what is it? Porpoise?
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Dolphin and porpoise?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And what's the difference the dolphins different mammal a fish? No,
not that much.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
They're pretty there. They're pretty close. Again, they're pretty close,
and they actually comes down to the nose again.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Now you shaped snout again?
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Okay, this one is not U shaped. But one has
a longer beak and one has a shorter beak. What
do you think who has the first?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
The dolphin has the shorter beak snout? Agree with you
on that one?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Agree with him, Adam, just a hint, do not agree
with him?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
I'm the stand in for the audience that's listening against.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
All right, well, Adam was right and Greg was wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
We've established I have no idea what I'm talking about.
When it comes to animal snouts.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Dolphins have an elongated beak and porpoises have a shortened beak.
So you have the bottle nosed dolphin, which I guess
is a bottle is kind of long. All right, Well,
there's also frog and toad and hair and rabbit, but
we won't get to that because we have got Greg
also has some thoughts on fine distinctions.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Speaking of pedantry as the chief pedant here of the
Puzzler podcast. No. I, so you know about Learned League Trivia,
right right, the greatest trivia league in all the land,
founded by the pseudonymic so I can't say that word now,
by the guy whose real name is not forced An
a Integrity, but he writes great questions. But in the
(13:13):
off season, players are given the opportunity to create a
sort of mini contest twelve questions on a different topic.
And this last offseason a player named sears C. I
don't know anything more about this person's name. Most close
players in the league use their last name and first initial.
So sears C created twelve questions on the topic of
(13:35):
pedantry that was exactly on this subject. It was a
sort of two things that often get confused, and you
had to answer you had he didn't tell you. He
kind of clued him the way you did, vaguely enough
that you might you first you had to figure out, oh,
it's dolphin and porpoise, and then he'd say which one
is the one with the long snout, and you'd have
(13:55):
to say dolphin basically. So I'm going to do some
of these with you.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Love it all right? I would love to be joined
by Andrea Schoenberg, Senior post right, adam time on in Okay,
go ahead, okay.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
So, if you're on the high seas and you see
loose crates adrift on the waves, it could be the
debris or lost cargo from a shipwreck. That's not to
be confused with the cargo that was deliberately thrown overboard
in an attempt to lighten the ship in a tight spot.
So what are those two words? Is this something to
do with flotsam? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Okay, and what's the what's its neighbor flotsam? Andrea, you
remember jetson jetsam exactly. I actually have a mnemonic for
this because I was like, I have to figure out
you jettison jetson jetsam. You jettison jetsam, So that is
the one you purposely throw.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Over, and flotsam is just floating.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
It's just floating, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Here's here's another one. In colonial America and in medieval times,
there were two instruments of punishment. One involved a wooden
frame that had holes through which one could place the
wrongdoer's feet, and the other involved a wooden frame that
had holes through which one could place the wrong doer's
head and hands.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well, I happen, I guys, I'm sorry, I have to
take this, but I had a whole chapter on this
in my last book on the Constitution. Because the pillary
and the stock, I believe it's stock, not stocks. Stocks. Okay,
both pillary and the stocks were both considered uncruel and
(15:36):
unusual cruel and usual punishment back then. And the distinction
is the pillary is just the head in the hands,
and if you add the feet, you get the stocks. Yep, am,
I right, you're correct, all right, you want.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
To avoid either of them, but you're correct, all right.
One of these is a spread made by boiling fruit
juice with sugar, and it's resilient, transparent, partly transparent, and gelatinous.
One of these is a thick spread made by boiling
fruit pulp and a lot more sugar. In fact, it
(16:12):
has to be at least fifty five percent sugar according
to the FDA. And the third is the thickest and
the chunkiest, with slices or even whole fruit in it,
and it's often nearly opaque. What are those three things?
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Oh, that's good, that's good. That's tricky. I have some theories.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I'm thinking. I'm thinking jam and jam and jelly for sure.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
I'm think it preserves. Yeah, you got the three words
very good, which.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Is rd, jelly and preserves. Wait, so what about conserves.
You didn't even throw it.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
I didn't even throw that in there. That is Yeah,
that goes off into a slightly different thing. Which one
is the more transparent, gelatinous one that has is fruit
juice with sugar.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I say that's jelly, that's my Yes.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I'm gonna say jam, but well, you know my mouth jelly.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
You know good one? All right? So then one is thick,
thicker and made by boiling fruit pulp and has a
lot more sugar. And then third is more thick and
chunky with slices or even whole fruit.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
I feel like the last one, Preserves means it's preserving
the fruit.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Oh look at light, see you're thinking like a puzzler now, Adam,
all right, you're correct. Preserves is the thickest and chunkiest,
and then jam is the one in between. It's thick's
got fruit pulp and a lot more sugar.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
All right, Good to know, Good to know. Thank you
Greg for your pedantry, Thank you Adam and Andrea for
helping with the fine distinctions. That is it for today's episode.
But if you have a couple of minutes and have
an itch for more puzzles, please check out our Instagram
(18:02):
feed at Hello Puzzlers. It's at Hello Puzzlers, and we
put off original puzzles. In fact, I think we might
just put up some more of these fine distinctions for you.
So check that out and of course we'll see you
next week or more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you.
Speaker 6 (18:19):
Puzzling gwinn, Hey Puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the
puzzle Lab with the extra credit answer from our previous episode,
we played a game naming things in different categories that
all used only a single vowel.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
You can as many times as you want, but only
one vowel. In your extra credit was to come up
with articles of clothing, one for each of the vowels.
So for the letter A, I have on my list bandana, kaftan,
yashmak abaya, balaklava, crava, pajamas, panama hat, sandals, and of
(19:04):
course other things are possible, but those are the ones
I had. For the letter E, I've got jersey, breeches, helmet,
an article of clothing, sure and vestments. And for the
letter I have got two bikini which is a classic,
and night shirt which also works. For the letter Oh,
there are three. I came up with boot, long John's
(19:28):
and poncho. And you know, I realized you could wear
all of those together as a kind of strange cold
weather winter ensemble. Boots, long Johns and a poncho. And finally,
for the letter you, there are two.
Speaker 7 (19:39):
There is the moo moo m u muu, relatively common
dress back from the sixties. Yes, big flowing dress and
a two to two less commonly worn outside.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Of ballet class. So there you go. Thanks for playing
with us. If you got other ones that didn't make
the list, drop us a line to hear from you.
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
(20:15):
New House Ideas and Jonathan Strickland of iHeart Podcasts. The
show is produced by Jody.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
Abrigan and Britney Brown of Roulette Productions, with production support
from Claire Bitegar Curtis.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Our senior puzzler is Andrea Schoenberg.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
The Puzzler with Aj Jacobs is a co production with
New House Ideas and is distributed by shaped Ricatta's Beautiful
Cheese Sculptures delivered straight to your door.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
No No, No no No Rearrange the letters distributed by
iHeart Podcasts. 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
(21:04):
and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs, go visit the
puzzler dot com. See you there,
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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