February 6, 2025 • 19 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: our very own Chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska.
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.
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"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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast pok quarterback
sneak in your puzzle, fourth and Goal. I'm your host,
A J. Jacobs, and I'm here again with chief puzzle
Officer Greg Pliskap. Welcome Greg, Thank you a J.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm surprised you didn't call that the tush push, as
it was coined for the Philadelphia Eagles use it all
the time. And they coined that tush push because it
rhymes like so many of our other puzzles.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That is very good. I did not know it plus
for a family show. So maybe at quarterback sneak is.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
There's no more family friendly term for that part of
the body than tush.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I mean, come on, well, we're talking about toush pushes
because it is. We are approaching Super Bowl Sunday, uh
and we have two Super Bowl adjacent puzzles for you. You
don't have to be an expert. That we will get
(00:59):
to right after the break. But before the break, let
me do this, which is a little football trivia. Did
you know Greg that Edgar Allen Poe, great writer, was
not the only famous Poe. He had six grand nephews
who played football for Princeton They were known as the
Poe Brothers and were football stars in the late eighteen
(01:20):
hundreds early nineteen hundreds. And in fact, one of them,
Edgar Allan Poe the Third, invented a rubber nose protector
because he broke his nose, So be sure to bring
that up at your Super Bowl party if you want
to be beaten up. But I do have another po
(01:40):
related puzzled for you before we go to break, which is,
aside from the Poe Brothers, is there another connection between
Edgar Allen Poe and football? The answer after the break.
(02:02):
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. I'm Aj Jacobs here
with Greg Kliska. Before the break, we ask you for
a connection between Edgar Allan Poe and football, and the answer,
or at least the most obvious one.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Is is the Baltimore Ravens, the football team named because
Poe called Baltimore home, along with many other cities on
the East and seaboard.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Right and he was also the author of the famous
poem The Raven, which is a truly depressing work about
the death of a loved one, so perfect to get
in the football mood. We bring that up, as I mentioned,
because we are approaching Super Bowl Sunday, and we have
two football adjacent puzzles.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I want to make an honest disclaimer right up front,
is that we are recording this well in advance of
Super Bowl Sunday, so all of the football, Like I'm
a huge football fan, I would be able to make
references to the playoff teams and what teams are in
the Super Bowl. And of course I have no idea
if the Ravens are in the super Bowl or not,
because we're not there yet. So it's you know, I'm
(03:04):
is fluid here in the podcast world.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
What if we recorded some snippets of your commentary and
then insert them.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Right, We'll pretend. So how about those Ravens. I can't
believe they're in the super Bowl this year? And then
we can keep that.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So glad we did an intro all about the Ravens.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And appropriate MVP right there.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Oh congratulations Ravens. Ye all right, Well, regardless, this puzzle
is about team names. It's about an alternate universe where
NFL team names are more appropriate, sort of more literal,
where the players actually match the name of the team.
So if the Buffalo Bills football team had players such
(03:47):
as Bill Nye, Bill Gates, Bill Murray, the Bills would
be made of bills. So I'm going to give you
the players on a team and you have to tell
me what.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh I love it? Okay, good, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So this team's roster includes Papa, Mama, Fozzy, and Paddington.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Of course, Oh, Paddington. Paddington is the is the is
like a running back or something, Paddington. This is the
Chicago Bears. Of course, it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Is the Bears.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I would worry for Paddington.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
He's tiny, get roughed up, cute, you know, he's fast,
all right, A Listen, I'm a fan, like one hundred
percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Paddington too. This team. This team has players such as
Teresa Barnabas and Augustine.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Oh, Teresa Barnabas and Augustine and Marianne of Molokai. I
hope these are the New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, she's the kicker. Yeah, that's right. And I did
say hail Mary would work for this.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Mother Teresa. They bring in Mother Teresa to play, to
run that play specifically.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That's it exactly. This team. Another team has running backs
with names such as James Dan and Millie Bobby.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Oh, very good. You know I was thinking I was
like James. That's specific. That narrows it down. There's thousands
of famous people with the name James, and then Dan
wasn't much more helpful. Not how Milly Bobby Brown, the
wonderful actress from Stranger Things and Anola Holmes and other
other films and TV shows. So that would be the
(05:33):
Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
That is the Browns exactly. Yes, well, that is one
of our signature, not Urt but puzzle Maker's signature. You
save the sort of the giveaway, tell one to the end.
So I wanted to keep you consumed as long as
I could work. Thank you. How about this team might
have an offensive line with players such as eve Are
(05:59):
the Boneless, Odd the Deep Minded, and Sigurd Snake in
the I Ragnarson.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I think actually those are actual players on this team.
I think they have players with those nicknames. There's no question.
If not on this team, then on at least one
football team has to have Evar the Boneless, as you know,
playing as the kicker or the quarterback. Evar the Boneless
is in now and fourth down. Those those are whole
(06:30):
names apparently of Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
That is correct. Those are actual Vikings that I found
and I love. I mean, first of all, boneless, but
deep minded. That's fantastic. I mean what Viking wanted, like
an intellectual Viking. What a delight.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
He's the defensive coordinator. Yeah, he's calling the players on
the defense.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right, A couple more and then we go to
yours is The starting lineup for this team includes a
man named Robert Wadlow. So that's a trivia question.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yep, okay, okay, good Oh you think he knows it?
I read the Guinness Book of Records.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
In goodness, he knows everything. I know where we're carry
on cyclocks, cyclopes and cyclic about andre what about andres
on there?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yes, this is the New York Giants.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
That is correct, the New York Giants. And Robert Wadlow
was apparently the tallest.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Man world's tallest.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Man ever in history. Do you remember how tall?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What's your twelve feet four No? I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I do not recall eleven No, I'm sorry, eight feet
eleven inches, eight feet eleven inches, crazy, so crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But it's like those there's TV ads with Lebron James
and now I can't remember. Yes, yes, I've seen those,
right anything, you see a basketball player next to a
normal sized human and you're like, oh my god, they
are so tall.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
They are giants, say, are literal griiants. Uh. And by
the way, my one comment is I would not want
Cyclops on. I guess I would be okay for like
place kicker, but as a wide receiver, the lack of
depth perception would be would be a problem.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
But make him alignment, put him right down there in front.
He would just barrel.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Through the rate point. All right, I'm going to give
you one more. I'm going to give you one more,
which is this team has such MVPs as Oceanus, Hyperion,
and Cronus.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Oh, very good, Cronus again, you put those in the
right order, because I was like, Oceanis is some sort
of god and Hyperion is some sort of god thing,
myth thing. But Cronus, I know, is one of the Titans.
Those are the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That's it, exactly the Tennis So we ended with it
sort of a tall theme. Yes, and uh, let me
do let me do the extra credit right here. All right,
how about I throw out that this team includes uh,
the starting offensive line, as has players such as Dolan
(09:14):
O'Connor and the Dolan O'Connor and Richlieu. So think on that.
While Greg gives me his puzzle, which is adjacent to football.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I'm just entertained by you saying French accent is very nice.
Super Bowl Sunday is here, and of course every year
around the Super Bowl, I'm reminded of one of our
favorite characters, The Letters, which you remember her.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I love The Letters, which I am a fan. I
want her to have her own TV show Letters.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
The Letters, which turns one two word phrase like super
Bowl into another by moving one letter, making it superb Owl.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Superb Owl right, because he'd move the bee from fowle
and onto the.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
End of super come superb Owl. And so I actually
am I've got a twist for you, though. It turns
out there's another famous witch. Oh okay's she's the phanetics witch.
Oh and she moves one sound in a.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Two words even witchier.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
All the kids know the phonetic switch because she changes
a frozen dessert into what one does when throwing a
tantrum to get that frozen dessert.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Oh oh wait, oh shoot, all right, this was she
turns ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Ice cream into ice scream of course.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Okay, all right, it's getting through my thick skull. Now
I'm getting it. Okay, ice cream.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Look, because this is phonetic, you could just give you
get one. You can just say it and it'll sound
just like the other one. So true, of course, you
know you're gonna get both. I'll basically give you clues
to one two word phrase and then the phonetic switch
version where you you know where one sound is shifted over,
and you just tell me the two phrases.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
All right, you make it sound so easy.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, no, it's very easy. So this is this is
a warning to get out of the way, and it
becomes the wicked smile a person might get when ordering
a t bone.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay. I mean I'm trying to go in either way
and I am hitting walls. Okay, but I'm gonna get it.
So it is wait one more time.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's either it's either a warning to get out of
the way, right or the wicked smile a person might
get when ordering a t bone.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
All right, well, grin is there a grin in there? No?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
No, But what's a t bone?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
A t bone is a steak?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Okay, is that not? It is that that that's happening?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Okay, good steak, steak and.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
A kind of smile, a wicked smile or a lascivious smile.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Oh, hold on, this is our I'm going to ask
our producer cut this down so I don't seem like
such an idiot. Actually I don't care. Just leave that.
Leave that part in too, please struggle to or me
maybe not Craig as much.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So you've got steak and then you know someone.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It starts with steak, and when someone's.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Ogling orling somebody, they have this kind of smile.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
They have a leer steak.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yes, oh steak, clear, clear, and stay clear.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Okay, you got it. I don't know if I got it,
but I sort of got it. All right. I'm ready, though,
I think I'm warmed up.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'm in okay, all right. So this can a phrase
meaning keep a tight grip, like you might say on
a roller coaster, say okay, and it becomes all of
the head of a crime family.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Thank god, thank god this one. I was like, all right,
I'm hoping, I'm hoping that there's a don in there,
and it is it is hold on or hole Don
turning to Don.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The hole Don exactly, not just part of Don Corey.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And there's a lot of them.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, all right, something attractive to look at that lacks
substance becomes something you'd say when introducing when introducing President
Eisenhower to the artist Warhol.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Okay, good, very good, very good. I didn't. The second
part was what helped me, because I know Eisenhower is
often known as Ike, and I know that Warhol is Andy.
So you got Ike Andy, introduced them Mike Andy, or
you switch sounds Candy.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Exactly? Very good, very good.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I think you're feeling a little bit either way. On
ease yep, all right. What I might say when I
win a game becomes the sap that seeps out of
a Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Okay, what I might say when I win a game
becomes the sap that seeps out of a Christmas tree.
All right, So I'm thinking Christmas tree might be pine
or win.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
No, No, I do not win, because you said when
I win? What would I say?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Okay, hold on, heads, I win tails. Oh you lose? Okay,
See that's not a phrase that I've used a lot before.
You I mean you lose. I suppose i've said it,
but I've never used the phrase you will oose, you
will loose, But it exacts, it exists.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's that stuff coming out of the tree.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
It's the yule delicious.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
You're not someone who would say you lose either. You
would win a game, gracious.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
I appreciate that way.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Crow about that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I mean, yeah, I know, go back a few years
and I might have said it, but I think.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You might have said I win, but you might not
dig into the other person.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well you're kind to say, celebrate the victory.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I don't know. I'm just saying, all right, I got
a couple more for you. This is an adjective for
someone who is fashionably attired, and it becomes a break
for a metal worker.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Ah, fashionally attired could be a someone who's a fop,
someone who is.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
You would describe a fop this way as well. A
fop is this smart?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well let me go the other way.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah? Okay, well you got part of it dead, go ahead, yes, smart? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And what was what was the second part of.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
The clubb A break for a metal worker?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
A break for a metal worker? Smart?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Snap snap, No, smartly wasn't the part you needed. It
is the other half of what you said smartly?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
What dressed? Yes, dressed? All right? So wait, is dressed?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Sharp dressed? Now sharp is not in theres something dressed?
Well dressed?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Welled? Dressed? Well dressed? Okay, very good.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Well dressed becomes weld.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
This is a very tricky witch.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
This switch, yes, exactly, the fanetic switch. That's why we
don't talk about her as much as the letter switch.
But both of them are good. All right. Last one
for you. Someone from Massachusetts becomes the lowest voice in
the Spuds singing group.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Okay, well, someone from Spuds I'm thinking is Potato or Tater,
but maybe not. I'm judging from well Tater the bass
is bass. Wait, the lowest voice Bosso.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No, you were good?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You said tater bass potato based?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
No, you said it?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What did I say? Base Tata day? Wait? And what
was the second part?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Someone from Massachusetts? Oh, base Stater, Massachusetts is the base
They base Stator is a base Tater. Well done.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I don't know about well done, but I had a
good time. Nonetheless, do you have an extra credit for
the folks that.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I do have an extra credit? This is a classic.
I actually learned this one from the National Puzzlers League.
This was actually in a It was a puzzle called
a homonym where it's two things that sound the same,
but it functions just like our our our phonetic switch.
But both of these are actual phrases. Okay, none of
(17:47):
I didn't make any of this up like you ouz
or base Tater your extra credit? Is this a device
you might use when posting to Instagram turns into doing
something embarrassing that makes you look bad like you might
accidentally do when posting on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Great, well again, I don't know it so, but I
have faith in our puzzlers at home that you will
buy tomorrow have some sort of insight, and while you're
working on that, please, if you have thirty seconds, please
rate the puzzler or just give it a five stars.
(18:29):
That's just a suggestion on your favorite podcast platform because
it makes a huge difference in people finding us. And
we will see you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska hear from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer. From our previous episode, we
did a game called ask Ai with Joseph Gordon Levitt
and the extra credit. You have to tell us what
the prompt we gave the AI for this extra credit.
This patient presents a tendency to overly rely on others
(19:07):
for safety and decision making. She moves in with seven
strangers without hesitation. Therapy could focus on building autonomy and
boundary setting skills that of course, the prompt for that
is give a psychological diagnosis of snow white. Glad you're
here playing puzzles with us. We'll catch you here tomorrow
for some more puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hello puzzlers, and welcome to the Puzzler Podcast pok quarterback
sneak in your puzzle, fourth and Goal. I'm your host,
A J. Jacobs, and I'm here again with chief puzzle
Officer Greg Pliskap. Welcome Greg, Thank you a J.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I'm surprised you didn't call that the tush push, as
it was coined for the Philadelphia Eagles use it all
the time. And they coined that tush push because it
rhymes like so many of our other puzzles.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That is very good. I did not know it plus
for a family show. So maybe at quarterback sneak is.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
There's no more family friendly term for that part of
the body than tush.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I mean, come on, well, we're talking about toush pushes
because it is. We are approaching Super Bowl Sunday, uh
and we have two Super Bowl adjacent puzzles for you. You
don't have to be an expert. That we will get
(00:59):
to right after the break. But before the break, let
me do this, which is a little football trivia. Did
you know Greg that Edgar Allen Poe, great writer, was
not the only famous Poe. He had six grand nephews
who played football for Princeton They were known as the
Poe Brothers and were football stars in the late eighteen
(01:20):
hundreds early nineteen hundreds. And in fact, one of them,
Edgar Allan Poe the Third, invented a rubber nose protector
because he broke his nose, So be sure to bring
that up at your Super Bowl party if you want
to be beaten up. But I do have another po
(01:40):
related puzzled for you before we go to break, which is,
aside from the Poe Brothers, is there another connection between
Edgar Allen Poe and football? The answer after the break.
(02:02):
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. I'm Aj Jacobs here
with Greg Kliska. Before the break, we ask you for
a connection between Edgar Allan Poe and football, and the answer,
or at least the most obvious one.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Is is the Baltimore Ravens, the football team named because
Poe called Baltimore home, along with many other cities on
the East and seaboard.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Right and he was also the author of the famous
poem The Raven, which is a truly depressing work about
the death of a loved one, so perfect to get
in the football mood. We bring that up, as I mentioned,
because we are approaching Super Bowl Sunday, and we have
two football adjacent puzzles.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I want to make an honest disclaimer right up front,
is that we are recording this well in advance of
Super Bowl Sunday, so all of the football, Like I'm
a huge football fan, I would be able to make
references to the playoff teams and what teams are in
the Super Bowl. And of course I have no idea
if the Ravens are in the super Bowl or not,
because we're not there yet. So it's you know, I'm
(03:04):
is fluid here in the podcast world.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
What if we recorded some snippets of your commentary and
then insert them.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Right, We'll pretend. So how about those Ravens. I can't
believe they're in the super Bowl this year? And then
we can keep that.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
So glad we did an intro all about the Ravens.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And appropriate MVP right there.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Oh congratulations Ravens. Ye all right, Well, regardless, this puzzle
is about team names. It's about an alternate universe where
NFL team names are more appropriate, sort of more literal,
where the players actually match the name of the team.
So if the Buffalo Bills football team had players such
(03:47):
as Bill Nye, Bill Gates, Bill Murray, the Bills would
be made of bills. So I'm going to give you
the players on a team and you have to tell
me what.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Oh I love it? Okay, good, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So this team's roster includes Papa, Mama, Fozzy, and Paddington.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Of course, Oh, Paddington. Paddington is the is the is
like a running back or something, Paddington. This is the
Chicago Bears. Of course, it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Is the Bears.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Guy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I would worry for Paddington.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
He's tiny, get roughed up, cute, you know, he's fast,
all right, A Listen, I'm a fan, like one hundred
percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Paddington too. This team. This team has players such as
Teresa Barnabas and Augustine.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Oh, Teresa Barnabas and Augustine and Marianne of Molokai. I
hope these are the New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, she's the kicker. Yeah, that's right. And I did
say hail Mary would work for this.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Mother Teresa. They bring in Mother Teresa to play, to
run that play specifically.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That's it exactly. This team. Another team has running backs
with names such as James Dan and Millie Bobby.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Oh, very good. You know I was thinking I was
like James. That's specific. That narrows it down. There's thousands
of famous people with the name James, and then Dan
wasn't much more helpful. Not how Milly Bobby Brown, the
wonderful actress from Stranger Things and Anola Holmes and other
other films and TV shows. So that would be the
(05:33):
Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
That is the Browns exactly. Yes, well, that is one
of our signature, not Urt but puzzle Maker's signature. You
save the sort of the giveaway, tell one to the end.
So I wanted to keep you consumed as long as
I could work. Thank you. How about this team might
have an offensive line with players such as eve Are
(05:59):
the Boneless, Odd the Deep Minded, and Sigurd Snake in
the I Ragnarson.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I think actually those are actual players on this team.
I think they have players with those nicknames. There's no question.
If not on this team, then on at least one
football team has to have Evar the Boneless, as you know,
playing as the kicker or the quarterback. Evar the Boneless
is in now and fourth down. Those those are whole
(06:30):
names apparently of Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
That is correct. Those are actual Vikings that I found
and I love. I mean, first of all, boneless, but
deep minded. That's fantastic. I mean what Viking wanted, like
an intellectual Viking. What a delight.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
He's the defensive coordinator. Yeah, he's calling the players on
the defense.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
All right, A couple more and then we go to
yours is The starting lineup for this team includes a
man named Robert Wadlow. So that's a trivia question.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yep, okay, okay, good Oh you think he knows it?
I read the Guinness Book of Records.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
In goodness, he knows everything. I know where we're carry
on cyclocks, cyclopes and cyclic about andre what about andres
on there?
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yes, this is the New York Giants.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
That is correct, the New York Giants. And Robert Wadlow
was apparently the tallest.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Man world's tallest.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Man ever in history. Do you remember how tall?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
What's your twelve feet four No? I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
I do not recall eleven No, I'm sorry, eight feet
eleven inches, eight feet eleven inches, crazy, so crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But it's like those there's TV ads with Lebron James
and now I can't remember. Yes, yes, I've seen those,
right anything, you see a basketball player next to a
normal sized human and you're like, oh my god, they
are so tall.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
They are giants, say, are literal griiants. Uh. And by
the way, my one comment is I would not want
Cyclops on. I guess I would be okay for like
place kicker, but as a wide receiver, the lack of
depth perception would be would be a problem.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
But make him alignment, put him right down there in front.
He would just barrel.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Through the rate point. All right, I'm going to give
you one more. I'm going to give you one more,
which is this team has such MVPs as Oceanus, Hyperion,
and Cronus.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Oh, very good, Cronus again, you put those in the
right order, because I was like, Oceanis is some sort
of god and Hyperion is some sort of god thing,
myth thing. But Cronus, I know, is one of the Titans.
Those are the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
That's it, exactly the Tennis So we ended with it
sort of a tall theme. Yes, and uh, let me
do let me do the extra credit right here. All right,
how about I throw out that this team includes uh,
the starting offensive line, as has players such as Dolan
(09:14):
O'Connor and the Dolan O'Connor and Richlieu. So think on that.
While Greg gives me his puzzle, which is adjacent to football.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I'm just entertained by you saying French accent is very nice.
Super Bowl Sunday is here, and of course every year
around the Super Bowl, I'm reminded of one of our
favorite characters, The Letters, which you remember her.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I love The Letters, which I am a fan. I
want her to have her own TV show Letters.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
The Letters, which turns one two word phrase like super
Bowl into another by moving one letter, making it superb Owl.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Superb Owl right, because he'd move the bee from fowle
and onto the.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
End of super come superb Owl. And so I actually
am I've got a twist for you, though. It turns
out there's another famous witch. Oh okay's she's the phanetics witch.
Oh and she moves one sound in a.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Two words even witchier.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
All the kids know the phonetic switch because she changes
a frozen dessert into what one does when throwing a
tantrum to get that frozen dessert.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Oh oh wait, oh shoot, all right, this was she
turns ahead.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Ice cream into ice scream of course.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Okay, all right, it's getting through my thick skull. Now
I'm getting it. Okay, ice cream.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Look, because this is phonetic, you could just give you
get one. You can just say it and it'll sound
just like the other one. So true, of course, you
know you're gonna get both. I'll basically give you clues
to one two word phrase and then the phonetic switch
version where you you know where one sound is shifted over,
and you just tell me the two phrases.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
All right, you make it sound so easy.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah, no, it's very easy. So this is this is
a warning to get out of the way, and it
becomes the wicked smile a person might get when ordering
a t bone.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Okay. I mean I'm trying to go in either way
and I am hitting walls. Okay, but I'm gonna get it.
So it is wait one more time.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's either it's either a warning to get out of
the way, right or the wicked smile a person might
get when ordering a t bone.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
All right, well, grin is there a grin in there? No?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
No, But what's a t bone?
Speaker 1 (11:57):
A t bone is a steak?
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Okay, is that not? It is that that that's happening?
Speaker 3 (12:03):
Okay, good steak, steak and.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
A kind of smile, a wicked smile or a lascivious smile.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Oh, hold on, this is our I'm going to ask
our producer cut this down so I don't seem like
such an idiot. Actually I don't care. Just leave that.
Leave that part in too, please struggle to or me
maybe not Craig as much.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So you've got steak and then you know someone.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
It starts with steak, and when someone's.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Ogling orling somebody, they have this kind of smile.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
They have a leer steak.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Yes, oh steak, clear, clear, and stay clear.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Okay, you got it. I don't know if I got it,
but I sort of got it. All right. I'm ready, though,
I think I'm warmed up.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
I'm in okay, all right. So this can a phrase
meaning keep a tight grip, like you might say on
a roller coaster, say okay, and it becomes all of
the head of a crime family.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Thank god, thank god this one. I was like, all right,
I'm hoping, I'm hoping that there's a don in there,
and it is it is hold on or hole Don
turning to Don.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
The hole Don exactly, not just part of Don Corey.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
And there's a lot of them.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, all right, something attractive to look at that lacks
substance becomes something you'd say when introducing when introducing President
Eisenhower to the artist Warhol.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Okay, good, very good, very good. I didn't. The second
part was what helped me, because I know Eisenhower is
often known as Ike, and I know that Warhol is Andy.
So you got Ike Andy, introduced them Mike Andy, or
you switch sounds Candy.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Exactly? Very good, very good.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
All right.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
I think you're feeling a little bit either way. On
ease yep, all right. What I might say when I
win a game becomes the sap that seeps out of
a Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Okay, what I might say when I win a game
becomes the sap that seeps out of a Christmas tree.
All right, So I'm thinking Christmas tree might be pine
or win.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
No, No, I do not win, because you said when
I win? What would I say?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Okay, hold on, heads, I win tails. Oh you lose? Okay,
See that's not a phrase that I've used a lot before.
You I mean you lose. I suppose i've said it,
but I've never used the phrase you will oose, you
will loose, But it exacts, it exists.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's that stuff coming out of the tree.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
It's the yule delicious.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
You're not someone who would say you lose either. You
would win a game, gracious.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
I appreciate that way.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Crow about that.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I mean, yeah, I know, go back a few years
and I might have said it, but I think.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You might have said I win, but you might not
dig into the other person.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Well you're kind to say, celebrate the victory.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I don't know. I'm just saying, all right, I got
a couple more for you. This is an adjective for
someone who is fashionably attired, and it becomes a break
for a metal worker.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Ah, fashionally attired could be a someone who's a fop,
someone who is.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
You would describe a fop this way as well. A
fop is this smart?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Well let me go the other way.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah? Okay, well you got part of it dead, go ahead, yes, smart? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
And what was what was the second part of.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
The clubb A break for a metal worker?
Speaker 1 (15:54):
A break for a metal worker? Smart?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Snap snap, No, smartly wasn't the part you needed. It
is the other half of what you said smartly?
Speaker 1 (16:01):
What dressed? Yes, dressed? All right? So wait, is dressed?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Sharp dressed? Now sharp is not in theres something dressed?
Well dressed?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Welled? Dressed? Well dressed? Okay, very good.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Well dressed becomes weld.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
This is a very tricky witch.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
This switch, yes, exactly, the fanetic switch. That's why we
don't talk about her as much as the letter switch.
But both of them are good. All right. Last one
for you. Someone from Massachusetts becomes the lowest voice in
the Spuds singing group.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Okay, well, someone from Spuds I'm thinking is Potato or Tater,
but maybe not. I'm judging from well Tater the bass
is bass. Wait, the lowest voice Bosso.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
No, you were good?
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You said tater bass potato based?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
No, you said it?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
What did I say? Base Tata day? Wait? And what
was the second part?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Someone from Massachusetts? Oh, base Stater, Massachusetts is the base
They base Stator is a base Tater. Well done.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
I don't know about well done, but I had a
good time. Nonetheless, do you have an extra credit for
the folks that.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I do have an extra credit? This is a classic.
I actually learned this one from the National Puzzlers League.
This was actually in a It was a puzzle called
a homonym where it's two things that sound the same,
but it functions just like our our our phonetic switch.
But both of these are actual phrases. Okay, none of
(17:47):
I didn't make any of this up like you ouz
or base Tater your extra credit? Is this a device
you might use when posting to Instagram turns into doing
something embarrassing that makes you look bad like you might
accidentally do when posting on Instagram.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Great, well again, I don't know it so, but I
have faith in our puzzlers at home that you will
buy tomorrow have some sort of insight, and while you're
working on that, please, if you have thirty seconds, please
rate the puzzler or just give it a five stars.
(18:29):
That's just a suggestion on your favorite podcast platform because
it makes a huge difference in people finding us. And
we will see you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles
that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska hear from the Puzzle Lab
with the extra credit answer. From our previous episode, we
did a game called ask Ai with Joseph Gordon Levitt
and the extra credit. You have to tell us what
the prompt we gave the AI for this extra credit.
This patient presents a tendency to overly rely on others
(19:07):
for safety and decision making. She moves in with seven
strangers without hesitation. Therapy could focus on building autonomy and
boundary setting skills that of course, the prompt for that
is give a psychological diagnosis of snow white. Glad you're
here playing puzzles with us. We'll catch you here tomorrow
for some more puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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