"Win or Lose" w/ Wyna Liu

Hello, Puzzlers! AJ has a new book out! You can order "The Year of Living Constitutionally" right now!.

Puzzling with us today: crossword puzzle constructor and the mind behind The New York Times' daily "Connections" puzzle, Wyna Liu!

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, the Flying Buttress
in your Puzzle Cathedral. I'm your host, A J. Jacobs,
and we are here with Puzzle Royalty. Our guest is
Winna Lou New York Times puzzle editor and writer of

(00:27):
the highly addictive Connections. Welcome, Winna.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hi, Hi, a J Hi, Greg, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
She is referring to Greg Pliska, who is the chief
puzzle Officer and who knew Whenna before I did. He
invited her to our puzzle book party way back when,
so they are in the puzzle together.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I've known Winna and from the crossword world for a
while and gotten to enjoy all of her crossword puzzles too,
So we're not talking about those here, talking about your
other puzzles, but your crossroads.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Well, we're also talking about her name, which is the
basis of today's puzzle. So, Greg, what do you have for.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well, that's right, today's puzzle is called Winna Lose Puzzle.
Except you have to imagine I'm saying that with a
New York accent, so it sounds like win loose. It's
a Winna Lose puzzle. We've taken a bunch of words
and phrases that have the win sound in them, and
we're replacing that sound with the word lose. So we'll

(01:33):
give you a clue to the result. And you see,
if you could tell us what we're talking about. For example,
I might say the lesser known Booth brother who was
a terrible actor, and that would be this is the example.
So you don't even have to come up with it.
It's not ed Winn Booth, but ed Loose Booth. Oh, yeah, that.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Was a hard one.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
You gave her a hard one.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
It was a hard one well, because I realized they
didn't put an example up front, and so it went
to the bottom of the page where all the hard
ones live. Edwin Booth was may have been the greatest
celebrity of all time. He was in his day known
around the world. He was a terrifically famous actor, one
of the greatest actors who ever lived. But if he
had a brother who was a terrible actor, that would
be ed Lu's instead of ed Win. So all of

(02:25):
the puzzles will be a similar form, something with a
win in it that gets changed to a lose. All right,
here's a much easier one to start with. This guy's
theory of evolution turned out to be completely wrong. Got it,
because we're not cluing. We're clueing the like bizarrow world. Okay, yes, exactly,

(02:48):
bizarre World's Charles dar Lu's Charles Darluz. Yes, the bizarre
version of Charles Darwin, who of course won with his
theory collusion.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
It was a winning theory.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah, exactly, all right. There is another one when someone
berths two babies who look alike at the same time
but wishes they hadn't. Actually, it probably makes more sense
if I say, when someone births two babies at the
same time who look alike, but they wish they hadn't.
Is it I'm I don't know how I would proounce it.

(03:26):
I don't think this is right.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
But is it.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
Identical to loses? Yeah, the opposite of identical twins identic.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
To lose track. It rolls off the tongue.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yes, we could have done the reverse puzzle where you
turn them into a win and it becomes to win
the trek. It might have been happier if you'd been
named to win, all right. Normally this is how you
can look outside of your home without leaving it, except
when it hasn't been washed in a long time. You
would look out of your lose doughre lose nough right,

(04:08):
which is the opposite of your window.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Given coming, giveing.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
She is famous for saying you don't get a car,
and you don't get a car, and you don't get
a car. It's the famous Oprah lose free, Oprah loose free, exactly,
the cousin of Oprah Winfrey, the queen of all media.
Very good. That would be a very kind of wicked show.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's every one other one of her shows. People don't
get a car.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
So really it's only on one where they do, and
the rest of them know cars. All right, I've got
two more for you. The company that makes bicycles whose
wheels always fall off. I feel like this is good
because only no one company that makes bicycles, So I'm
glad it's this one. Yeah, okay, Unfortunately is it shlooes

(05:09):
schlos Yes, the opposite of Shwin Shwin bicycles. Surely there
are other companies.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
That make what like Wayne and Garth say in Wayne's World.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Ah, oh, very good, that's very close sh lose Yes,
that's good. I like that. I like that, so you
should be writing these all right, Your last one is
the composer of Rhapsody in Dark Blue and Poor Without Bess.

(05:40):
Is it girsh Lose Gershlou's George Gershls Yes, the brother
of Ira Gershlous. Of course those are They're actually the Gershwinds.
But yes, very good, well done.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
When you are a puzzler extraordinary as we expect, you
are a winner.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
That was great.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
In an upcoming episode, we're gonna ask you a few
questions for all the connections addicts out there like me.
But in the meantime, do you have an extra credit? Greg,
for our listeners and homes?

Speaker 2 (06:17):
I do? I do have an extra credit. Yes, this
famous writer and activist penned novels such as If Beal
Street Couldn't Talk and Don't Go Tell It on the Mountain?

Speaker 1 (06:30):
Okay, I think I got it and everyone come back
tomorrow for the answer. And also check out our Instagram
feed which is at Hello Puzzlers, and we post new
original puzzles there all the time. And of course come
back tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Hey puzzlers, Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer, here with
the extra credit answer from our previous show. We played
a game of audio connections with winn Aloo, the writer
of the Daily New York Times Connections puzzle. We gave
her a number of audio clips and she had to
come up with what they had in common.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
Here's what your extra credit clue was, Wist again.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Laid bag. That's right. That's a clip of Marguerite Deville,
a clip of Red Red Wine, and an excerpt from
Gin and Juice. And those are all, of course songs
about alcohol. So pour yourself a nice beverage of your
choice and join us again tomorrow on the Puzzler Podcast