April 28, 2025 • 18 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: actor and musician Josh Radnor! Be sure to check out his new How I Met Your Mother rewatch podcast, "How We Made Your Mother"!
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. What do
these things have in common? Groove recovering, guy losing, bikini stuffing,
and dragon training. That's groove recovering, guy losing, bikini stuffing,
and dragon training. The answer and more puzzling goodness after
(00:23):
the break. Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to the Puzzler. The
simple syrup in your puzzle old passioned. I am your host,
Ad Jacobs, and I'm here with Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisco.
Of course Greg, before the drag, of course, we asked,
(00:45):
what do these things have in common? Groove recovery, guy losing,
bikini stuffing, and dragon training. The answer might.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Be things happening in my apartment right now.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Wow, you've got an interesting apartment.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No, you know, I had no idea at first, and
then I went back to Groove Recovering and I was like,
that's very weird, and then I remembered how Stella got
her groove back exactly. So those are all films that
start with how something, how to train your Dragon, and
(01:18):
the other two.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
How to Lose a guy in ten Days and how
to stuff a wild bikini, which I think I don't
think i've ever heard of. Okay, I bring this up
because our guest today started in something else with a
how in the title. We are talking about actor, filmmaker, musician, podcaster,
(01:43):
and star of the wonderful sitcom Jacob's family favorite, How
I Met Your Mother. Please welcome Josh Radner.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Hi, it's good to be here with you. Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
We are just delighted. And as you know, Josh, you
played Ted Moseby on How I Met Your Mother, and
you remember that's a good trivia question. Who did you play?
And you have a new podcast that you are hosting
with series co creator Craig Thomas called How We Made
(02:15):
Your Mother. It's a great podcast. I've been listening and
one thing I wanted to ask you right up front.
In one of the first couple of episodes, you and
Craig discuss How I Met Your Mother is a very
puzzly show. Can you talk a little about in what
ways is How I Met Your Mother puzzly?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah? Sure. Well, when I got the show and people
would ask me what it was, and I said I would,
I would say it's almost like if Quentin Tarantino created
a sitcom, because it's nonlinear and there were you know,
average of forty to sixty scenes per episode, all kind
of scrambled and told out of order. But the central
(02:56):
premise of the show is this mystery. You know, I
my characters telling his kids in the year twenty thirty
or twenty thirty five, I can't remember. I think it's
twenty thirty. What you know, the story, the long meandering
story of how he met their mother, so they know
who the mother is. The audience doesn't know who the
mother is. So the whole thing is structured as this mystery.
(03:17):
We know that there's a there's a meeting at some point,
but he's going to take his time and he's fill
in all the details. And sometimes individual episodes are structured
as a mystery. I'm thinking of there's an episode called
Ted Mosby Architect that it just looked like Ted was
(03:37):
doing all these insane, slightly criminal things, and it was confusing,
like why was he doing these? And then it's revealed
it wasn't actually him, you know. There So I think
Carter and Craig just had a taste for almost like
an elegant withhold of information, and then there was something
(03:58):
very satisfying. One of the things we're interrogating in the
show is why has the show maintained its level of popularity?
Why is it minting new fans, you know, generation after generation. Well,
I don't know if we can say generation after generation.
It's been since it went off, but I know a
lot you know, twelve year old teenagers like they're discovering
the show and we're we're kind of investigating the mystery
(04:20):
of the show. Why is the show inspire such loyalty
and devotion? And I think there's a lot of reasons
for that, but one of them, I think is it
really keeps you on your toes. I mean, it asks
something of you. You know, it's not it's not something
that I mean you can sit back and passively watch it,
but it will also engage you in a kind of
puzzly fun way.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, well I love that. I mean, there's the big
puzzle of who the mother is. There's the famous episode
called the Pineapple Incident.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
He wracked.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Ted wakes up next to a pineapple and a woman
played by Danica Keller from The Wonder Years, which is
very exciting.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Oh and also there was Barney Ted We're going to
open a bar called Puzzles.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I was going to bring that up, Okay, yeah, that's fantastic.
H and the and why is it called puzzles? That's
the puzzle, that puzzle, That was it exactly. And the
other crossover is that Ted the character is a fan
(05:23):
of crosswords, and there's an episode where you get to
meet legendary friend of the show, friend of our show,
Will Schwartz, who is a crossword puzzle.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Among other luminaries on the I think Upper east Side
that episode, right. One of the strange things that happens
the longer you're on a long running show, the writers
get to know you and they start thieving a bit.
They start stealing from your life and throwing things into
the character. So I was a crossword puzzle fan. I
(05:55):
remain one, and I would do the crossword puzzle on
set and some times, you know, props would say, do
you just want to keep that that as your prop
for this scene? So I'd say, yeah, I'm just gonna
literally do the puzzle while I'm acting on this. So
became when Carter is a is a crossword puzzle guy too,
So it was one of those fun overlaps. And then
(06:17):
Ted just became a crossro puzzle fan just because I
was doing them.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That's fantastic. And I remember in that episode you talk
about you ask Will about Julie U l ee why
does that appear so often? And you had a theory
which was.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Correct, Well, what is it? Because of the vowels.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, it's like a huge bowel and I think it's
Julie's Gold is what I've seen it drag any other Yulie.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, oh that's the movie.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, well that is fantastic. I want to talk more
about you and puzzles and the puzzle of acting, the
puzzle of music. But since this is the puzzler, let
me do a quick puzzle with you. If I could,
you mentioned the puzzle the bar that Ted and Barney
we're gonna open called Puzzles love that, but there's another
(07:10):
bar in the show mclarence where they all hung out.
So this puzzle is about fictional bars, fictional bars and
restaurants and hotels, and the idea is I'm going to
read you a fictional Yelp review of these fictional places
(07:31):
and then you have to guess what it might be. So,
for instance, if I said three stars, I enjoyed a
picture of beer at this solid Irish bar on the
Upper West Side. Warning to women, steer clear of one
of the regulars, a red haired guy in a suit.
He will hit on you relentlessly. So that would be
a clue to McLaren's mclarence, which is the bar? And
(07:56):
How I met your mother. The red haired guy, of course,
is Neil Patrick Harris's redhead.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I have spent a long time looking at his hair
to try this.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
This is the puzzle of this puzzle is what is
the color of Neil's hair? I would be bonded brown,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Bland, Okay, yeah, I couldn't figure it out. I didn't
know how to describe it. But it's not your average
just browns, all right? So are you ready for some
other These are not all How I met your mother?
Bars day? Thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I can tell you that I get performance anxiety around
public puzzle solving. I love I do the spelling be
every day. I love just being with my self. So i'm, i'm,
I just want to I wanted to clear my nerves
up front, and I know you're not here to humiliate me,
(08:46):
but I just want to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
We appreciate the honesty. As Greg and I are very
easy with the hints.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Well, and the other thing I will say, Josh, is
I haven't seen these yet, so I can be your
phone a friend over here. I can have coslve with
you because I haven't seen any of these hints in
the chat.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Is that how it's gonna work?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Or like the way you think? I like the way
you think. They could be movies, they could be music,
they could be TV. All right, here's the first one
one star. Do not stay at this motel. The owner's
mother just sits there, not moving, not speaking, even when
I asked her for an extra pillow. The showers have
(09:26):
decent water pressure, but there are red stains all over
the top. So what might that be a Yelp review.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For I'm gonna go with the Bates Motel.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You are going to go correctly?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
See look at that at that from the movie Psycho.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Exactly where they have the famous shower scene. And well,
I won't say the other part because for those who
are alert, Yes, all right, I got another one. This
is also a one star. They're very tough on Yelp.
Can you say taki this? This hotel has mirrors on
the ceiling and pink champagne on ice. Plus the wine
(10:06):
cellar sucks the water. Told me we haven't had that
spirit here since nineteen sixty nine. Not a lovely place.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Oh, yes, that's the Hotel California.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
That is the Hotel California. Exactly convenient to check out,
but you can't leave by the eagles, right, yes, good,
all right, you're cruising through. You're cruising through despite your nervousness.
(10:39):
How about this one? Two stars? This one's a two stars,
a little better. I have stayed at three different locations
of this resort. All were gorgeous, impeccable service. My only
complaint the constant stabbings, drownings and bloody shootouts. Not sure
what's going on with this chain, but management should look
(11:00):
into it. Also be sure to try the leechy Martini.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Is my central question about this series. At what point
is this going to be such a pr disaster they
can't stay That would be the white lotus.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
They have to address it next, like there's yeah, it's
getting a little crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
The thing I love about this is that I've watched
none of this show, none of it. My wife's a
huge fan. I've watched none of it, and yet I
know exactly what.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're talking about. Without watching a single episode.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It's just in the zeitgeist.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
But you wouldn't go there. No, definitely.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Right right, And I know Duke was very upset because
I saw that.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
What is it a meme? They didn't really enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I have to love of the show, so I hope
that it continues. All right, a couple more. You are cruising,
as I say, one star, that's another one star. I
el violated. This bar has a total lack of privacy.
Somehow everybody knew my name. Not sure if they hacked
my phone or what, but it was creepy. Also, the
(12:11):
waitresses a no and all who quotes Dante.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Well I said that that that how I Met your
Mother was like if if Tarantino had created a sitcom,
and Carter and Craig said that that it was that
they were They were thinking of it as pulp fiction
meets cheers.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I love that description.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
They wanted to They wanted to another bar hangout show
to make and watch, so cheering.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Right, So this is cheering exactly. And I McLaren's looks nice.
And I read that it was based on some Irish
bars that the creators went did you were you a
bar hanger? Outer when you lived in New York.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah, there was a bar. I went to n y
U for grad school at Tish and there was a
bar around the corner called bou Radley's that you walked
down stairs and there was you know, a pool table,
and you could smoke in New York back then. So
it was just bank smoke filled basement where we would unwind.
It's now called I think Josie Woods, but it was
called bou Radley's, which I think is a great name
(13:15):
for a bar.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, okay, it is called Josie Woods. I'm not sure
who Josie Woods is.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Not as literary as.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Boo had a Harper Lee character.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
H Andrea, our associate puzzler, would you mind figuring out
who Josie Woods is? While we continue with a couple
more and this one Speaking of Andrea, Andrea wrote this one.
Three stars try to avoid the shady people in the
corner booth, exchanging what looks like blue rock candy. Instead
(13:47):
focus on the chicken at this Albuquerque fast food franchise.
It is Moy Delicioso. Now, if you've seen the show,
I think you will know it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Hardy Orton, I can guess what show it's from which
but I haven't watched enough of the show to know
what that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Oh barking bad, yeah, or.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
It is breaking Bad exactly, So you get half a
point to.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Give me a public apology to to my friend Brian
Kranston been on How I Met Your Mother a few times.
Who's the loveliest guy? I've never done it. I've never
done the show. I've never sat done. I'm one of
the few, so I don't know the name of the joint.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And well, I will tell you you got Breaking Bad,
which is good enough los Ermanos.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
I was going to say, so I would have had.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You would have gone three quarters with exactly. All right,
how about one more? Oh by the way, Uh, did
you work with Brian Cranston? I feel that you might have.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
But yeah, he was on a couple episodes of How
I Met Your Mother? Oh he was?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
What did he play?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah? He was? I think his name was Hammond Drummondded
was the head of the architecture firm that I was
working at.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Ah, very good. Okay, all right. This other one also
from Andrea two stars. Incredible food and service, but a
weirdly tense atmosphere. They should really sound prove the kitchen
because I could hear the head chef in a shouting
match with the other employees. Also a lot of people
(15:28):
saying yes chef over and over, which made me very uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm gonna go with the bear.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
The bear. The bear is correct. The bear. Well, fantastic.
You cruised right through those. By the way. You had
mentioned the sort of the puzzling arc. And one thing
that I am just so impressed with with the show
is that you recorded the kids early on. I'm not
(15:55):
going to reveal what they said, but that you or
the creators knew the arc, so while the kids were
still young, and these are the kids that the father
is telling the story too, they recorded some of the
final episodes, which is just brilliant. Were you in on that,
did you know the ending or did they keep a
(16:15):
secret even from you?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Yeah, they told me. They told me early on, and
then I knew that they were recording the kids. A
couple you know, they recorded I think a bunch of
just one afternoon that it was a lockdown set. I
can't remember if I was there. I don't think I was,
But then I kind of put it out of my
head for seven years, Like I wasn't really I wasn't
(16:38):
thinking much about it, and it was an interesting thing.
Like the narrator Ted knew where everything was going and
whatever what happened, but I was playing the one who didn't,
So I found the less information I had the better.
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, I like that. And by the way, the other
mystery that I'm sure even asked about is like, I
know how long the story took in terms of minutes
of the show, but how long was the story supposed
to take with the kids sitting there? Was it a
multi night story or very long outfits?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So I think it's long afternoon of stories.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Okay, impressive Their attention Spanish is impressive for that age. Well, Josh,
we are lucky enough to have you come back for
more puzzling and more talking about your projects tomorrow. In
(17:41):
the meantime, I do have one extra credit for the
folks at home, which is a two star review. I
went to this bar to drink alone quietly, but the
regulars would not stop talking to me. One guy writes
real estate novels, whatever that means. Another guy was excited
(18:01):
that his name Davy rhymes with his job being in
the navy. But the live music's pretty good, So what
is that a review of? And come back tomorrow for
the answer, and if you have time in the meantime,
check out our feed on Instagram. Hello puzzlers at Tello
Puzzlers and we'll see you here tomorrow from where puzzling
(18:22):
Puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hello puzzlers. Let's start with a quick puzzle. What do
these things have in common? Groove recovering, guy losing, bikini stuffing,
and dragon training. That's groove recovering, guy losing, bikini stuffing,
and dragon training. The answer and more puzzling goodness after
(00:23):
the break. Hello puzzlers, Welcome back to the Puzzler. The
simple syrup in your puzzle old passioned. I am your host,
Ad Jacobs, and I'm here with Chief puzzle Officer Greg Flisco.
Of course Greg, before the drag, of course, we asked,
(00:45):
what do these things have in common? Groove recovery, guy losing,
bikini stuffing, and dragon training. The answer might.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Be things happening in my apartment right now.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Wow, you've got an interesting apartment.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No, you know, I had no idea at first, and
then I went back to Groove Recovering and I was like,
that's very weird, and then I remembered how Stella got
her groove back exactly. So those are all films that
start with how something, how to train your Dragon, and
(01:18):
the other two.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
How to Lose a guy in ten Days and how
to stuff a wild bikini, which I think I don't
think i've ever heard of. Okay, I bring this up
because our guest today started in something else with a
how in the title. We are talking about actor, filmmaker, musician, podcaster,
(01:43):
and star of the wonderful sitcom Jacob's family favorite, How
I Met Your Mother. Please welcome Josh Radner.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Hi, it's good to be here with you. Guys.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
We are just delighted. And as you know, Josh, you
played Ted Moseby on How I Met Your Mother, and
you remember that's a good trivia question. Who did you play?
And you have a new podcast that you are hosting
with series co creator Craig Thomas called How We Made
(02:15):
Your Mother. It's a great podcast. I've been listening and
one thing I wanted to ask you right up front.
In one of the first couple of episodes, you and
Craig discuss How I Met Your Mother is a very
puzzly show. Can you talk a little about in what
ways is How I Met Your Mother puzzly?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah? Sure. Well, when I got the show and people
would ask me what it was, and I said I would,
I would say it's almost like if Quentin Tarantino created
a sitcom, because it's nonlinear and there were you know,
average of forty to sixty scenes per episode, all kind
of scrambled and told out of order. But the central
(02:56):
premise of the show is this mystery. You know, I
my characters telling his kids in the year twenty thirty
or twenty thirty five, I can't remember. I think it's
twenty thirty. What you know, the story, the long meandering
story of how he met their mother, so they know
who the mother is. The audience doesn't know who the
mother is. So the whole thing is structured as this mystery.
(03:17):
We know that there's a there's a meeting at some point,
but he's going to take his time and he's fill
in all the details. And sometimes individual episodes are structured
as a mystery. I'm thinking of there's an episode called
Ted Mosby Architect that it just looked like Ted was
(03:37):
doing all these insane, slightly criminal things, and it was confusing,
like why was he doing these? And then it's revealed
it wasn't actually him, you know. There So I think
Carter and Craig just had a taste for almost like
an elegant withhold of information, and then there was something
(03:58):
very satisfying. One of the things we're interrogating in the
show is why has the show maintained its level of popularity?
Why is it minting new fans, you know, generation after generation. Well,
I don't know if we can say generation after generation.
It's been since it went off, but I know a
lot you know, twelve year old teenagers like they're discovering
the show and we're we're kind of investigating the mystery
(04:20):
of the show. Why is the show inspire such loyalty
and devotion? And I think there's a lot of reasons
for that, but one of them, I think is it
really keeps you on your toes. I mean, it asks
something of you. You know, it's not it's not something
that I mean you can sit back and passively watch it,
but it will also engage you in a kind of
puzzly fun way.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Yeah, well I love that. I mean, there's the big
puzzle of who the mother is. There's the famous episode
called the Pineapple Incident.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
He wracked.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Ted wakes up next to a pineapple and a woman
played by Danica Keller from The Wonder Years, which is
very exciting.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Oh and also there was Barney Ted We're going to
open a bar called Puzzles.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
I was going to bring that up, Okay, yeah, that's fantastic.
H and the and why is it called puzzles? That's
the puzzle, that puzzle, That was it exactly. And the
other crossover is that Ted the character is a fan
(05:23):
of crosswords, and there's an episode where you get to
meet legendary friend of the show, friend of our show,
Will Schwartz, who is a crossword puzzle.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Among other luminaries on the I think Upper east Side
that episode, right. One of the strange things that happens
the longer you're on a long running show, the writers
get to know you and they start thieving a bit.
They start stealing from your life and throwing things into
the character. So I was a crossword puzzle fan. I
(05:55):
remain one, and I would do the crossword puzzle on
set and some times, you know, props would say, do
you just want to keep that that as your prop
for this scene? So I'd say, yeah, I'm just gonna
literally do the puzzle while I'm acting on this. So
became when Carter is a is a crossword puzzle guy too,
So it was one of those fun overlaps. And then
(06:17):
Ted just became a crossro puzzle fan just because I
was doing them.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
That's fantastic. And I remember in that episode you talk
about you ask Will about Julie U l ee why
does that appear so often? And you had a theory
which was.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Correct, Well, what is it? Because of the vowels.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, it's like a huge bowel and I think it's
Julie's Gold is what I've seen it drag any other Yulie.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, oh that's the movie.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, well that is fantastic. I want to talk more
about you and puzzles and the puzzle of acting, the
puzzle of music. But since this is the puzzler, let
me do a quick puzzle with you. If I could,
you mentioned the puzzle the bar that Ted and Barney
we're gonna open called Puzzles love that, but there's another
(07:10):
bar in the show mclarence where they all hung out.
So this puzzle is about fictional bars, fictional bars and
restaurants and hotels, and the idea is I'm going to
read you a fictional Yelp review of these fictional places
(07:31):
and then you have to guess what it might be. So,
for instance, if I said three stars, I enjoyed a
picture of beer at this solid Irish bar on the
Upper West Side. Warning to women, steer clear of one
of the regulars, a red haired guy in a suit.
He will hit on you relentlessly. So that would be
a clue to McLaren's mclarence, which is the bar? And
(07:56):
How I met your mother. The red haired guy, of course,
is Neil Patrick Harris's redhead.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
I have spent a long time looking at his hair
to try this.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
This is the puzzle of this puzzle is what is
the color of Neil's hair? I would be bonded brown,
but yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Bland, Okay, yeah, I couldn't figure it out. I didn't
know how to describe it. But it's not your average
just browns, all right? So are you ready for some
other These are not all How I met your mother?
Bars day? Thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I can tell you that I get performance anxiety around
public puzzle solving. I love I do the spelling be
every day. I love just being with my self. So i'm, i'm,
I just want to I wanted to clear my nerves
up front, and I know you're not here to humiliate me,
(08:46):
but I just want to say that.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
We appreciate the honesty. As Greg and I are very
easy with the hints.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Well, and the other thing I will say, Josh, is
I haven't seen these yet, so I can be your
phone a friend over here. I can have coslve with
you because I haven't seen any of these hints in
the chat.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Is that how it's gonna work?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Or like the way you think? I like the way
you think. They could be movies, they could be music,
they could be TV. All right, here's the first one
one star. Do not stay at this motel. The owner's
mother just sits there, not moving, not speaking, even when
I asked her for an extra pillow. The showers have
(09:26):
decent water pressure, but there are red stains all over
the top. So what might that be a Yelp review.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
For I'm gonna go with the Bates Motel.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
You are going to go correctly?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
See look at that at that from the movie Psycho.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Exactly where they have the famous shower scene. And well,
I won't say the other part because for those who
are alert, Yes, all right, I got another one. This
is also a one star. They're very tough on Yelp.
Can you say taki this? This hotel has mirrors on
the ceiling and pink champagne on ice. Plus the wine
(10:06):
cellar sucks the water. Told me we haven't had that
spirit here since nineteen sixty nine. Not a lovely place.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Oh, yes, that's the Hotel California.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
That is the Hotel California. Exactly convenient to check out,
but you can't leave by the eagles, right, yes, good,
all right, you're cruising through. You're cruising through despite your nervousness.
(10:39):
How about this one? Two stars? This one's a two stars,
a little better. I have stayed at three different locations
of this resort. All were gorgeous, impeccable service. My only
complaint the constant stabbings, drownings and bloody shootouts. Not sure
what's going on with this chain, but management should look
(11:00):
into it. Also be sure to try the leechy Martini.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Is my central question about this series. At what point
is this going to be such a pr disaster they
can't stay That would be the white lotus.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
They have to address it next, like there's yeah, it's
getting a little crazy.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
The thing I love about this is that I've watched
none of this show, none of it. My wife's a
huge fan. I've watched none of it, and yet I
know exactly what.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
You're talking about. Without watching a single episode.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
It's just in the zeitgeist.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
But you wouldn't go there. No, definitely.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Right right, And I know Duke was very upset because
I saw that.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
What is it a meme? They didn't really enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I have to love of the show, so I hope
that it continues. All right, a couple more. You are cruising,
as I say, one star, that's another one star. I
el violated. This bar has a total lack of privacy.
Somehow everybody knew my name. Not sure if they hacked
my phone or what, but it was creepy. Also, the
(12:11):
waitresses a no and all who quotes Dante.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Well I said that that that how I Met your
Mother was like if if Tarantino had created a sitcom,
and Carter and Craig said that that it was that
they were They were thinking of it as pulp fiction
meets cheers.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I love that description.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
They wanted to They wanted to another bar hangout show
to make and watch, so cheering.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Right, So this is cheering exactly. And I McLaren's looks nice.
And I read that it was based on some Irish
bars that the creators went did you were you a
bar hanger? Outer when you lived in New York.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Yeah, there was a bar. I went to n y
U for grad school at Tish and there was a
bar around the corner called bou Radley's that you walked
down stairs and there was you know, a pool table,
and you could smoke in New York back then. So
it was just bank smoke filled basement where we would unwind.
It's now called I think Josie Woods, but it was
called bou Radley's, which I think is a great name
(13:15):
for a bar.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Yeah, okay, it is called Josie Woods. I'm not sure
who Josie Woods is.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Not as literary as.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Boo had a Harper Lee character.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
H Andrea, our associate puzzler, would you mind figuring out
who Josie Woods is? While we continue with a couple
more and this one Speaking of Andrea, Andrea wrote this one.
Three stars try to avoid the shady people in the
corner booth, exchanging what looks like blue rock candy. Instead
(13:47):
focus on the chicken at this Albuquerque fast food franchise.
It is Moy Delicioso. Now, if you've seen the show,
I think you will know it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Hardy Orton, I can guess what show it's from which
but I haven't watched enough of the show to know
what that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Oh barking bad, yeah, or.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
It is breaking Bad exactly, So you get half a
point to.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Give me a public apology to to my friend Brian
Kranston been on How I Met Your Mother a few times.
Who's the loveliest guy? I've never done it. I've never
done the show. I've never sat done. I'm one of
the few, so I don't know the name of the joint.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
And well, I will tell you you got Breaking Bad,
which is good enough los Ermanos.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
I was going to say, so I would have had.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You would have gone three quarters with exactly. All right,
how about one more? Oh by the way, Uh, did
you work with Brian Cranston? I feel that you might have.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
But yeah, he was on a couple episodes of How
I Met Your Mother? Oh he was?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
What did he play?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah? He was? I think his name was Hammond Drummondded
was the head of the architecture firm that I was
working at.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Ah, very good. Okay, all right. This other one also
from Andrea two stars. Incredible food and service, but a
weirdly tense atmosphere. They should really sound prove the kitchen
because I could hear the head chef in a shouting
match with the other employees. Also a lot of people
(15:28):
saying yes chef over and over, which made me very uncomfortable.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I'm gonna go with the bear.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
The bear. The bear is correct. The bear. Well, fantastic.
You cruised right through those. By the way. You had
mentioned the sort of the puzzling arc. And one thing
that I am just so impressed with with the show
is that you recorded the kids early on. I'm not
(15:55):
going to reveal what they said, but that you or
the creators knew the arc, so while the kids were
still young, and these are the kids that the father
is telling the story too, they recorded some of the
final episodes, which is just brilliant. Were you in on that,
did you know the ending or did they keep a
(16:15):
secret even from you?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Yeah, they told me. They told me early on, and
then I knew that they were recording the kids. A
couple you know, they recorded I think a bunch of
just one afternoon that it was a lockdown set. I
can't remember if I was there. I don't think I was,
But then I kind of put it out of my
head for seven years, Like I wasn't really I wasn't
(16:38):
thinking much about it, and it was an interesting thing.
Like the narrator Ted knew where everything was going and
whatever what happened, but I was playing the one who didn't,
So I found the less information I had the better.
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, I like that. And by the way, the other
mystery that I'm sure even asked about is like, I
know how long the story took in terms of minutes
of the show, but how long was the story supposed
to take with the kids sitting there? Was it a
multi night story or very long outfits?
Speaker 3 (17:16):
So I think it's long afternoon of stories.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Okay, impressive Their attention Spanish is impressive for that age. Well, Josh,
we are lucky enough to have you come back for
more puzzling and more talking about your projects tomorrow. In
(17:41):
the meantime, I do have one extra credit for the
folks at home, which is a two star review. I
went to this bar to drink alone quietly, but the
regulars would not stop talking to me. One guy writes
real estate novels, whatever that means. Another guy was excited
(18:01):
that his name Davy rhymes with his job being in
the navy. But the live music's pretty good, So what
is that a review of? And come back tomorrow for
the answer, and if you have time in the meantime,
check out our feed on Instagram. Hello puzzlers at Tello
Puzzlers and we'll see you here tomorrow from where puzzling
(18:22):
Puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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