“Ditloids” w/ Michael Ian Black

Published Oct 3, 2023, 8:00 AM

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: comedian, actor, and author Michael Ian Black.

Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses.

Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts! 

"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas. 

Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.

The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions. 

Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.

Hello, puzzlers. Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, home of your daily organic pastor raised mind bender. I am your host, AJ Jacobs, with the brilliant comedian Michael ian Black. Welcome Michael.

Thank you, Aj. Great to be here, Great.

To have you here now, Michael, I have heard that, and tell me if I'm mistaken. You are a fan of words.

I love words. I mean, I mean I write books. I write kids books, I write adult books, and I wrote my own private erotic fiction which I'd be happy to slide into your DMS whenever you request it.

Thank you. Let's talk about that after. But also, in addition to words, and people don't know this as much, I think, I think you also enjoy numbers. Am I correct?

I do like a number. You look, you throw a SIDOPI down in front of me. I go, I'm gonna go to town.

All right?

I love it.

Well, you are in luck because we chose a puzzle that combines your two loves of words and numbers. So this puzzle is called a dit lloyd, and a dit lloyd is a phrase that is clued using only numbers and abbreviations, so the clue will always start with the number and then I'll tell you the first letter of each of the following words in the phrase. So, for instance, if the clue is three hundred and sixty five d y, that might be well.

That that actually is in my erotic fiction, one hundred and sixty five d's. I'm telling you right now, Ope up your email. You're going to be lighted.

I love it. Okay, Well that yes, that one. That's that's a whole other dit Lloyd, that is dit Lloyd after dark.

Uh eighteen sixty five days in a year.

There you go, there you go or whatever. Why stands for all right? So we are going to start off with some mild ones and then get spicier. But now that takes on a whole new one.

Started spicy, Yeah.

We started spicy, all right. So here we go. Ninety nine B of B on the W. Ninety nine B of B on the W.

Yeah, I mean, look, it's it's a classic road trip song. Ninety nine bottles of beer on.

The wall, perfect exactly. And I found while researching this that the British version is just ten ten green bottles of beer. They're much more efficient.

I think I much prefer that version.

Yeah, I think that's a better version.

All right?

What about four s and seven ya? Four s and seven ya?

Oh wow, I don't know this off the top of my head. Let me think about it. Four s.

I have a clue. If you're ready and.

Me a second.

AJ, Okay, I'm sorry. I would like to see people struggle.

S and seven y A. I think I need the clue.

All right. I think this is a dead on impression. You're ready for ash.

Ohta god, I gotta got it. It was a dead That was a dead on impression of somebody doing a terrible impression of Daniel de Lewis as Abraham Lincoln repiting to Gettysburg address four scorn seven years ago.

Exactly. That's what I was going for. Okay, you're ready. We got a couple more. Uh one F two f r f.

B f uh huh say it again.

One f F isn't frank, one f t f redfish bluefish exactly. That was it so fast I appreciated a Cadence clue. Believe it, sous and cadence. All right, how about this one one S S four M one g L four M. Now when I say four, it's confusing. It should be f F four S one s S four m for me one g L four M. And I also have an impression on this one if you need it.

Wait the last. It's one GM four m or one GM four.

One g L four m g one S S four m one g L four M.

I think I need the impression.

All right. I know you're a fan of them, warn s s four m.

God, it got it, got very good, very very good. You know, I loved me an astronaut. I love words, I love numbers, but right after that, I'll love me an astronaut. So that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Exactly brilliant. All right, we've got two more and then you're done. You are out.

Six These are these? Aren't these? Aren't these? Aren't that easy?

No?

They got tough.

Thank god, you're a master mimic.

It's true. I'm in negotiations for a Vegas show, So yeah, it's gonna be great. Six W of H the E? Six W of H the E.

I'm not even listening to the clues at this point. I'm just waiting for whatever quession you're gonna do.

But give me the clue of H the E. I could do an impression of this one I could. I didn't even think of it, but I'm gonna do it right off. I'm gonna ubble improv.

Of H b E. No idea, I had no.

Idea, all right, I will say, I mean you are a fan of history, so that that might sex W of H the e I know you're threatened as an actor.

Okay, So now down the geography a little bit.

And it is it is historical like your obscure podcast. Yeah, okay, Oh, there's a poem related to it. Do you want to hear the poem? Divorced beheaded, died, divorced beheaded survived. Wow, that's a pneumonic device. I say it again, divorced beheaded.

Okay, go, I got I got it. So give me the original diploid again, six w of H the e right, six Wives of Henry the Eighth? Yeah, man, man, I struggled with that one, all.

Right, last one. That's the last one.

I mean phrase, is it?

The six Wives of Henry the Eighth? I mean is that I don't know, We'll say in the history circles. I think that it feels more.

Like a fact to me than a common expression, which which is what I'm looking for. But that's that's a good point use making. You're the puzzler. I'm just a.

Chun Well, it's a good I would like to hear. Well, we'll get feedback from the listeners on whether they think that was fair or not. I mean, they may take your side, and I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. All right. This last one also a little tricky, but I think you're up for it. Twelve s of the Z, twelve s of the Z and as a millennial, Yes, you probably are familiar with this Z. I know you're not a millennial, but that was sort of I was sideways hint.

I figured it was a hint and I wasn't going to contradict you because you know how how he just Hollywood was stick s of the Z. Nope, no idea.

No did I say six? If I said six, that.

Was what did you say? What do you you made?

It should be twelve twelve?

It right? Of the Z, twelve s of the Z. There are twelve and zodiac Why why is that a millennial thing? Oh? Because of the millennium of the changing and this we're in the age of whatever, We're in the age of and I get it.

No, that's not what I meant. Actually, maybe that's more clever than what I meant. I just meant every millennial I know is obsessed with with the zodia with like astrology.

I just actually I had my astrological chart read for the first time ever and it was useless.

I'm sorry to hear that. All right, Well, thank you, Michael. You are an excellent puzzler. Where can people get more non puzzling Michael ian Black content?

Well you could. You could read one of my books. I got all kinds of books out there. And just go on any any book site you know or bookstore and ask for one of my books. You'll probably find something you like.

I love your books, and some of them, like there's kids books, but they're serious books. There's like they're like sociology books.

They're like one there's one one serious book the most mostly the rest are mostly funny.

And now it's time for the extra credit for the puzzlers at home? Are you ready? Actually? Today too extra credits because they are super short. Two hundred and six B in the HB, two hundred six B in the HB, and four W and an F for W and an f Well, thank you and remember, puzzlers, please don't forget to subscribe to the Puzzler Podcast and I will meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzle at least.

Hello puzzlers. Greg Pliska, you're chief puzzle Officer. Here with the answer to last episode's extra credit puzzle. We played a game called Moroka in Morocco because our guest Morocca has a name where you changed the last letter and get the name of a country. So your clue was this northern European country, one of the happiest in the world, has added a special path on its highways for fish. That of course is the Finn Lane in Finland. The Finnlane in Finland. Safe driving out there, watch out for the fish and join us next time on the Puzzler Podcast.

The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs

Finally, your daily puzzle fix—in audio form! Every day, New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jaco 
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