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.
Hello puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast. The Jewel in the navel of the puzzle Deli Dancer. I'm glad you like that because Greg, that was not me, that was Jim held from Thank you, Jim, a Puzzler listener. I am your host, Ad Jacobs, and I'm here as always with CPO. Greg Pliscott.
Welcome, Greg, Thank you a j Which one of us is the belly dancer?
I think we're both we are both.
Dancing now.
I have no seg, but.
Which kind of aeg of its own? You've created a saying.
That exactly and in it's the Monty Python and in completely different news. I love doing this podcast, but of course, the curse, and Greg, I'm sure you've experienced this for longer than me. The curse is that I cannot do anything in my life without seeing puzzles everywhere. So yeah, so we rented. This weekend is the big glicked weekend with Gladiator and Wicked. That's when we're recording this, and so we rented in preparation. We rented Gladiator, one great movie. Uh, and I knowed. I was like Gladiator, gladye and I noticed that Glad is embedded in the word gladiator, and I'm like, oh, well, that could be a puzzle. It could be a clue, like happy Roman arena fighter is a glad gladiator.
So there really none of them were happy. They were right. They were enslaved and forced to fight to the day. Yes, yes, yes, you're happy if you win.
But yeah, very rarely was there a glad gladiator. But regardless of that, I was able to build a puzzle. And so all of these are going to be in that form. These will be two word phrases where the first word is made up of the first syllable of the second word. Okay, adjective now exact.
So it's always at the beginning of the second word.
Like exactly it is at the beginning. So all right, are you ready for what about a warm, really warm ritz Carlton.
Oh, a really warm like you called down to the front desk and say the air conditioner's not working. Exactly, it's a hot hotel.
It is a hot hotel, that is correct. What about a tall person with two spouses? Not more than that.
I am laughing because I was going to make a joke about what this was, and then I realized that was actually the right answer. It's a big, bigoment, that's right. Yes, we went for it, very big big is that you know, I just realized there's that. There was that show big love.
Yes, I thought of that too, But that was he was actually a polygamist. Because bigamist, I believe, is only two and he had he had three or four and.
It wasn't called big love because of the big and bigamy. It was just called big love because he had love for many people or something. I don't know.
That's such. I had the exact same train of thought that you did, which I think. I think it is good. I'm happy to be in your mind. Uh what about an unhappy torturer? An unhappy torturer?
It could be the uh yeah, companion of the big bigamist is the sad sadist.
Yeah, the sad sadist. And by the way, one of the few things I remember from my first book was writing about everyone knows Marquis de Sade, who's the namesake of sadism. But there was a guy named Massok. Aaron, you know, I'm Sary Massock as Ron mass SoC Ye, Baron, I.
Want to I want to say Gilbert Massock, which of course soccer soccer massock. Oh, yes, Leopold soccer massof.
There it is Leopold, And I always thought it's a little sad that everyone knows Marquis de Sant and no one knows Leopold. But being a masochist, he probably likes that. He likes that everyone forgets them.
So I actually looked this up on Wikipedia. It says that the name was invented by his contemporary, uh, the psychiatrist Kraft Ebbing, and that Massacre is not approve of this use of his name, which is kind of perfect. It made him unhappy.
Exactly which made him happy.
Yes, no judge.
A little judgment on sadis if they don't. If they are, it's not can say if it's not a masochist On the other side.
You want to join the two together and then it all works out. What about it? They don't try this at home?
A beige citrus fruit, A beige citrus.
Beige, an a crew a cruvium, no, a tan tangello. I know you want tangerine.
I would accept either. I would accept either, nicely done. What about a U? This is what my son calls me because he thinks I need to lose a couple of pounds.
Big daddy, no fat father, fat father, you know I like him. When the when the pronunciation changes, it's always fun.
Yes, yes, I'm well speaking of which, this is an enjoyable graveyard ceremony, enjoyable.
It's a fun funeral, fun funeral.
Who puts fun and funeral?
Which is kind of like what who? What? What? The various cultures have sort of celebratory life.
Right the Irish wake and I believe Yeah, yeah.
There's some great New Orleans.
Uh.
Some of the New Orleans parades, you know, with the bands and stuff, become you know, lively celebrations.
I have told my wife Julie, make my funeral as entertaining as possible. Yeah. What about a super calm star of HBO's Euphoria super relax.
Oh wow, I see I've seen. When you said super Colm, I was like, Serene, that's too many syllables, and I thought, well, chill, it's gonna be something with chill. But then you said star of Euphoria. I'm like, there's nobody named chill. This is as zen zendaya.
Exactly a zenda. All right, just a couple more of your cruising through I'm gonna ratchet it up just a little.
Okay, you know you're ratted up, Greg, don't be a sad saydist go for it. Yeah.
This one, well, this one's medium. A large river dwelling mammal who is not square at all. Daddy O, he is not square or she?
Oh god, see, large is not the adjective I'm looking for. Like with big bigamist, it's the not square. It's the hip.
Hippo exactly, the hip hippo.
That sounds like something from a children's book. Yeah, like the hippo. He's got a little beret. He plays the saxophone like bouncing around the water.
Let's write it together, all right, Yes, big money and that the hip, all right going. This is not a large animal. This is an it t bit t beetle, an itty bitty beetle.
Itty bitty beetle. It's a particular kind of beetle.
It is a particular kind of tiny small we weavil.
Wow, nice, you know you're insects.
I don't know that weavils are beetles. I just thought of the word we and knew that there was an insect called a weavil, so it must be right. It is well.
According to the always reliable Internet, weavil is a type of beetle. I believe you, all right, now this one, this word I definitely did not know, but you're greg, so you might. This is a distant litter of pigs, A distant litter of pigs.
Litter of pigs is a farn. Fargum is far far got the far you got the first?
Far? Farrago? Nice? You know, I love that word. Or falla. I think you have lots of things that start with far. I don't know this word either.
She's also an actress and uha, yes, oh no.
The other one.
Sharrow far pharaoh of pigs, that's what it says.
Or I've got a big farrow out there in the barn.
Yeah, you're gonna drop it into conversation, I.
Know, all right, and then save just I just want to put a little pin in pig farm because it might come back, so that the concept here of a little farm where you have animals, birth animals and something, it might come back. I'm just saying, I'm just.
Saying, very curious, very all right, you peaked, you peaked me, Now what about all right? We'll end as always on a high brow sophisticated. Note, this is a two dimensional farther. A two dimensional far.
Two dimensional farther is a flat flatulent.
That's it, or flatulator flatulator.
I'm not sure flatulator is a really a dictionary term.
It does. Yes, the spelling. Uh my spell check did not like flatulator. Well that you did wonderfully. Uh and uh and we had we ended as well as I say, with highbrow, with some highbrow information from the dictionary. Now, uh, Greg, did you this was my gladiator puzzle?
Yes? So when you said you were doing a Gladiator puzzle, I thought, well, it's the Glicked weekend. We got Gladiator two and Wicked opening together. They're trying to make it like a Barbenheimer thing. So I've got to do a Wicked puzzle fair enough. And you know that's what we do in the puzzle lab. We take whatever ideas are thrown and we make a puzzle out of it. So I did a little investigating. Do you know the suffix wick as it's used in place names like New Brunswick, New Jersey?
You no, I don't know what that means new Brunswick exactly.
It turns out it can mean several things. Most simply, it's from the Latin word vicus, which means village. Okay, Brunswick would be the the it's probably you know, the brown village Warwick. Yeah, yeah, I don't say them all because you'll, you know, you'll end up saying, you end up using the you'll end up knowing the whole puzzle. But in some place names it derives totally differently, not from Latin, but from Norse, from the word vick, which means an inlet of the sea.
Okay, okay, good to know, and two.
Different ways to define the same thing that's used in place names kind of the same way. Interestingly, the word vick is where we get the term vikings. Oh right, vick and in LiOD of the sea, and the vikings were ones who went out to see through such inlets, I believe. So now the third meaning told you to put a pin in that pig farm. The third meaning is that it could mean dairy farm or farm, all right, can so for example, Gatwick like the airport. Gatwick Airport literally means goat farm.
As does Gotham. I know Gotham means because Gotham is from goat, so town.
I always thought it meant gotam oh interesting, which would make it more of a pig farm than a goat farm.
But right, all right, well this is good to know.
This is little. You can't say you didn't learn anything today.
No, I got three different etymologies of wick, and I didn't know.
One of them.
So like three times that off.
Three times smarter. Yeah, well we're gonna be wicked today. We're gonna I'm gonna give you clues to common words, phrases, or names that end with Wick, as if they were defined using one of these suffixes. Oh, okay, all right, every answer ends with Wick, and the clues will be both direct to the thing and also kind of indirect.
All right, I love it, all right.
She would walk on by this town where battles take place.
Wow, all right, I'm already lost.
Walk on by.
I feel it's a music reference. Yeah, and as you might know, music and sports are not my strength. Yes, she walks on by. I know it's all right. So then I'm gonna try the other way. A war town where war town Warwick? Yes, oh I said it, Oh Dionne Warwick.
Okay, very good, it very good. Hailing from the opposite of soft town, he created the Nerdest podcast series.
Okay, this one I think I do have, which is opposite of soft is hard Hardwick. Chris Hardwick was a is a podcaster.
Yes, exactly does the Nerdist series. He toasts talking dead and talking bad all those shows about other shows. Good. Well, then, all right, this is the town where Lugosi, Bartalk and Fleck all live and it's the area of their stoll.
Okay, now I'm starting to get into this. I'm starting to see where the greg mind is going. Uh and uh yeah, because I know the word bailey Wick means an area of expertise. Yeah, so yes, Barton Bailey Bailey. All all I know is Baileywick. I'm just gonna stick with that.
You're just gonna say that bailiwick. So Bayla Lugosi, Bayla Bartok and Bayla Fleck. Right, people in blow makes sense? Baili wick. Yes, yes, that word actually means where the bail the bailiff's jurisdiction, town of the bailiffs is the bailiwick. Nice in this town you get to choose and some people choose Dickens Famous papers.
Mmmm, Dickens famous paper. All right, this is this is pathetic because I am on a Dickens reading spree. And now I can't remember what.
His Oh no, it's the blank papers.
The m.
It's alliterative.
No, I need a more hand, I need more.
It's the town. It's a town where you get to choose.
So when you choose, you opt you uh may choose you, Nope.
You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your nose.
Oh Pickwick, the Pickwick papers.
You can choose your exact Pickwick beggars. You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. That's how that goes, all right. Well, speaking of friends, he is Pinocchio's best friends and he comes from the town of waxy tapers.
Wow. Well, I thought Jimminy Cricket was was Pinocchio's best friend, but that doesn't.
Well, Jimmy Crickett is the cricket that hangs out with Pinocchio, but he has another puppet that is his best friend.
Interesting, And I will say, while I'm just to buy me some time, I was researching our guest Joseph Gordon Levitt, who played Jimminy Cricket in a recent Pinocchio and apparently In the book Pinocchio, Jimmy Cricket is brutally murdered like someone throws a shoe.
I think Squashedio.
Throws a shoe and squashes Jimminy cricketty. Yes, and that did not make it to the Disney version.
Well, and I think in the book. I'm not sure if he's in the in the Joseph Gordon Levitt film or not, this character, but he's Pinocchio's best friend. The day Pinocchio is supposed to become a real boy, he says, let's not go to that ceremony, Let's go hang out. And they end up on the island and they are the wherever they end up in their idle boys, and they end up growing Donkey ears. It's a whole horrible thing.
He's a bad he's a bad influence.
He's the he's a bad influence.
Uh.
And he comes from the town of waxy tapers.
Waxy tapers.
So what is a taper?
Taper? I thought taper was like a candle candlewick channel.
Candlewick, candle Pokia's best friend candlewick.
Who all right, I did it.
You're doing well, You're doing well.
It's a very generous. Yes, I'm ready.
She grew up in the town of Marshy Plants and became Andy Warhol's it girl.
Oh okay, okay, that I shouldn't know. We just had fifteen minutes of fame.
So yeah, yeah, but Marshy Plants.
Are I'm gonna as we know, you can go in two ways.
So yeah, yeah.
What is Andy Warhol's muse was named what's her name?
Nope? The factory? Okay. So the common crossword clue for this word is Marshy Plant five letter words starting with S.
Oh, five letter word starting with S.
So it is not a.
It's not moss, it is a. Uh all right, I'm going back.
I'm going back back to her first name.
Her first name starts with every All took a while, so there, right, one, all right, and we'll uh, we'll give you one more. He played Brad in Rocky Horror and is often told what to do by his superior at work, hard in turn Wick the well, who's your superior at work?
Boss Wick?
Bossed Wick?
Yeah, isn't there very Arry Bostwick?
Very Bostwick?
Yeah, very good, yea, very good.
You're very nice with the very I would say, barely good, look barely good.
You just got to get it one direction or the other and you did it nice.
By the way, do you have a a extra credit for the folks at home. I do.
This is the Brooklyn neighborhood where two presidents named George live.
Okay, that one I did get because I know two presidents named George, and mine is an angry bordello owner. An angry bordello owner. So come back and we will tell you the answers to those. And in the meantime, you can check out our Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers, where we post original puzzles of all kinds. Very fun, and we will see you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzle. They will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hey puzzlers, it's your chief puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska here once again with the extra credit answer from our previous show. Now this is actually a triple extra credit. I played this, that or the other with Renee Stubbs and aj where each answer was either an Australian town, a yoga pose or a food. I gave you three for your extra credit. These were feathered peacock angels on horseback and Mamon could come perongg Kanjunya. I'm not going to spell that for you. It's spelled just like it sounds offline. After we finished recording the episode, Renee and Aj tried their guesses. They got Mamung could come Parang Kanjunya correct, which is a town in Australia. It's actually the longest place name in Australia and it means where the devil urinates in the indigenous language of that region. I don't know why it's called that. I'm guessing it's a very hot and dry place, or maybe it's a hot and slightly wet place. I'm not sure. In any case, they actually got the other two wrongly. They swapped them. Feathered peacock is a yoga position. It's sort of like a handstand, but you do it on your elbows. Though it does sound like a food you could have, but I think if you were gonna have it, you'd have unfeathered peacock, just saying the other one, Angels on horseback, is a food. It's oysters wrapped with bacon, which is either your dream of the greatest food ever or a terrifying thing you would never want to eat. Whichever one it is. I hope you'll come back to the Puzzler and tell us all about it. Happy puzzling,