The Puzzler with A.J. JacobsHello, 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.
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 The Eyeglass Screwdriver in your Puzzle Toolbox. I'm your host, AJ Jacobs. I'm here as always with Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Kliska. First thank you to Puzzler listener Shri Kumar for that intro. He's written a couple uh and there's a couple more coming, So thank you, Shri.
Yeah. Sre is a huge part of our puzzler community. We love all the contributions. I am fascinated by the specificity of that one. It's not just anything in the toolbox. It's the eyeglass screwdriver.
Yeah, well those I have used those before. I don't wear glasses now.
Very tiny, They're very tiny.
They're very tiny.
I guess that's why he picked it. Yeah, but useful.
That's us. We're tiny but useful, tiny but powerful every day right but mighty Well, today is an exciting day, Greg. It's Friday, which means we're going to give you a peek at how the puzzles are made. We're going to show you the the puzzle Bunsen burners. We're going to make a couple of stops. We're going to go to the counter, the dissection counter, where we'll dissect the puzzles of the week. We're going to the listener feedback desk where.
We have piles of mail, piles of mail.
And finally the breaking news section of the Puzzle Lab, where we have a ticker tape with all the puzzle related news and we give you that and and puzzles inspired by it. So but our first stop is to dissect this week's puzzle. And because today this week I thought was very interesting, just to give a peek behind the curtain, we Greg and I and Andrea, we all come up with ideas and put them in a document. And this time Greg and I actually had a very similar idea, which does happen? Greg, what would you let the listeners know? What was that idea?
Sure? Well, yeah, we had Renee Stubbs, the great tennis player, and so you know, we think about a person and what's their name, and where they come from and what's interesting their knowledge areas. And both of us thought, well, tennis, let's do something with tennis. And we both thought, well, that word starts with ten, so what if we switched the ten and make it eleven? This goes to yes, then you end up with these ridiculous.
My title was this goes to eleven. It was so yes, spinal Now I did not Yeah, I did not develop this. I think Greg, you developed it a little more, which which means that you can actually give it to me. And the reason we didn't do it. I liked it, but what I thought Renee said she was not an expert puzzler, and I feel it's a little trickier than what we ended up getting her. So so this is but yeah, yeah, for me and you, I think it's uh, it's it's worth doing a couple examples.
It's worth exploring some of these clues. Yeah, we only eily read a couple. We sort of you know, we put these out on the puzzle lab table with a few examples, and then we sit and contemplate them and pick the ones we think we should develop fully. So here's here's some of the clues I came up with. And Octopus has eight or maybe nine of these.
Well, first, I think I know the answer, but I want to hear about this nine. Oh oh, I get it, because you're doing the plus one. Everything goes tentacles but becomes eleven, tackles eleven.
Tackles, eleven tackles, yes, exactly. And you know the key here is to use the ten, not in a sense that means the number ten. I'm constantly trying to come up with an alter. So this is a two thousand and one Wes Anderson film about a dysfunctional family and their plus one.
All right, I'm trying to think rocket. What was that? No it wasn't. Oh the Royal. I love that movie. I love that movie, The Royal. Eleven bounds, eleven boums.
Eleven in bounds, yes, not ten in bounds, eleven in bounds.
Yes, I would watch that. That would be a good sequel, good sequel, good one.
Right, yeah, The Royal eleven of bombs. Part of the fun of puzzles like this is getting the guests to say these completely ludicrous things. That just becomes I think becomes part of the fun is hearing the silliness of this. I have one more. Its capital is nash City.
Okay, capital is nash City. Oh oh okay, it took me a second. Yes, there's no nash City, but there's a ville. But if you ramp up a vill it becomes a city. And that is eleven a c in the state of C eleven A.
C exactly eleven A C. Yes, I love it.
Well, now let me tear the tables on you, Greg, because I actually when I was thinking of this, I was like, are there enough ten to eleven? Maybe I should expand it so it's not just ten to eleven, but other numbers that you ratchet up by one. So, for instance, like the way you think, thanks, So this one is to give you an example. If you had to pay an annual fee to a private school, but that fee was really really high, it would not be tuition. It would be three agreeition exactly.
I love the way you post that as a hypethetical if that fee was really really high, as if it isn't.
Two issuanes should always be called three issue men. All right, I just have I have just a couple of examples of that. One is, uh, oh, if you go to a Chinese restaurant, at the end of the meal, you might get a very very big treat.
Oh at the end of the meal. It's not a fortune cookie. It's a five chin cookie.
A five chin cookie exactly.
Oh.
And this one I was thinking because Renee Stubbs tennis player, this would have been appropriate a really powerful ground stroke in tennis, or eleven us as we called it. So this is a really powerful ground stroke.
Yep, yeah, okay and tennis, Oh I see it really powerful? Is ramping it up again? So the normal stroke is a four hand, but if you're really powerful, it's a five hand.
It's a five hand exactly. All right, Well, there you go. So that was an example of the puzzling minds thinking alike. All right, we've got another stop in the puzzle Lab. Though it's not over our tour. We've got the feedback.
No, it's a big lab.
This one is This corner lab is where we monitor email, social media, ham radio you name it, for any feedback positive or negative from our listeners. And this week we have a letter from Brian Wang w Ang. I think it's Wang, could be Wang, he doesn't have pronunciation in there. He writes that it was about a puzzle we did involving mispronounced celebrity names. And Brian writes that he's a fan of Rihanna and that actually her name is pronounced re Anna Rena. And but this this is what I love. Is he balanced it for us.
I feel like interesting.
The universe is once again right, because he says that actress Anna Farris's name is actually Ana Farris. So we lose an ant and we gain an ant. We lose in awe and we gain an awe.
I like it. I like it. You know. It's almost like us not knowing how to pronounce Brian's surname with the wang or the why. It's all.
Yes and I am sorry. Brian. You can write us another letter about your pronunciation with.
The pronunciation and then we'll correct that, did you. I'm also I am fascinated by British like usually the British do the longer A's right, right, he say, we I don't have a ready example. We say father, They say father, right, writer? Or uh, I'm going back, We're going bach right? They would they would want to be do they do the awe sound more? But when they say the Italian word, the Italian word for the noodles that we all.
Enjoy, oh, pasta, they do say pasta.
Pasta, pasta like they make fun of us for using the ass sounds so much. But right there they go pasta.
What a bunch of nutters.
Oh my goodness, good thing, we had a revolution, That's all I get.
What about the hypocrites with theirs and their eyes. Uh well, as or Oz were saying, I was saying, we can't see anything without having a puzzle pop into our brains. So this one is a very short puzzle. But I thought, well, what if every time we pronounced celebrity with that sound, we're doing it wrong. So I'm going to give you a clue, and you have to pronounce it the new way. So the god wrong, the wrong way or the right way. The man who played the Godfather in the original Godfather would be not Marlon Brando, but.
Marlin Marlin Brondo.
Exactly, Marlon Brondo. What about the Mongolian conqueror was.
Straight from from the Godfather to Mongolia? That would be Genghis con That is how I say.
It, Genghis. Yeah, but you gotta say the other way, like.
I got to say it the wrong way. Genghis Canna gangs can exactly, And if Genghis can, you can too. That's right.
Putting the canon. Genghis, the author of Dracula.
Might be called brom Stoker. No, the wrong way though, that's how I always say bram Stoker. You do.
Oh well, this is interesting, all right? I should have looked it up. I thought it was bromst.
To begin with, it was brom Stoker.
Well, all right, we need to settle this right now. Can you look up Brohm versus Bram.
You thinking of Johannes Brahms.
Well I was good. That was the original clue. And then I'm like, no, I think more people know Bram Stoker.
Here's his actual first name is Abraham Bram. But Abraham Abraham becomes Brahm, Brahm, abrahamm Bram, Bram becomes Bram. All right, well, this is ten minutes of us saying Bram Bram, Bram Bram.
Great podcast, it is riveting.
All right.
I'm gonna end with an animated character voiced by Jack Black or Jock Block is uh he was a large man old.
Wait now now, I'm self conscious I'm supposed to mispronounce this, but you're gonna tell me I've been mispronouncing it all along. It's kung Fu Ponda.
Kung Fu Ponda, right that one. I believe we can both agree Panda. All right, Well, there you go. We have. We've accomplished something. I'm not sure what, but we are ready for stop number three. Okay, Puzzle Lab tour. As you know, Greg, this is the news ticker where it spits out ribbons, puzzle.
Related news ticker takes out Yes.
Yeah, well done, and yes sometimes you are monitoring it. This week I saw one that piqued my interest, which was Sherlock Holmes.
Do you know the the Do Do I know Sherlock Holmes. I've heard of Sherlock Holmes.
Yes, all right, that's a good start. Have you heard of a Nola Holmes and Nola Holmes?
Yes, Millie Bobby Brown plays a Nola Holmes in the two films of the based on that character, right.
Exactly, and I like it. I thought it was good, so I was excited to say, there's a third coming. It's a trilogy, so we can and it. Uh. I. It struck my interest because I've also been on a little bit of a binge watching of the show Elementary, which is that it was the CBS Shirley.
With Lucy Lou.
Lucy Lou takes.
Place and the guy whose name I don't know takes place in New.
York, right, and I forget his name too, but he's got a British accent, and weirdly, the most recent episode I watched crosswords were the big plot turning point. He solved a murder by solving a crosswords, so it was very exciting.
Once again, puzzles will save the world.
They will, they will capture all the bad guys. Uh, And it sparked in my mind. Well, he's not the only crossword puzzle loving character on television, so let me give you a couple of clues to other ones. And by the way, the original Sherlock this was said in modern day New York. The original Sherlock was not a crossword fan because crosswords had not been invented.
Didn't exist, so but he would have been a British cryptic fan if they did.
Exist, absolutely absolutely, all right, So what about this TV character? Is this crossword loving TV character has a last name that calls to mind Benedictines or Trappists perhaps.
Oh that's very good. You know, I spent a winter study at Williams studying the Trappist monks, studdying Thomas Martin in particular. Really, so yeah, yeah, we took a little trip to a Trappist monastery. So the answer is Monk, of course.
Right, Adrian, Monk. Nicely done. And I did not know that you were a monk experts of all things.
It was actually the monks came out to talk to us and they said, for the last month in their prayers they'd replaced God in all the prayers with consciousness us. Oh.
Interesting, that feels to me is a sort of an agnostic. I like that.
Well, it's look. Thomas Merton was famous for many things, but as a as a thinker and a philosopher. He ended up meeting with the Dali Lama and discussing how when you go deeply into any religious practice, you kind of end up in the same metaphysical place.
Interesting, like all right, back to back to cross This crossword loving character as the last day, and that calls to mind herons, relatives of herons or construction sites.
Thank you for the second part, because I was thinking Stork. I was like, start Crane, somebody crane Crane, you remember even crane was It was yah, God, what a great show. Fraser. I didn't watch a lot of TV, but that show brilliant. Kelsey Grammer, Kelsey Grammer. We's get him on the show.
There you go, he's a smart guy. All right, this two more. This crossword loving TV character has the last name that calls to mind barrel making, barrel making, barrel making.
Of course, well you gotta know, you got to know, right, you got in all your professions you did. You did a puzzle a while ago about weird, weird, odd ball professions. This was one of them. Is not so odd ball? Making a barrel, being a Cooper is not so crazy. And so there's Cooper is the answer? Right?
And do you remember, you know any Cooper's first name?
I don't surname is all is necessary to get this correct?
What is a teav it's a big bang theory. And then he had his own spin office.
So sure don't tell our lovely guest my embiolic the you don't know the names of the characters on Big Bank.
It is Sheldon, Sheldon, Sheldon Cooper.
Oh yeah, young Sheldon, young Sheldon, that exists. I just you know.
All right, then, I'm gonna since you brought up the sort of the ancient trades, I'm gonna.
You're punishing me. Yes, oh well, since you brought that up.
This crossword loving character, her name calls to mind an arrow maker, an arrow maker. He knows this, he knows it.
Well again, you got to know your ancient trades if you want to be in the puzzle business. This is from Murder, she wrote, Yes, this is Jessica Fletcher.
Very impressive. You knew the name, you knew the occupation, you got it.
Well, it's bulls fascinating. There's a fascinating thing. But I am not huge into pop culture. But there's so much that Osmos is in through other ways. I don't. I may have watched an episode or two of Murder, she wrote in my day, but really not. But man, it's so I it's so famous. I know, you know the name of the character, I know the show. I will say on the same subject of things, oz Mo sing in this morning. My wife was stunned that I don't know who Kylie Kelsey is. Oh no, I don't.
Oh wait Kylie ke I know Jason Kels No is it sure?
Yeah?
Oh? Is that his wife?
Is that my wife? And she was like, She's like, come on, you know who Kamala Harris is. You know who Beyonce is? How do you not know who Kylie Kelsey is? And I made the argument that the first two people had done kind of extraordinarily notable things like right governing the country and making tons and tons of extraordinary records, and maybe Jason Kelsey's wife Kylie Kelsey, who apparently is everywhere, just not on my radar, might not have achieved the same level of fame. But there you go.
I am I listen, I'm taking your side and apologies, Jessica.
Now both of our wives will disown us.
I'm sure exactly all right. Well, that was how was your tour in well doing the Puzzle Lab? It was We loved having you.
Thanks for coming down to the Puzzle Lab. It's always nice to have guests. Forces us to clean up a little bit.
And over the weekend, if you if you are jonesing for more puzzles, We've got an Instagram feed called app Hello Puzzlers with lots of new puzzles.
You know, over the weekend. If you come up with puzzle ideas, send them to us. We love getting puzzled by you as well, so please send us those. You know. We'll take your criticisms and your comments and your compliments and all of that stuff, but we also like getting puzzles. So if you're thinking of a puzzle, you have a cool idea, you afflicted like AJ and I where we can't see Gladiator without thinking, lad send us those puzzles. We're ready for them.
We would love it. Yes, And as you're doing that, get ready for Monday, because we will meet you here then for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle.
You puzzling me. Hello, puzzlers, it's your Chief Puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska here with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. AJ and I were up at Mohonk Mountain House and we played a game of rhyming two word phrases where each one of them had something to do with mountains, because we're at Mohunk Mountain House. And AJ's extra credit clue was, this is what you'd call the most ingenious folks to ever climb the world's tallest mountain, That, of course is Mount Everest, and these would be the Everest Cleverest, and you know I'm gonna I'm looking at this. I think that Everest is the world's highest right, it's the highest point on Earth. But I believe the tallest mountain from base to tip is Mona Keia. I think in Hawaii where the bass, which is deep underwater, is a very long way away from the tip, whereas Everest is tall, certainly, but it is partly it's the highest because it's sitting on a very high spot on Earth to begin with. Anyway, that's a little bit of linguistics and geography. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you'll be back here tomorrow for some more puzzling puzzles. Thanks for playing along with the team here at The Puzzler with AJ Jacobs. I'm Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer. Our executive producers are Neelie Lohman and Adam Newhouse of New House Ideas and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced by Jody Averragan and Brittany Brown of Roulette Productions, with production support from Claire Viger Curtis. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg. The Puzzler with Ajjacobs is a co production with New House Ideas and is distributed by Hot Card Pasties No I Rearrange those letters distributed by iHeart Podcasts. If you want to know more about puzzling puzzles, please check out the book The Puzzler by AJ Jacobs, a history of puzzles that The New York Times called fun and funny. It features an original puzzle hunt by yours truly, and is available wherever you get your books and puzzlers. For all your puzzling needs, go visit the puzzler dot com. See you there,
