Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: journalist, author, and cultural pundit, Joel Stein!
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 Hidden Nina in Your Daily Puzzle Hirshfield Caricature. I'm your host, A J. Jacobs, and I am here with our guest, the Awesome Joel Stein, co host of Story of the Week, Awesome podcast and also author of Man Made, A Stupid Quest for Masculinity very funny book. Welcome Joel.
Thank you for having me. Always a pleasure to talk to you, regardless of what it's about. In fact, maybe sometimes when I don't feel quite so challenged.
All right, well we'll see this one. I think you're gonna nail. Kind of related to Man Made because it's about wooing. It's about mat and Richel. How did you woo? Cassandra? How did that happen?
We were set up on a blind date by a guy named Clinton. Kelly then went on to host What Not to Wear Interesting. So I didn't I mean, I had to woo a little bit, but I didn't have to woo toget it on the date.
Got it?
She had seen pictures of me shirtless in a magazine story I had done about getting a six pack, So I recommend that as a wooing technique.
But you didn't have the six pack when you started dating her, I imagined and had gone away remnants.
It was I hadn't been that long.
Like three or four packages. Okay, all right, Well today's puzzle is about creatures who do work hard at wooing. It's called name that mating call. So I'm going to play you an audio clip of mating call and you have to name the animal that makes that call. But don't worry. I know you look worried, but I know you're not a zoologist. So I'm going to give you some help. Or a hunter or a hunter. Yeah, I'm going to give you a clue. I'm going to give you what I think the animal might be saying, like if we translated it into English. So here's an example. This one is just how warm up?
How high were you when you came up with this game.
I was a little stressed. I don't know if I was high, all right, But this one, if I played you this, so that's a mating call.
That's not a machine, that's an actual animal.
That is an animal. I mean it's a sex machine animal, but it is animal, So that I think might it might be saying, Hey, babe, if you kiss me, I promise not to turn into a prince.
Oh it's a frog. It didn't It didn't sound like a frog. It sounds so mechanical.
Well, it's a toad. It's a toad. So that all right? So here we go for the real ones, for the real that was real. Okay, alright, I'll count it. I'll count it. You're one for one, all right, Jody, play us number two.
Well, that is sexy. That is legitimately sexy, like if you did that to a woman, that would work.
I don't want to distract you, to turn you on.
To Oh my god, I couldn't even focus. All right, what was that?
We think? We think? I'm well, if you want to guess, no, I guess. Okay, no, Well I think what it's saying is see you later in my bed.
Oh it's an alligator.
It is an alligator. That was good, love it moving on? So yeah, two for two. You are a zoologist.
I once wrote a story in college. The San Francisco Zoo had for Valentine's Day a love tour, and they went around and told us about all the meeting rituals of all the animals. A little trolley so you do know, so I forgot until this moment.
Yep, that is funny. Well that's why you're doing so well. All right, next one, Jody.
That's ridiculous. The interruption with the burping noise is totally not sexy.
Well, you don't yuck other people's young. That's creatures young.
We're all different.
Do you want to guess or not? Not?
Even you can't imagine what it's like to be a bat. You can't imagine what it's like to be this thing. I don't want to guess. I have no idea.
That was a high brow I like that.
I'm trying to make up for the fact that they don't have answers.
Well, I think if you translate that, this creature was saying good, I good looking. Are you a model? I saw you in an advert for Quantus Airline.
Oh oh oh, So it's an Australian animal. But it's not a kangaroo. I think it's a panda. No, it's a karo. No, but it's the otherwise, it's a wallaby. It's there. There's a million of these.
No, you're good, you're good.
Listen.
Panda is close, but panda is in China.
Oh I'm sorry, Kouala is what I was looking for.
That's what you had in your mind exactly.
They are solitary animals that spend almost their entire day eating leaves alone.
And they sleep a lot. Well, that was one of my other lines that I even forgot to write down. But like, yeah, they're miserable. Yeah, oh, I have heard they do have a bad reputation. It's like grumpy. Yeah, all right, I hope they're not listening. All right, let's okay, we got two more. Are you ready? Okay, Jody? What we got next?
I like that one.
That one is your kind of thing that hits the spot.
If that was in my backyard, that'd be Finally, it's funny. As soon as I hear any animal making a noise, I want to guess it's some kind of bird. I don't know why, but I don't think it is.
All right, here's the hint. And actually this hint I think I don't know. It's a little bit of a deep cup, but I think you're the right age range that it'll work. If not, we've got it, all right, you're ready. Well, I think what this this animal is saying is you know you're a cute little heartbreaker, a sweet little love maker.
It's Jimmy Hendrix. I'm not that old. That is Jimmy Hendrix.
You got it, yes, so you're right there.
But what is the song? What is the Jimmy Hendricks song?
It's oh, it is an animal this one is. He might be saying, you're quite the vixen. Vixen, Vixen. That's it's a female version of this animalist.
Oh, vixen is actually a female something.
That Wait, wait, let's go back to the Jimmy HENDRICKX.
Yeah, okay, Jimmy Hendricks all right, lady.
And then it's You're a heart, You're a blank lady, You're.
A oh oh right right, Oh, this is embarrassing.
I wait, I got another clue that has to come up with.
Something, ladies, electric No, you're a late foxy lady, foxy. Oh my god, what is going on here?
Vixen? I don't know if I can fully give it, I'll give you a hat.
No, God, take away point. That's the fox. That's what a fox says.
I know it's weird, right, it's not foxy.
No, it does not sound like what I thought a fox would sound like.
It sounds sounds a little desperate.
But I thought the whole point of that song was the fox doesn't make any noise.
Well, that's the irony exactly. It's it's a biologically inaccurate song, as we've did.
Like so many.
All right, the last one.
Okay, wish me luck? All right, I don't know it. I always I always want to say bird, but I don't know.
Well, okay, this time you might be okay if you say bird. Now, if I translate that into English, what this creature is saying is what's a nice female like you doing on an iceberg?
Like this? Penguins?
It's penguins. Okay, you got it, exactly, look at that. See you did great well, thank you, Joel, And you did great as expected. Where can people read, see and hear more of your work? Oh?
God only knows if you want to hear more of aj though he is a frequent guest on my podcast Story of the Week.
Well, thank you. I love your podcast, and not just because I'm a frequent guest. Before we wrap up, as always, for all the puzzlers at home, here's your extra credit puzzle. What is this sound? Who makes this mating call? All right?
There is is it jews on Russiashana.
It does have a bit of a chauffeir chauffeur feel to it, but no, it is an animal, and it is this animal we believe is saying, have you lost weight? You look like you're barely two hundred and fifty pounds. So puzzlers, please don't forget to subscribe to the Puzzler Podcast and I'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hello puzzlers. Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle Officer, happy to be here with the extra credit answer from our previous show. We played a game with Joel Stein that involved cluing pairs of rhyming words. These are not real phrase, these are fanciful ones, but both words rhyme. The clue we gave you was Lenny and Squiggy go over to her home because they knock over her leafy flowerless plants. So it's Lenny and Squiggy knocking over the leafy flowerless plants, which are LaVerne's ferns. Correct, that was your answer. Thanks for playing. We'll see you again next time.