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 Mysterious Elf on Your Puzzle Shelves. I am your host, Adre Jacobs. Thanks to Puzzler producer Neelie Lohman for that intro, and thanks also, of course to Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Pliska for joining me.
Welcome Greg for chuckling for chuckling at the intro. Does Neelie do we know if Neelie actually has an elf on her shelf?
Let's find out neely, Well, well she does not. Well, speaking of, we're doing a couple of holiday themed puzzles because tis the season. I'm going to give one to Greg, then Greg will give one to me and let's just dive in. Are you real?
Actually, Greg? Before we dive in, I just realized we missed an opportunity for a puzzle, which could have been the Elf on the Shelf puzzle.
Oh well, there's always text you.
Word at sh to it and get a new word great. So like if you have a Stephen King novel about Pennywise the Clown. Oh, I leave that one for listeners to fill in.
That is, yes, that is an NC seventeen puzzle. I was thinking shining and iinning, and I'm like a.
Sarah, no, no, no, no, all.
Right, well this one we'll we'll do that next year. But this year, I've got a puzzle for you, Greg called red or Green.
Oh, it's a Christmas puzzles.
Even though I'm Jewish, i am I try to be open minded. All of the answers to the clues in this puzzle are phrases that contain either the word red or the word green. So if the clue is this is what Moses parted, the answer is not his hair. It is the the Red Sea, exactly.
I like the way you did it. We've got the Christian holiday puzzle, but the example clue is from the you know, from the Torah.
That's right, Well, you know it is the Christians use both Testaments.
Yeah, I know that we have that too.
Still, and I'll just get just a balance. If the clue is a member of the US Army Special Forces, the answer would be green beret. That's it exactly. By the way, before we start, I looked up why are red and green Christmas colors? According to NPR, A couple of reasons. One the holly plant. The holly plant is green with red berries.
That makes sense.
The second is Coca Cola. Coca Cola in the early nineteen hundreds created advertisements with Santa Claus and they gave him a makeover with a red suit, which he didn't wear before, and red became more Christmas y. Red also happens to be the color of the Coca Cola logo, which is nice for them.
It's nice for them, that's right. So we're half supporting Coca Cola just every Christmas holiday.
That's right. So we expect our free crates anytime. All right, are you ready for the real ones?
Yes, sir.
A bad way to be caught, A bad way to be caught.
It's not a green one. It is red handed.
That is correct. Next, this team is named after canned meat. Handed meat.
Wait, this team, this team team of named.
After a professional sports team named.
Oh, the Green Bay Packer.
It is the Green Bay Packers.
That's what they were packing meat.
The Indian Packing Company made a donation of five hundred dollars in nineteen nineteen for the uniforms, and that was love it. Yeah, five hundred and that's eight thousand dollars today. That is an excellent, excellent deal.
Have to say, look and it continues to be one of the great sports franchises.
There you go, But I don't know if it's really increased. Oh that's right, so I don't know how all right, Well, moving on this. The first version of this character wore a bear skin instead of an outfit made of foliage.
Well, let's see, it's a character. I don't think it's a red guy. I couldn't even come up with any big, big red characters. It's the jolly green Giants. It is the.
Jolly green Giant. Yes, originally he did not have those leaves, and he actually was not jolly.
He was. Yeah.
It's like a vest, like a one shoulder sort of unitard, like.
A feathery shoulder.
Feathery Yeah. By the way, Also, I didn't know that it actually was green. Giant was the name of a new type of pea that was debuted, and it was much bigger and sweeter than others, so that hence the name.
Okay, got it, all right? One fact like that?
Well, speaking of food, this business lost eleven million dollars in three months when it offered customers all you can eat shrimp for twenty dollars.
Did it recently also go out of business.
I believe it's still around it, but it's been having some struggles.
All right, I'm thinking of a different one. You're talking about red Lobster.
Right, which one on out of business?
There's a Boston one that went a legal seafood something. Oh okay, anyway, I can't I don't know. It wasn't red or green?
Are so red lobster? Yes, they vastly underestimated people's appetite.
For free shrimp.
Yeah, so they had to raise the price. I love that.
Definitely not place you go on Hanikah, Right, they don't go get the free shrimp.
That is very true. Yes, unless you're reform. How about this phrase originally described a strong smelling smoked fish that distracted dogs who were chasing a rabbit.
Oh, a smoked fish. You know, usually in the puzzle world we try to we frown on these. You've actually made it the answer red.
Herring, exactly, red herring.
And wait, this is a real kind of hearing.
Well. This was apparently a term popularized in eighteen oh seven by a British writer who told a story about this smoked fish that distracted the hounds who were chasing a rabbit, and then it became a phrase for anything that distracts.
You, distracts the hounds from chasing the puzzle rabbit.
Exactly. It was not a red hering clue. That was a whatever the opposite is.
No, it was a red hering clue. It was exactly.
Oh, yes, I see, you're right. It was a literal red harring, literal metaphorical all right. Next, former Puzzler guest Jordan Carlos, great stand up comedian. He has a routine where he says that this book should be a single page long, and it should be about consent.
Ah, it's consent. Well, it kind of is about consent. I do not like them, Sam, i am, I do not like your green eggs and ham the end.
That's the way it should be, exactly.
You know, this is a separate trivia question. You know, the book is entirely made of one syllable words.
Oh, I remember that, I was.
I think they're like forty nine of them something like that, one syllable words except for a single unhyphenated three syllable word. Sam, I am, no, that's hyphenated.
Oh, I don't know. That's a great trivia.
You do not like them? It is a great trivia question. Maybe I won't say the answer. Maybe we'll let's think about that and call that an extra extra credit. What is the three syllable word in green eggs and ham?
Very fun?
All right? Moving on, Yes, sir, while.
People think of that. This structure is thirty seven feet and two inches.
High stonehengine spinal tamp. No, it's thirty seven inches high with structure thirty seven.
This is it is a sports related structure.
It's either bed ball or green it. Oh, it's in Fenway Park. It's the green Monster. It is a green minster left field wall in Fenway Park.
Yes, the notoriously high left field wall. All right, just a couple more. The scientific name for this is a rythro site E R.
Y T h R O rythrocites. Yes, got to be confumed confused with leucocytes. Correct, Yeah, those are the leucocytes are the white blood cells, and the erythrocytes are the red blood cells.
That is it.
And I, unless your spock than you have green blood cells. No, No, we went through this as blue.
No, I think it is green, green or blue?
Who knows one of those?
One of them? And by the way, I only included this because I will never forget the definition of the word erythrocyte, because it costs me thirty one thousand dollars. I was on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Many years ago, and I guess why No, I guess serum, I guess there were platelets. I guess the wrong one is the point?
Do you know I was? I was a fact checker for who was right back in the back in that same time. I was probably responsible for you losing that money because I fact checked that clue.
You did your job too well.
I did my job to tell someday out on this episode, I'll tell you my story about the best fact checking moment of my career. Who Wants to Be a million But now.
All right, all right, just two more. This company has a logo with the head of an animal, but despite the name of the company, the animal is not cattle. Instead, the animal is a gar, a gar you. They are a mammal relative to India.
This is the energy drink Red Bull.
That's right, Red Bull does not have a bull on its logo. F YI, right, last one. Let's finish up. I got a few more, but we'll throw them an extra credit. If your lifetime goal is to own a fireworks stand. You might be one of these. According to a comedian born in Georgia.
They're not a green thumb. You're a red hot lover. Oh yeah, you want red red sure. Wow.
Well, if I give you the name of the comedian, then I believe you will get it immediately. He was born in Georgia. He's on the blue collar comedy tour.
Jeff Foxworthy.
That's the one.
And you're a redneck. Ye see it did give it to me. If you told me Jeff Foxworthy, I knew it would be redneck.
There it is all right, Well that is it. That is it for now more.
That's very festive, Yes, very festive.
I believe you have a festive one for me as well.
I do. I do. I went broader. Rather than focusing in right on on Christmas, I decided to go about a broader set of celebrations. These are the celebrations where we feature the Hawaiian singer of Tiny Bubbles, Don Ho. Yes, these are Hose Holidays.
I love it.
We take the first letters of the word holiday to get the name of the famous musician Don Hoe. And so every answer in this is two words a name or another noun and the name of the holiday, so hose holidays is one. I could give you an example when one of the stars of Top Gun sends UH sends hearts to his friends.
Tom's oh, valves, Valentine Valsal. Okay, it took me a minute, but there, all right, I'm in I'm trying. I'm going through the holidays in.
My mind, the holidays, holidays, trying.
To get ready.
Okay, right, But as always, there's two ways in Either you think of a holiday and then you take the beginning letters of it, or you think of the famous person or other thing. I'm cluing and put that in front exactly, all right, this is this is the holiday when Dad reads out loud about the ten plagues.
Okay, Dad, well I know, I mean there's passover SATR passover. But wait, dad, so it's got to have pass as the first part of it.
It's got to have just some of the first letters pause A very good, very good, very good. There you go.
Although in our passover it is gender neutral, all genders are encouraged to.
Well, of course, that's why this is a specific variation on the holidays. You know, everybody's holiday. Just this one, fair enough? This is UH when rock and Pine, rock out with presents.
Oh okay, all right, I was good. I love rock and pine because those are two great nouns. But they're also the last name of Chris. So Chris is Christmas Chris exactly.
Very good, very thank you.
I'm trying.
This is celebrating the Festival of Lights Solo.
Good one because it's got a couple of layers, solo as an han solo and Hannukah. Although it could be like Jackie.
Chan and I did think of that, right, it could be Jackie Chan's Hanukah also right, love This is Hans Honikah a friend celebration of Jesus's entry into Jerusalem.
Oh, shoot, okay, a friend. Oh I got it. I was nervous.
Outside your you know, outside your section of the Bible.
It is well, I was going through. It's Palm Sunday, So pals Palm Sunday.
Very good, very good. How about a British princess's Festival of Lights?
Oh oh, a fridded. Oh now I'm getting nervous.
All right, different firstal, thank god you got it though, just took a minute. How did did you get it from the princess or the festival.
No, I went with the festival d Wali. My kids just went to a Dwali party. Uh. And I was like, do you want do you want?
No?
Die dies love it.
How about when aries fasts?
Oh oh oh, look at that.
Okay, yeah, you just take you take a minute. I don't know. And then you got it.
I had good the nervous oh. And then the revelatory. It was oh, and that is Ram's rams Ramadan exactly.
Yes, the the the Muslim festival fasting period of fasting, and is the ram in the in the zodiac. This is when the ship's computer says trick or treat Dave.
Oh, thank god, I said as hal as in Hal nine thousand from Space Odyssey and Hale's Halloween, Hel's Halloween.
Yes, very good. How about when your dog doesn't have to work?
Okay, dog doesn't have to work. We weekend?
Uh?
Oh my sab Sabbath labs labor day, labs labor day.
Yes, very good.
Verbally, look at that.
That was nicely done, nicely done. This is wintertime for the Star of the King and.
I okay, very good.
Uh.
That is I just watched this with my mom because we're watching all these musicals so Yule is Yule Brenner and Yules Eule, Yules, Yule.
Mules Yule. Right. I wonder if there's if his name and the word yule are probably come from the same place. You know, they're cognate. I don't know, but yeah, Yule's Yule or Eule's Yule tide. I was trying to think, what else would you cue? How else would you clue Yule Brenner? Right, I mean that's kind of the iconic, most most iconic, most famous film of.
His right, I mean he was famously bald.
Yeah, and he was in the Magnificent Seven. He was in West World, the original West World. I didn't back when it was a movie.
Yeah, yeah, Well he was great.
So he was great. Another greats. I got two more. When this host runs the Boston m blank r blank th h blank n.
Oh, well, I believe.
It's better as a visual clue.
I'm visualizing it, blank black. Here's how I got to it. I knew the Boston Marathon is on Patriots Day or Patriot Day, so I'm guessing Pat's Patriots. Oh, I get it, because Pat's a jack and that's a real orch included right, clever recently retired though, but still I think in the pop culture lexicons.
Absolutely And finally, when a famous skater lights seven candles.
Seven, oh, okay, I got it, I got it. That is Michelle Kwan, famous skater. I was thinking Tony Hawk. But Michelle Kwan's Kwanza.
Kwan's Kwanza exactly.
What very festive, very festive. All right, well, before we go, do you have an extra credit?
I do have an extra credit? This is Diddley Day after Christmas.
Didley? Oh, you know what? The Christmas took me a second, but I think I got there on my extra credit. Remember these are all green or red phrases. By some estimates, this creature would be about five thousand pounds. If it were real, it would eat about fifty pounds of food per day and about the same amount of poop.
So maybe not, that's still the jolly green Giant.
Twice, yeah, I would. I think he's a little more. He's a little more. Uh well regardless, Thank you everyone for tuning in. Happy holidays, and please, if you do have thirty seconds, go rate the Puzzler on your favorite podcast platform, because we are all ruled by algorithms and it makes a huge difference in helping people find us, which is what we want. So we'll meet you here tomorrow for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Hey puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska up from the Puzzle Lab with the extra credit answer from our previous episode. We were up at Mohunk Mountain House. Your extra credit clue was I tell you do you talk too fast? You fly to a European capital, and that of course is go slow. You talk too fast, so go slow, and hidden inside that is the European capital, Oslow, as in Oslo, Norway. Well, we hope you enjoyed unwrapping your presence and then you keep putting the Puzzler podcast in your pile of presence for the whole year round.
Thanks for playing.
