"The Weird World of Sports" w/ Bomani Jones

Published Dec 20, 2023, 9:00 AM

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: sports journalist, analyst, commentator, and host of "The Right Time with Bomani Jones," Bomani Jones!

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 two Point Conversion on your Daily Puzzle Touchdown. I'm your host, A J. Jacobs, and I am here with our guests, the fantastic Bomani Jones, host of HBO's Game Theory with Bomani Jones and much much much more. BOUMANI, I had a quick question, do you have any favorite weird sports lingo? Like? For instance, I'm thinking fartlock, which is a Swedish training method of running fast than slow than fast.

I got one.

Now, I don't know if I had one prior to you asking the question, but I think we got it.

He definitely have a new leader in the clubhouse.

I so honored to help you out. Well, uh, you might get more because today's puzzle is about weird sports words. And by weird, I'm referring both to the sport and the word, and I use the word weird lovingly. These are not sports that you generally cover on Game Theory with Beaumanti Jones available on HIMAX, but they are real. And I'm going to read you the word and then I'm going to give you two definitions. One definition is real and the other is fake. And you have to try to guess which one is real. So are you ready?

Their? All right?

The first word number one is scrounker s k r o n k e r skrounker. Is this a in competitive stone skipping a stone that never even hits the water? Or is it b in competitive quad ball also known as quidditch, a play that causes the opponent to drop their broom. So stones that never hits the water or broom dropping play.

I am going to go with, uh, the stone skipping because skronker seems like we're from one of them countries where they ain't got nothing to do with skip stones.

You are absolutely correct, and I still I'm not quite sure how a skronker works, Like how do you not hit the water?

Yeah? Yeah, there's a lot of that.

There's some physics that I don't quite I mean, at some point he's got to right, but think otherwise they just spin around a world fev.

Maybe that's it, But it's in all of this stone skipping website, so I gotta believe it's true. By the way, Uh, a plank is a stone that sinks on first contact with the water, but a plink is a clean skip so you want plinks, all right? Word number two of five. The word is shagger s H A G G E R. Is it A in competitive dodgeball the player who is in charge of making sure the balls don't roll back on the opponent's side? Or is it B? In barefoot water skiing, a move involving one foot and one hand on the water.

I'm going to go with the first one again.

And you are going with the rag one. It is a dodgeball hangarbacker.

Interesting.

I didn't know that there was that position existed. That seems like a great way to get hit with dodgeballs.

Exactly. It's not a very popular position. All right, Well, you're two for two. Round three. The word is maximum er m A x I m U M M E R maximum er. Is it A in competitive indoor skydiving a move where you go from the very bottom to the very top of the air chamber? Or B?

Is it?

In competitive chess problem solving a problem where the black side is under the obligation of always playing the longest legal move.

Hmm, I'm gonna go with a again.

Oh thank god, I checked you on one. I feel good. I feel I've done my job.

I know I should have bet on the percentages.

I will say it is. It's a move in chess. But have you ever seen videos of competitive indoor sky diving.

I have not, in the sense that apparently you can go from down to.

Up it is. I mean they do all the it's like acrobats. It's pretty cool. Anyway, a plug for competitive sky diving.

I feel like the composition is skydiving is.

Just living exactly. You don't want to lose that one, right, yeah? All right? Two more. The next one is the word is spock, as in the logical guy from Star Trek with a point of years spock? Is it a in professional thumb wrestling when a player illegally splits their fingers in an attempt to gain leverage or is it b in competitive BATCHI a ball bowls specifically to knock away an opponent's ball.

All right, So my logic as I think about the thumb wrestling and what they describe and is what we used to call like the tag team, like the manager become off the ropes and you stick your finger out and then you bring your thumb back down and I can see that making a shape like sposier.

That is so good and It is so much smarter than what we we had planned because it is bachi. But wow, I love that it also happens to be this spot signal. So thank you for reading into it more than we.

I think I just came up with a new term exactly thumb wrestling.

Actually, they should picked this up. It'll be right by the top of his air total.

It's going viral, no doubt. All right, last one, it's actually a pair of words, two words G and ha as in gee and h a W. So is this A and competitive dog mushing the words for turn right and turn left respectively, or is it b in e sports a strategy in battle Royale games where a player hangs back allowing opponents to take each other out. That's the G part. And then on an ambush the hawpark sort of rope a.

Dope, I'm gonna go with A and you would.

Be right competitive dog mushing. So you got them all all but one. I got you on one.

I'll take you back.

Well, thank you, Boumani. It was a joy. And where can people find more Boumani non stone skipping content?

All right? Well, check out The Right Time with Bomani Jones podcast about sports and a lot more wherever you get your podcasts and check the Max app for Game theory with Bomani Jones.

Fantastic. And before we wrap up, as always for you puzzlers at home, here's your extra credit puzzle. What is a bond Spiel? A bond spiel? Is it a a curling tournament or b the leftovers in a competitive eating contest. 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 puzzle.

Hello puzzlers. Greg Pliska here up from the Puzzle Lab with an extra credit answer. From our previous show, we gave you a clue to a famous Jones and you have to tell us who it is.

The clue was this.

Jones directed a campaign film for FDR. He also created a character who buys a lot of stuff from ACME. That's right, it's animator Chuck Jones. And that's of course his character Wiley E. Coyote, buying a lot of stuff from ACME to try to foil the roadrunner. Well, I hope whatever road running you're doing includes listening to the Puzzler Podcast. We'll see you here soon.

The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs

Finally, your daily puzzle fix—in audio form! Every day, New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jaco 
Social links
Follow podcast
Recent clips
Browse 392 clip(s)