December 16, 2024 • 20 mins
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: former tennis player and host of "The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast," Rennae Stubbs!
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, the Top Spin
in Your Puzzle Cross Court Winner. I am your host,
Adre Jacobs, and I'm joined as always by Chief Puzzle
Officer Greg Pliska, and our guest today is Renee Stubbs,
(00:27):
legendary tennis champion, ESPN commentator, host of the Renee Stubbs
Tennis podcast on iHeart.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Renee, Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
This is a first, This is a first. Well, you
have fifty two doubles titles? Is that correct? Did I
get that right?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Actually? Sixty, but it's okay, I'll take I'll add a
few more on there. Yes, sixty.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, you have more doubles titles than any guest we've
ever had on this show.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Absolutely true, Absolutely true. And I know you had mentioned
to our producer that you're not a huge puzzler, but
we want to convince you today otherwise because we think
you will be great. And also I think tennis tennis
is a puzzle, right, I don't am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Definitely trying to work out you know x's and o's angles, stummody,
strengths and weaknesses, you know how to improve, how to
learn from it. All the things, and you do learn
every time you play a match, whether you win a loose.
So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Right, and especially doubles where you excelled. I feel there's
there may be there's more strategy in doubles. I don't know.
I don't want to annoy the singles fans, but I
think there's.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
A strategy in both. They're very different. But having four
people on a court, you certainly have to work out
various different things, a little bit more than on a
singles court, for sure, But you also have a friend
out there to help you, help you figure out the puzzle.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
But you also have enemies trying to stop you from
figuring out the buzz. Well, in honor of your tennis career,
this today is a tennis themed puzzle. It's actually, or
at least themed to the way tennis is scored, which,
as you know, is love fifteen thirty forty. So all
of the answers are phrases that will contain one of
(02:17):
those words fifteen thirty forty or love. So if I
said this is a movie with Steve Carell as a
middle aged guy who has never had sex, the answer would.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Be forty year old virgin God exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And before we start, can we just pause for a
moment and just say, what is up with tennis score?
It's crazy, am I? It's fifteen thirty and then it
doesn't even go to forty five. It goes to forty,
it goes to deuce and then to deuce and.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
We start talking about orange juice. You know, it's an
interesting conversation. Actually, somebody should get to the bottom of why.
But I guess you know, World Team Tennis did ones, twos, threes,
so there are definitely different ways to count on a
tennis court. But certainly it is an interesting conundrum that
(03:13):
we probably should get to the bottom off.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Well, I did look into it, and no one knows
quite for sure, but something it has to do with
the hours that it was supposed to be forty five
and something went seriously awry. But anyway, I will say
I like the love. I mean, that's nice. In sports,
we need more love, so I'm happy.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
That we do. Unless you're on the side of being
the love, which is not good in tennis. So another
conundrum that we should figure out why the love is
bad unless you win.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
That's a good point. That's a good point. Yes, love
should be when you win. The only things weirder than
tennis scoring is pickleball scoring.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I can't don't even get me on that One's that
is not my jam. I'm not a pit pickaball lover.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I had heard on your podcast you are not a fan.
I'm sorry. I brought it up all right. Back to
the puzzle. That back to the puzzle. So everything, as
you know, is either fifteen, thirty, forty, or love. This
is how long it rained in the Bible on Noah's
during Noah's time? How long could it rain?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
How long did it rain during Noah's Bible? I should
have listened to my my religious teacher more.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Coming webite.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I actually haven't seen these ages. This is when he
was on the arc, right, they are on the ar
Okay arc.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And then and it was a certain number of days
and a certain number of nights. So you only have
three choices.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I will say forty.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You will say correctly, I'm with you. Your your religious
instructor would be happy.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I had to think about it for a second there,
and I was like, wait, it's forty yeah, I'm sure
it is.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, forty days and forty nine, that's right.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Forty nines.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What about if this is the name of the singer
and actress and former wife of Kurt Cobain.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Is.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Love Courtney Love?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Courtney Love.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
See I'm getting the hang of it now.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well it's good because you could just tick through. Is
it forty thirty fifteen?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Exactly? Now, it's like it's love Courney.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Probably gotta be love.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It wasn't Courtney thirty, wasn't Courtney fifteen? Yeah? Uh, all right,
Well then this one, this is famous in America, but
maybe not in Australia your home, so it could be
a curveball. The first line of a poem about months,
then the length of months. This is how I was.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
This is poem.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It is a new moder poem, and I'm looking at
maybe it is not thing the Australians do.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I would probably throw maybe thirty out there.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I think you are correct, right, because most month the
poem is have you ever heard it? Thirty days half September.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Thirty days has September, April, June, and November, all the
rest of twenty eight, all the rest of thirty one
except February, which is twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
That's it, you got it always drove me crazy because
it doesn't rhyme. In the end, it's a nice little poem.
And then you get to twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, but we all remember it, so we clearly rhymed
it at some point in our lives, and we handled
it really quite well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I actually don't remember. I remember the September, but then
I'm like, what are the other three months?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, that's one thing that is embedded in my mind,
and I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
All right, well, it works for you, So I'll tell
you that one I learned, which is because your knuckles,
you start with the knuckle that's January, then February, March, April, May, June, July,
and then you stay there and go back August.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
September, October, November, December. So all the knuckles are thirty one,
and all the spaces between the knuckles are thirty except
for February, which is weird.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I think thirty days says September, April, Juna, November, all
the rest of thirty one.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's you like that easier, you know, we take what
you got.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Because I don't want to sit there and count my knuckles.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I am Greg, I am on board. I'm going to
try that. We'll see all right, what about this is
the the amount. This is what Andy Warhol predicted everyone
will get in the future. They will get there.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Andy Wallhole predicted everyone gets this amount of.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
They get an amount of time to be in the limelight.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Oh that's fifteen fifteen fifteen minutes in the limelight.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Fifteen minutes of fame exactly, which has turned out to
be pretty uh pressed true. Yeah, it's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Here we are, this is our fifteen minutes right here.
As far as this is it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I mean, what about and again, you grew up in Australia,
but I feel that this must have migrated to Australia.
A classic TV show where the main character had a
lot of spleining to do. She had to splain to
her husband about her wacky antics.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well it sounds like splain. I think it's Lucy. It is.
That is it?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And the name of the show is I Love Lucy exactly, God,
very good, love Lucy.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I did love that show. I grew up with that show.
I know it's pretty hard to imagine, but I actually
grew up with that show. And everyone always asks me,
how do you know that? And I'm like, we got
American shows.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I grew up watching my two I probably I would
say the three shows, well, there was probably four. There
was Happy Days, yeah, Mash, Yeah, my dad loved Mash.
I love Lucy and well, I mean so many like
so I got, we got all of those Love Boat
(09:13):
all all the great American shows, we got always in Australia.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, a couple of more. Okay, but you are
are you feeling better about your puzzling ability?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I'm feeling better, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
That's what we're here for. We're there. We're here for
positive mental health. Make you feel better? All right? How
about this is something that is celebrated with a kin
sinnia by some Latin cultures kin signia.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Hmmm, let's see.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
It's when a girl in Latin and Latin cultures turns
a certain age, she has thrown this.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, I would hope it would be when she was fifteen.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, one would hope your hope has been Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I hope she's not getting thrown at Kensigniere at thirty.
That would be sad. Exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I shouldn't be a party for when you turn forty
yeah something.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, listen, I have no I think all all ages
should be uh, should be celebrated, all right, what about
ali Baba? How many associates did he have?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Let me think, ali Baba? Oh it was the Thebes,
Yes they were. They were forty thieves.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Forty Yet it exactly. Last one, last one is when
you give a married couple gifts made of crystal? What
might they be celebrating? And now you're gonna have to
(11:09):
use some detective logic.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Who knows this well? I know it's not love, which
is sad, right, you would think you sho crystals? Aniversary
is crystal.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I'm looking now at all of the anniversaries.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Crystal's not really that great, right exactly? So I mean
it's okay, it's nice. I would think gold would be
like up high. So I'll take a guess, and I'll
say fifteen.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You'll guessed correctly. The fifteenth is the crystal anniversary. Twentieth
is porcelain first versus is uh paper paper paper?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Ye, paper, Crystal seems better than porcelain. But anyway, I know, see,
if you told me that clue, I would not have
got it right. I would have gone higher. I would
have gone thirty for sure. I would have been like,
there's no.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Way thirty is pearl, thirty is pearl? What do you
think of What do you think thirty five is? I'm
going to ask because there's no way I would have
ever guessed this. It's a weird one, and it's one
that's environmentally unfriendly. People just to be doing it. Well,
now that's early, that's early. That's like thirty five. It's
(12:29):
coral controlling products.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeh, caral coral.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I should share something I for so, my wife and
I met at the Crossroad Puzzle tournament. So every year
on our anniversary, I make her a Crossward puzzle themed
to whatever the gift for that year is.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh, I wish I was.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I been through you know, seventeen or eighteen of.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
These interesting, so you do know that's a good one.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, I don't remember them. I have to look them
up every time. I don't remember what the eighteenth gift is.
It's like iron or something.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, now that I've heard all of the rest, I
think fifty I think crystal is actually pretty good. So
I mean gorl Porcelain, I take all of that back.
I wish I mean, I got I got it right,
but I thought it would be better.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah. Anyway, by the way, I know that. I'm sorry
I brought up pickleball earlier, but I am interested in
your thoughts on paddel or paddle or however it's pronounced,
and so seems like an what's your thoughts on that
though one where it's sort of a marriage between squash
(13:42):
and tennis.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think it's great. I actually think it's I think
it's a great spot because I think it's very athletic.
You do have to play or you have to be
quite efficient as a tennis player. You know, most tennis
players that play at a very very good people that
maybe learn get better at it. But with pickleball, anybody
(14:04):
can play, like I can play pickleball with my frying pan,
whereas padel is very athletic, and the skills that it
takes to be really good at padel are you have
to be very very good.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah, I love it just because you know, I love
bouncing things that bounce like a kid's.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's actually a sport that I really I think people
that are very good at padel are quite athletic.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, I'm not very good at it, but I do
enjoy it, and I think it's the pickleball of twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Five and they don't take up tennis courts. That's what
I like about it. Oh, you have to build a
Padele court. Padell court. You have to build you know,
with the pick with pickleball, they just put the lines
down on the tennis court and then they go on
there and play, you know, pickaball.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
It's annoying, right, it is annoying. And also I mean,
what are the other problem the NOI to me, the
noise of pickleball.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, the noise is annoying as well. Everything about it
is annoying. But anyway, everyone's like it's social. I'm like,
gon'd like golf.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Or padel Padel is a social too?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well, go for a walk.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I have a tennis question. I'm curious about knowing that
it is a strategic sport, right, it's not just a
physical sport. There's that sort of you talked about the
put like what percentage is mental and physical?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Sort of?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
My question like, if as a as I get older
and my physical skills are less good, how much can
I make up for that with my mental skills? Do
you know what I mean? Does that question makes sense?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Look, it's a combination. There's absolutely no doubt you have
to have the skills, you know, to be a great
tennis player. You've got to you've got to have the
skills to be a great tennis player. But you know,
there's a lot of great tennis players that have been
mentally very very weak or you know, haven't been able
to handle the pressure or or handle the grind or
the day to day or the travel or being away
from family and loved ones. You know, that starts to
(16:00):
get to you. And then also there's being on the
court and being out of handle the stress or being
able to handle the moment. So and the negative thoughts,
and some people have you know, some people, whether it
be in life or sports, want to dig a hole
and not deal with a problem right, and some people
get you know, want to build a mound. So it's
like being able to manage all of that mentally, I
(16:24):
think once you get to a certain stage, it's how
hard you work, but also and your weaknesses and strengths
as a with your talent, but also it's mental to
be able to hang in there and not get upset
at yourself and all that sort of stuff. So it's
a combination of both. As somebody who's coached as well,
now I deal a lot with the mental side, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
And I will say, Greg, my father in law was playing,
you know until his late seventies early eighties, and he
could barely move, but he used these angles that were
just evil, Like I don't know whether they're obtuse or acute,
but they were like you know, one hundred and seventy.
(17:05):
They were like ill, You're like, wait, how can that
come out of your tennis rackets? So that other thing
is is is a possible?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I found that with squash play. I used to play
against a man much older than me, but his ability
to place the ball where I was never going to
be just you know, blew away any physical advantage I
might have had because he could just put the ball
in a place, you know, two moves. He was thinking
moves ahead too. That's what fascinates me about some of
these sports. The ability to to think, you know, several
(17:38):
several volleys ahead is amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think to be really great, you have to be curious.
And I think that's with life as well. You have
to want to you want to be better. You know,
how can I get better?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
That's like the that's like the motto of the puzzler
right here, exact curiosity.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Curiosity. We love it. By the way, we have one.
This is an unrelated tennis puzzle or tennis word play,
but I'm just gonna throw it out to you. Which
athlete or tennis player has three errs in his name
er er er, making up a full fifty percent of
(18:12):
the letters in his name.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, let's say Roger Federer.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
It is Roger Federer. I just love that he's got
like that is half his name is er er.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I didn't think about it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Well, next time you see him, bring it up. I'm
sure he'll be fascinated. Have you met him. I'm sure
you've met him.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
On the oh, yeah, many many times. He's a I
would call him a friend. I don't know if he's
number to call him, but when I see him, we
talk and yeah, he's lovely man, lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
He seems lovely. I mean that's his brand and he
is just a lovely man. All right, Well, we got
an extra credit before we go for the folks at home.
This is another name for getting some sleep, another name
for getting some sleep. So come back tomorrow to check
(19:03):
that out. And in the meantime, we have the puzzler
Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers, where we post original puzzles
and we will see you here tomorrow with Renee for
more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Hey puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer once
again here with the extra credit answer from our previous show.
David Kwang joined us and we played a game called
Kwang one, where each answer is a word and another
word that's hidden inside of it. In fact, each answer
is a famous person's last name and then the word
(19:43):
hidden inside of it. And your extra credit clue was this.
If the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings used hair product, it might have been this, and
that would be Angelou's gel the Great Maya Angelou. That's
a terrific book. If you haven't read it, go out
and read it now, and then come back and enjoy
(20:05):
the Puzzler tomorrow morning.
Hello, puzzlers, Welcome to the Puzzler Podcast, the Top Spin
in Your Puzzle Cross Court Winner. I am your host,
Adre Jacobs, and I'm joined as always by Chief Puzzle
Officer Greg Pliska, and our guest today is Renee Stubbs,
(00:27):
legendary tennis champion, ESPN commentator, host of the Renee Stubbs
Tennis podcast on iHeart.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome, Renee, Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
This is a first, This is a first. Well, you
have fifty two doubles titles? Is that correct? Did I
get that right?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Actually? Sixty, but it's okay, I'll take I'll add a
few more on there. Yes, sixty.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Hey, you have more doubles titles than any guest we've
ever had on this show.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Absolutely true, Absolutely true. And I know you had mentioned
to our producer that you're not a huge puzzler, but
we want to convince you today otherwise because we think
you will be great. And also I think tennis tennis
is a puzzle, right, I don't am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Definitely trying to work out you know x's and o's angles, stummody,
strengths and weaknesses, you know how to improve, how to
learn from it. All the things, and you do learn
every time you play a match, whether you win a loose.
So yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Right, and especially doubles where you excelled. I feel there's
there may be there's more strategy in doubles. I don't know.
I don't want to annoy the singles fans, but I
think there's.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
A strategy in both. They're very different. But having four
people on a court, you certainly have to work out
various different things, a little bit more than on a
singles court, for sure, But you also have a friend
out there to help you, help you figure out the puzzle.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
But you also have enemies trying to stop you from
figuring out the buzz. Well, in honor of your tennis career,
this today is a tennis themed puzzle. It's actually, or
at least themed to the way tennis is scored, which,
as you know, is love fifteen thirty forty. So all
of the answers are phrases that will contain one of
(02:17):
those words fifteen thirty forty or love. So if I
said this is a movie with Steve Carell as a
middle aged guy who has never had sex, the answer would.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Be forty year old virgin God exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
And before we start, can we just pause for a
moment and just say, what is up with tennis score?
It's crazy, am I? It's fifteen thirty and then it
doesn't even go to forty five. It goes to forty,
it goes to deuce and then to deuce and.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
We start talking about orange juice. You know, it's an
interesting conversation. Actually, somebody should get to the bottom of why.
But I guess you know, World Team Tennis did ones, twos, threes,
so there are definitely different ways to count on a
tennis court. But certainly it is an interesting conundrum that
(03:13):
we probably should get to the bottom off.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Well, I did look into it, and no one knows
quite for sure, but something it has to do with
the hours that it was supposed to be forty five
and something went seriously awry. But anyway, I will say
I like the love. I mean, that's nice. In sports,
we need more love, so I'm happy.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
That we do. Unless you're on the side of being
the love, which is not good in tennis. So another
conundrum that we should figure out why the love is
bad unless you win.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
That's a good point. That's a good point. Yes, love
should be when you win. The only things weirder than
tennis scoring is pickleball scoring.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I can't don't even get me on that One's that
is not my jam. I'm not a pit pickaball lover.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
I had heard on your podcast you are not a fan.
I'm sorry. I brought it up all right. Back to
the puzzle. That back to the puzzle. So everything, as
you know, is either fifteen, thirty, forty, or love. This
is how long it rained in the Bible on Noah's
during Noah's time? How long could it rain?
Speaker 2 (04:27):
How long did it rain during Noah's Bible? I should
have listened to my my religious teacher more.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Coming webite.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I actually haven't seen these ages. This is when he
was on the arc, right, they are on the ar
Okay arc.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And then and it was a certain number of days
and a certain number of nights. So you only have
three choices.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
I will say forty.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You will say correctly, I'm with you. Your your religious
instructor would be happy.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I had to think about it for a second there,
and I was like, wait, it's forty yeah, I'm sure
it is.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, forty days and forty nine, that's right.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Forty nines.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What about if this is the name of the singer
and actress and former wife of Kurt Cobain.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Is.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Love Courtney Love?
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Courtney Love.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
See I'm getting the hang of it now.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
No.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well it's good because you could just tick through. Is
it forty thirty fifteen?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Exactly? Now, it's like it's love Courney.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Probably gotta be love.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
It wasn't Courtney thirty, wasn't Courtney fifteen? Yeah? Uh, all right,
Well then this one, this is famous in America, but
maybe not in Australia your home, so it could be
a curveball. The first line of a poem about months,
then the length of months. This is how I was.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
This is poem.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It is a new moder poem, and I'm looking at
maybe it is not thing the Australians do.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I would probably throw maybe thirty out there.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I think you are correct, right, because most month the
poem is have you ever heard it? Thirty days half September.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Thirty days has September, April, June, and November, all the
rest of twenty eight, all the rest of thirty one
except February, which is twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
That's it, you got it always drove me crazy because
it doesn't rhyme. In the end, it's a nice little poem.
And then you get to twenty eight.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Well, but we all remember it, so we clearly rhymed
it at some point in our lives, and we handled
it really quite well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I actually don't remember. I remember the September, but then
I'm like, what are the other three months?
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Yeah, that's one thing that is embedded in my mind,
and I don't know why.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
All right, well, it works for you, So I'll tell
you that one I learned, which is because your knuckles,
you start with the knuckle that's January, then February, March, April, May, June, July,
and then you stay there and go back August.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
September, October, November, December. So all the knuckles are thirty one,
and all the spaces between the knuckles are thirty except
for February, which is weird.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I think thirty days says September, April, Juna, November, all
the rest of thirty one.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
It's you like that easier, you know, we take what
you got.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Because I don't want to sit there and count my knuckles.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
I am Greg, I am on board. I'm going to
try that. We'll see all right, what about this is
the the amount. This is what Andy Warhol predicted everyone
will get in the future. They will get there.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Andy Wallhole predicted everyone gets this amount of.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
They get an amount of time to be in the limelight.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Oh that's fifteen fifteen fifteen minutes in the limelight.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Fifteen minutes of fame exactly, which has turned out to
be pretty uh pressed true. Yeah, it's weird.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Here we are, this is our fifteen minutes right here.
As far as this is it.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
I mean, what about and again, you grew up in Australia,
but I feel that this must have migrated to Australia.
A classic TV show where the main character had a
lot of spleining to do. She had to splain to
her husband about her wacky antics.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Well it sounds like splain. I think it's Lucy. It is.
That is it?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
And the name of the show is I Love Lucy exactly, God,
very good, love Lucy.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I did love that show. I grew up with that show.
I know it's pretty hard to imagine, but I actually
grew up with that show. And everyone always asks me,
how do you know that? And I'm like, we got
American shows.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
I grew up watching my two I probably I would
say the three shows, well, there was probably four. There
was Happy Days, yeah, Mash, Yeah, my dad loved Mash.
I love Lucy and well, I mean so many like
so I got, we got all of those Love Boat
(09:13):
all all the great American shows, we got always in Australia.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, a couple of more. Okay, but you are
are you feeling better about your puzzling ability?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
I'm feeling better, all right.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
That's what we're here for. We're there. We're here for
positive mental health. Make you feel better? All right? How
about this is something that is celebrated with a kin
sinnia by some Latin cultures kin signia.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Hmmm, let's see.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
It's when a girl in Latin and Latin cultures turns
a certain age, she has thrown this.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Well, I would hope it would be when she was fifteen.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, one would hope your hope has been Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I hope she's not getting thrown at Kensigniere at thirty.
That would be sad. Exactly.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I shouldn't be a party for when you turn forty
yeah something.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Yeah, listen, I have no I think all all ages
should be uh, should be celebrated, all right, what about
ali Baba? How many associates did he have?
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Let me think, ali Baba? Oh it was the Thebes,
Yes they were. They were forty thieves.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Forty Yet it exactly. Last one, last one is when
you give a married couple gifts made of crystal? What
might they be celebrating? And now you're gonna have to
(11:09):
use some detective logic.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Who knows this well? I know it's not love, which
is sad, right, you would think you sho crystals? Aniversary
is crystal.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
I'm looking now at all of the anniversaries.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Crystal's not really that great, right exactly? So I mean
it's okay, it's nice. I would think gold would be
like up high. So I'll take a guess, and I'll
say fifteen.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You'll guessed correctly. The fifteenth is the crystal anniversary. Twentieth
is porcelain first versus is uh paper paper paper?
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Ye, paper, Crystal seems better than porcelain. But anyway, I know, see,
if you told me that clue, I would not have
got it right. I would have gone higher. I would
have gone thirty for sure. I would have been like,
there's no.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Way thirty is pearl, thirty is pearl? What do you
think of What do you think thirty five is? I'm
going to ask because there's no way I would have
ever guessed this. It's a weird one, and it's one
that's environmentally unfriendly. People just to be doing it. Well,
now that's early, that's early. That's like thirty five. It's
(12:29):
coral controlling products.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeh, caral coral.
Speaker 3 (12:37):
I should share something I for so, my wife and
I met at the Crossroad Puzzle tournament. So every year
on our anniversary, I make her a Crossward puzzle themed
to whatever the gift for that year is.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh, I wish I was.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I been through you know, seventeen or eighteen of.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
These interesting, so you do know that's a good one.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Well, I don't remember them. I have to look them
up every time. I don't remember what the eighteenth gift is.
It's like iron or something.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Well, now that I've heard all of the rest, I
think fifty I think crystal is actually pretty good. So
I mean gorl Porcelain, I take all of that back.
I wish I mean, I got I got it right,
but I thought it would be better.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah. Anyway, by the way, I know that. I'm sorry
I brought up pickleball earlier, but I am interested in
your thoughts on paddel or paddle or however it's pronounced,
and so seems like an what's your thoughts on that
though one where it's sort of a marriage between squash
(13:42):
and tennis.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think it's great. I actually think it's I think
it's a great spot because I think it's very athletic.
You do have to play or you have to be
quite efficient as a tennis player. You know, most tennis
players that play at a very very good people that
maybe learn get better at it. But with pickleball, anybody
(14:04):
can play, like I can play pickleball with my frying pan,
whereas padel is very athletic, and the skills that it
takes to be really good at padel are you have
to be very very good.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yeah, I love it just because you know, I love
bouncing things that bounce like a kid's.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
That's actually a sport that I really I think people
that are very good at padel are quite athletic.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Got it.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Well, I'm not very good at it, but I do
enjoy it, and I think it's the pickleball of twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Five and they don't take up tennis courts. That's what
I like about it. Oh, you have to build a
Padele court. Padell court. You have to build you know,
with the pick with pickleball, they just put the lines
down on the tennis court and then they go on
there and play, you know, pickaball.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
It's annoying, right, it is annoying. And also I mean,
what are the other problem the NOI to me, the
noise of pickleball.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, the noise is annoying as well. Everything about it
is annoying. But anyway, everyone's like it's social. I'm like,
gon'd like golf.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Or padel Padel is a social too?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Well, go for a walk.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
I have a tennis question. I'm curious about knowing that
it is a strategic sport, right, it's not just a
physical sport. There's that sort of you talked about the
put like what percentage is mental and physical?
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Sort of?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
My question like, if as a as I get older
and my physical skills are less good, how much can
I make up for that with my mental skills? Do
you know what I mean? Does that question makes sense?
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Look, it's a combination. There's absolutely no doubt you have
to have the skills, you know, to be a great
tennis player. You've got to you've got to have the
skills to be a great tennis player. But you know,
there's a lot of great tennis players that have been
mentally very very weak or you know, haven't been able
to handle the pressure or or handle the grind or
the day to day or the travel or being away
from family and loved ones. You know, that starts to
(16:00):
get to you. And then also there's being on the
court and being out of handle the stress or being
able to handle the moment. So and the negative thoughts,
and some people have you know, some people, whether it
be in life or sports, want to dig a hole
and not deal with a problem right, and some people
get you know, want to build a mound. So it's
like being able to manage all of that mentally, I
(16:24):
think once you get to a certain stage, it's how
hard you work, but also and your weaknesses and strengths
as a with your talent, but also it's mental to
be able to hang in there and not get upset
at yourself and all that sort of stuff. So it's
a combination of both. As somebody who's coached as well,
now I deal a lot with the mental side, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
And I will say, Greg, my father in law was playing,
you know until his late seventies early eighties, and he
could barely move, but he used these angles that were
just evil, Like I don't know whether they're obtuse or acute,
but they were like you know, one hundred and seventy.
(17:05):
They were like ill, You're like, wait, how can that
come out of your tennis rackets? So that other thing
is is is a possible?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I found that with squash play. I used to play
against a man much older than me, but his ability
to place the ball where I was never going to
be just you know, blew away any physical advantage I
might have had because he could just put the ball
in a place, you know, two moves. He was thinking
moves ahead too. That's what fascinates me about some of
these sports. The ability to to think, you know, several
(17:38):
several volleys ahead is amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think to be really great, you have to be curious.
And I think that's with life as well. You have
to want to you want to be better. You know,
how can I get better?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
That's like the that's like the motto of the puzzler
right here, exact curiosity.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
Curiosity. We love it. By the way, we have one.
This is an unrelated tennis puzzle or tennis word play,
but I'm just gonna throw it out to you. Which
athlete or tennis player has three errs in his name
er er er, making up a full fifty percent of
(18:12):
the letters in his name.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well, let's say Roger Federer.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
It is Roger Federer. I just love that he's got
like that is half his name is er er.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
I didn't think about it.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Well, next time you see him, bring it up. I'm
sure he'll be fascinated. Have you met him. I'm sure
you've met him.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
On the oh, yeah, many many times. He's a I
would call him a friend. I don't know if he's
number to call him, but when I see him, we
talk and yeah, he's lovely man, lovely.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
He seems lovely. I mean that's his brand and he
is just a lovely man. All right, Well, we got
an extra credit before we go for the folks at home.
This is another name for getting some sleep, another name
for getting some sleep. So come back tomorrow to check
(19:03):
that out. And in the meantime, we have the puzzler
Instagram feed at Hello Puzzlers, where we post original puzzles
and we will see you here tomorrow with Renee for
more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you puzzlingly.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Hey puzzlers, it's Greg Pliska, your chief puzzle officer once
again here with the extra credit answer from our previous show.
David Kwang joined us and we played a game called
Kwang one, where each answer is a word and another
word that's hidden inside of it. In fact, each answer
is a famous person's last name and then the word
(19:43):
hidden inside of it. And your extra credit clue was this.
If the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings used hair product, it might have been this, and
that would be Angelou's gel the Great Maya Angelou. That's
a terrific book. If you haven't read it, go out
and read it now, and then come back and enjoy
(20:05):
the Puzzler tomorrow morning.
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