#14-Puzzling Through Sondheim

Please join me as we revisit my guest spots on Hello Puzzler, a delightful podcast hosted by AJ Jacobs and his Chief puzzle Officer, Greg Pliska. Each week, they have a celebrity guest who appears across three episodes, and they then toss puzzles at them like peanuts to an elephant. However, to me it was more like knives to a juggler who can't juggle. I tried. Really, I tried. So today you can listen to my second and third appearance. In the first one, Greg challenged me with an inventive and hilarious Sondheim theme puzzle. I'll let him explain how it works. But all you who know the names of Sondheim songs will especially enjoy playing from home. Then in my final appearance, I get to relax and turn the tables on them. I found a number of Sondheim's own puzzles from crosswords and treasure hunts, and challenged both AJ and Greg to try and solve them. Give it a shot at home and see if you do a better job than they did at… matching minds with Sondheim. Make sure to get the book everywhere books are found, ⁠⁠or click here⁠⁠. 00:00 Introduction to the Puzzle Concept 05:07 Introducing Steven Sandheim 05:26 The Twist: One Letter Changes Everything 05:40 Example: West Side Stork 06:06 Explaining the Puzzle Format 06:13 First Puzzle Challenge Special Links: Colm Molloy Ann Morrison Mateo Chavez Lewis The Wonderful World of Words Weekend The Hello Puzzler Podcast Thanks to everyone who contributed behind the scenes to this episode, specifically the musical stingers composed by Mateo Chavez Lewis, and the theme song to our podcast with lyrics and music by Colm Molloy, and sung by the one and only Ann Morrison, who created the role of Mary in Merrily We Roll Along. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices