
The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs
Finally, your daily puzzle fix—in audio form! Every day, New York Times bestselling author A.J. Jacobs and his celebrity guests will puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old puzzle favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses.
Plus, Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Pliska joins A.J. each week to present new puzzles from the Puzzle Lab. And there’s a daily Extra Credit Puzzler for our Puzzlers at home. (Answers revealed in the following episode.)
Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast today for more puzzling puzzles that will puzzle you, puzzlingly!
"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.
Latest episodes

Oct 9, 2023 • 9min
"Pan in Panama" w/ Ken Jennings
Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings, host of the Omnibus podcast and lots more. 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oct 6, 2023 • 11min
“Rubik’s Magic” w/ A.J. & Greg
Guest Greg Pliska, Chief Puzzle Officer, joins A.J. Jacobs on The Puzzler podcast. They discuss colorful puzzles and overlapping colors, popular TV shows, and idiomatic phrases about desire. Greg reveals the answer to a previous puzzle and mentions the show's sponsors including Ford, Kraken, and Amazon Books.

Oct 5, 2023 • 8min
“Gorillas in the Mystic Pizza” w/ Chuck Bryant
Chuck Bryant, co-host of 'Stuff You Should Know' podcast, joins A.J. Jacobs on 'The Puzzler' to discuss crossword puzzles, movie mashups, and pitch hilarious movie ideas like '50 Shades of Grey Gardens' and 'Night of the Living Dead Poets Society'.

Oct 4, 2023 • 7min
“Hidden Mina” w/ Mina Kimes
ESPN analyst and podcaster Mina Kimes joins A.J. Jacobs on a hilarious puzzle-filled episode. They explore hidden words and phrases with the letters M-I-N-A, play a trivia game that includes questions about favorite Starbucks food and polar bear livers, discuss crossword puzzles, and reveal answers to previous puzzles. Tune in for a fun-filled episode!

Oct 3, 2023 • 10min
“Ditloids” w/ Michael Ian Black
Comedian, actor, and author Michael Ian Black joins host AJ Jacobs to solve challenging ditloid puzzles using numbers and abbreviations. They also play a wordplay game guessing abbreviations and talk about the features of the 2023 Ford F-150 truck and sponsor ads.

Oct 2, 2023 • 6min
Preview 1: "Earbus" w/ Roy Wood, Jr.
Comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. joins host A.J. Jacobs in a lively discussion about puzzle games. They play an audio rebus puzzle and engage in a funny word guessing game with exaggerated accents. They also connect words in a wordplay game and talk about Wood's acting career. The chapter ends with a puzzler about Ellen DeGeneres and Finding Nemo and several advertisements.

Oct 2, 2023 • 9min
Preview 2: “Mo Rocca Goes to Morocco” w/ Mo Rocca
Journalist and 'Mobituaries' podcast host Mo Rocca joins A.J. Jacobs to puzzle and laugh their way through anagrams, palindromes, and audio rebuses. They play a game changing the last letter of a country's name, solve wordplay puzzles to guess country names, and enjoy humorous advertisements.

Sep 26, 2023 • 3min
Introducing: The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs
A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author and host of The Puzzler, introduces the podcast and shares his obsession with puzzles. The podcast features word, logic, and rebus puzzles, with celebrity guests joining the show. In the first chapter, co-hosts Greg Pliska and Mina Kimes engage in a puzzle where they change a letter in the title of a famous movie to make it about sports.