S3E11 - The Puzzler: Best-Selling Author A.J. Jacobs

In season 3, episode 11, we chat with New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs, about his newest book The Puzzler. A.J. is a self-described “human guinea-pig,” immersing himself deeply, even masochistically, into a given topic and chronicling his experiments, whether it’s living by the Bible literally for a year, or thanking everyone involved in the creation of his morning cup of coffee.

 

An avid crossword solver, A.J. dives down the rabbit hole of puzzles in his latest book The Puzzler. He goes on a journey to attempt the world’s hardest puzzles, exploring all the varieties including crosswords, puzzle hunts, mazes, jigsaws, and chess problems. Along the way, he tackles fiendish Japanese puzzle boxes, drags his family to Spain to compete in a jigsaw competition, and even plays an escape room with David and Lisa Spira from Room Escape Artist. The Puzzler is also chock full of puzzles, including a hidden, super-challenging but solvable puzzle that will earn the first reader to crack it a $10,000 prize. 

 

A.J. is a delightful guest with an insatiable curiosity about the world. He talks about his adventures through the puzzle universe and shares some amusing insights that he’s learned along the way. A.J. was funny, knowledgeable, and charming. We know you’ll want to read his book after listening to this podcast.

 

Show Notes

 

The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?

 

We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:

 

Take our survey
Leave a voicemail
Send an email
Send us some snail mail

 

Here's how to do each:

 

Take A Short Survey

 

Share your feedback anonymously through this survey. 

 

Leave A Voicemail

If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.

 

Your message should be:

 

Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
Start with your name and where you are from

Send an Email

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Send a Letter

Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110

Episode Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors: 

Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.

Reality Escape Convention - RECON

Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.

 

Production Credits

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht