PG’s Playhouse: Puzzles, games, trivia, & general nerdery

" It spawned the term 'bathroom reading'"

There was something magical about cracking open a gigantic Sears Catalog and imagining a life filled with hundreds of pages of things you never knew you needed. It was Amazon before Amazon. In today's episode, David takes us shopping, vintage style. We talk about the origins of the Sears Catalog, and how it played an important role during the Jim Crow era. We also learned about its eventual home in the outhouse, and where the term "bathroom reading" originated.



Writer, actress, and comedian Aparna Nancherla joins us today to talk about puzzle streak addictions, imposter syndrome, and comedy. She's the author of Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome. Check out her comedy special on Dropout called Hopeful Potato, or catch her voicing Dr. Nisha in Pixar's latest movie, Hoppers.



Our game today is called Initial Here Please, where every answer is a two-word phrase starting with S and C.

 

Full Show Notes

 

Production Credits
Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

Diamonds are formed under a million years of crushing pressure, and for many couples, they're also the ultimate symbol of commitment. Coincidence? Maybe not. That's why we welcomed back couples therapist Zach Brittle, host of the Marriage Therapy Radio podcast. He talks to us about the secret to healthy relationships an – spoiler alert – it's not just vibes or diamond rings.

So how did diamonds become synonymous with engagement rings? What are they good for, really? David dives into the history and science of diamonds, including the most successful marketing campaign of all time, industrial uses, and more. I also share perspective as a working jeweler. Check out some of my work on my Instagram @loradorjewelry.



Today's game is called Uncut Gems. Players must polish and cut a word by removing the first and last letter to reveal the "diamond" word inside.



Check out Zach Brittle’s Website for more info on his podcast and his work. I recommend starting with David and Lisa’s episode, Ep 409 – No One Wins Alone: Lessons in Partnership from Escape Room Experts David and Lisa Spira.

 

Full Show Note

 

 

Production Credits
Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

Whatever you do, don’t listen to this episode. And definitely don’t read these show notes. Because if you do, you might discover that we’re talking about the Streisand effect: the phenomenon where trying to hide something only makes everyone more interested in it.



Our guest is puzzle and game designer Mark Larson, who has contributed to some of my favorite games, including the RECON convention game. (Seriously, his games are great). Mark also tells us about one of his wildest escape room projects: building a 15-minute escape room inside an actual ambulance for a medical convention. What could possibly go wrong?

David then dives into the Streisand effect. This was an attempt to suppress a photograph of Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home, which actually resulted in hundreds of thousands of people suddenly going looking for it. Before the lawsuit, only six views. After the lawsuit, over 420,000. Sometimes the best way to make something famous is to loudly announce that everyone should avert their eyes.



Today’s games include The Puzzle Effect, where players must find the missing word connecting two compound phrases, and an onerous round of Barbra Streisand trivia. Mark turns the tables on me with his game, Where’s the Break? In his game, two clues are crammed into a single sentence, and we had to figure out where one clue ended and the other began.

 

 

Production Credits
Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

For centuries, language was one of the great barriers to travelling, to sharing cultures and to humans understanding one another. Even though online tools have now made translations and language barriers more accessible, sometimes even our own language can feel foreign. This is where linguists enter the picture. They explore the role of language and how people use it to communicate.



Guest Gretchen McCulloch is a linguist and she co-hosts Lingthusiasm, a podcast discussing all the hidden linguistic patterns you didn't realize you were already doing. Gretchen literally wrote the book on how the internet is changing the english language - Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. I especially enjoyed hearing about why "um's & uh's" drive us crazy in a podcast, but we don't seem to notice them in live conversations.

Today's topic is passports! David talks about the function of passports, what all the different colors mean, and historical usage. Our game today is called A Passion for Ports, where each answer will contain the letters "pass" or "port."

 

Full Show Notes

 

Production Credits
Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

It's the summer of 1980. You're a bored teenager in New Jersey with a few bucks, questionable judgment, and an afternoon to kill. At Action Park, you can spend the day hurling yourself down water slides, shooting battle tanks, and losing some skin on the alpine slide. The possibility of imminent death makes it extra exciting.

There's a reason this was affectionally known as "Class Action Park" or "Traction Park." The attractions were built by amateurs, largely run by teenagers, and the legal liability was merely a suggestion. This park ran from the late 70s into the mid-90s, the golden age of latchkey kids and danger as entertainment. David recounts his own memories of visiting Action Park as a kid. He tells us about the crazy Cannonball Loop, where guests lost teeth, and the ridiculously fun Battle Tanks.

Tommy Wallach & Terry Pettigrew-Rolapp of Hatch Escapes join us to chat all about the wild history of Action Park. They also talk about their escape rooms and maximizing for joy in their games.



Today's game is Common Grounds, where the players must find the connection between a set of four words. To hear more about Hatch Escapes, check out their interview on REPOD S7E12.

 

 

Production Credits
Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner