The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Puzzler One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life

A.J. Jacobs

The What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a bette...

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The Moth

Podcast

The Moth

The Puzzler is about AJ Jacobs's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life. It was written as he prepared for the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships, and he reluctantly began training for the jigsaw puzzle portion of the book. He ended up loving jigsaw puzzles and he was impressed by the jigsaw community he met at the championships.

"

His latest book is The Puzzler, and this story takes place while he was reluctantly prepping for what he knew would be his least favorite chapter.

— Episode: The Moth Radio Hour: Hesitations

Episode: The Moth Radio Hour: Hesitations

The Puzzler is about AJ Jacobs's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life. It was written as he prepared for the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships, and he reluctantly began training for the jigsaw puzzle portion of the book. He ended up loving jigsaw puzzles and he was impressed by the jigsaw community he met at the championships.

"

His latest book is The Puzzler, and this story takes place while he was reluctantly prepping for what he knew would be his least favorite chapter.

My only skill was, I filled out the application and no one else did.

AJ's book is The Puzzler, one man's quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever, from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life.

10% Happier with Dan Harris

Podcast

10% Happier with Dan Harris

This was the guest's latest book, which explored his obsession with puzzles and the mental health benefits derived from engaging with them. The subtitle indicated it covered puzzles ranging from crosswords to the meaning of life.

"

His latest book is "The Puzzler," which Booklist called "ridiculously entertaining," and The New York Times called "a romp, both fun and funny."

— Episode: How to Reframe Your “Problems” as “Puzzl...

Episode: How to Reframe Your “Problems” as “Puzzles” | A.J....

This was the guest's latest book, which explored his obsession with puzzles and the mental health benefits derived from engaging with them. The subtitle indicated it covered puzzles ranging from crosswords to the meaning of life.

"

His latest book is "The Puzzler," which Booklist called "ridiculously entertaining," and The New York Times called "a romp, both fun and funny."

So his latest book is called The Puzzler. It's about his obsession with puzzles and the many mental health benefits that can come from engaging with puzzles.

The subtitle of the book is One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life

The Daily Stoic

Podcast

The Daily Stoic

It was described as a fascinating book about the power of puzzles, exploring their effects on the brain and potential to improve the world. The episode also discussed the book's subtitle, focusing on the meaning of life, and included a memento mori puzzle created by the author.

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It's a fascinating book, my wife loved it because she's really into crossword puzzles and as we talk about in today's episode I happen to not really be that into crossword puzzles but to each their ow...

— Episode: AJ Jacobs on the Enduring Power of Puzzl...

Episode: AJ Jacobs on the Enduring Power of Puzzles and Mem...

It was described as a fascinating book about the power of puzzles, exploring their effects on the brain and potential to improve the world. The episode also discussed the book's subtitle, focusing on the meaning of life, and included a memento mori puzzle created by the author.

"

It's a fascinating book, my wife loved it because she's really into crossword puzzles and as we talk about in today's episode I happen to not really be that into crossword puzzles but to each their own

It chronicles his journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles while we love them, but they do to our brains how they can improve the world and as it happens we end with a fascinating memento mori puzzle that he set up.

You can check out AJ's new book The Puzzler One Man's Quest to solve the most baffling puzzles ever from crosswords to jigsaws to the meaning of life.

I was the answer to one down in the New York Times crossword puzzle

I teamed up with this designer a Dutch puzzle designer he's crazy and he makes these their mechanical puzzles like where you twist things and Rubik's you he and I designed what's called the Jacobs Tower

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.