204 - Word Centipede (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)

Summary

SmartLess Presents ClueLess

Episode 204 – Word Centipede (w/ Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman)
Release Date: December 1, 2025
Host: Elliott Kalan
Guests: Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman

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Episode Overview

This episode of ClueLess sees host Elliott Kalan guiding comedian couple Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman through a series of clever, word-based puzzles. From music trivia about presidents to rhyming challenges and the titular "Word Centipede" game, the married pair’s loving banter and comedic riffs create both competition and chaos. The show’s tone is light, rapid-fire, and joyously nerdy, making for a high-energy 10 minutes packed with laughs and quick wit.

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Key Segments & Discussion Points

1. Presidential Music Trivia ([00:39–05:15])

• Prompt: Which U.S. president was mentioned in the most published songs as of 2018 (according to Billboard.com)?
• Guesses:
  • Andy: "McKinley, obviously."
  • Naomi: "Richard Nixon," arguing "people are always talking about him."
  • Banter segued into jokes about ABBA (or "Abba, a B, B, A") writing an album about Nixon.
• Correct Answer: Barack Obama, with 309 mentions—more than Bush, Clinton, Reagan, or Trump.
• Reactions:
  • Andy observes that Obama appears in both right-wing country and left-wing music, bumping up his total.
  • Naomi is “gobsmacked”: “You like music from what, the 60s to 2018? ... And you’re telling me they’re talking about Obama like that?” ([04:51])
• Notable Quote:
  • Elliott: “Very few pop songs about Zachary Taylor.” ([04:09])

2. President Rhyme-Time Game ([05:15–11:12])

• Game Explanation: Elliott asks for words rhyming with presidents’ names to answer clues.
  • Example: Making a trade with the peanut farmer president — “Carter barter.”
• Questions & Answers:
  1. Outback Steakhouse onion dish & haberdasher president?
     • Answer: "Bloomin' for Truman."
     • Banter about Truman being an old man, a haberdasher, and career changing in olden days.
  2. Celebrating a birth with a WWII commander president?
     • Answer: "Shower for Eisenhower."
  3. Gold mine structure & overweight president?
     • Answer: "Shaft with Taft."
  4. Disco dance for a vacuum-named president?
     • Answer: "Groover for Hoover."
     • Elliott also offers, “Louvre with Hoover.”
• Bonus:
  • Chronological order: Taft, Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower ([10:54])
  • Naomi on presidential trivia: “Don’t you love the past when you can just have 40,000 jobs but then all of them powerful and they generating.” ([07:26])
  • Running Zachary Taylor joke.

3. Word Centipede Game ([13:28–22:16])

• Rules: Find one word to add before or after three given words to form new, common words each time.
• Sample Round ([14:13]):
  • Fun, jail, fly → House (funhouse, jailhouse, housefly)
• Actual Puzzles & Solutions:
  1. Let, do, way — Add “sub” for sublet, subdue, subway ([16:36])
  2. Sky, blood, draw — Add “line” for skyline, bloodline, draw line ([17:39])
  3. Ward, broad, door — Add “way” for wayward, Broadway, doorway ([18:07])
  4. Ex, over, short — Add “change” for exchange, changeover, shortchange ([20:07])
     • Naomi challenges "changeover" as a word. Elliott assures: “It’s in the Oxford English Dictionary.” ([20:16])
  5. Land, genes, tax — Add “isle” for landisle, genesis, tax isle ([21:46])
     • Both guests challenge this as “not words,” leading to playful frustration.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Naomi (on strategy): “Look me in the eye and tell me you’re ready. Don’t you let me down in front of company.” ([14:13])
  • Andy laments: “When I hear sub, I'm just used to people on the street looking at me going, look at that sub.” ([16:41])
  • Elliott: “It’s rare … one of them is actively sabotaging the team.” ([19:19])
  • Naomi: “Actually, I went from feeling dumb to feeling enraged.” ([22:16])

4. The Mega Clue & Reveal ([22:16–22:54])

• Clue: Find a theme linking exchange, subway, skyline, Broadway, and island.
• Andy’s Quick Answer: “Manhattan.”
• Elliott: “Exactly! The place the Muppets took.” ([22:54])

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On president music mentions:

  • “I'm not telling you this, Billboard.com is telling you this. You've got to take it up with that website.” – Elliott ([05:07])

• Marital banter:

  • Naomi, after Andy’s joking distractions: “My husband is a goof, and so he somehow managed to get us onto Batman, Wayne Knight and things that are not related.” ([08:35])
  • “You should come into any trivia game thinking our marriage is on the line.” – Naomi ([14:29])

• After a tricky clue:

  • “I went from feeling dumb to feeling enraged.” – Naomi ([22:16])

• Producer interjection:

  • “All I can say is that it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary.” – Producer Devin (“Demon”) Bryant, backing up a contested answer ([20:16])

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Notable Structure & Participant Roles

• Elliott Kalan: Host, puzzle writer, cheerfully deadpan, loves digressions into presidential trivia and light self-promotion.
• Naomi Ekperigin: Enthusiastic, competitive, playfully frustrated at trickier clues, delightedly exasperated with Andy.
• Andy Beckerman: Goofball energy, distracts with tangents, earnest attempts at answers, committed to bit-supporting Naomi.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------| | President Music Trivia | Opening question, music, Obama revelation | 00:39–05:15 | | President Rhyme-Time | Rhyming word puzzle game | 05:15–11:12 | | Chronological Order Mini-Quiz | Placing presidents in order | 10:54–11:12 | | Word Centipede Instructions | Main word-joining game begins | 13:28–14:13 | | Word Centipede Rounds | Each puzzle and its discussion | 14:13–22:16 | | Mega Clue Reveal | “Manhattan” answer, wrap-up | 22:16–22:54 |

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Representative Quotes (w/ Timestamps)

• “I'm gobsmacked because it's like ... you're telling me they're talking about Obama like that.” – Naomi ([04:51])
• “Sporadic Benjamin Buttoning. It's a medical term.” – Elliott ([02:52])
• “A mine shaft with Taft.” – Naomi ([09:15])
• “Do you see how wayward is something I said in the first selection? ... So in a way, what I was was ahead.” – Naomi ([18:07])
• “I have to support my wife. Changeover.” – Andy, challenging the puzzle ([20:13])
• “You did it. So you didn't do great in that game, but you did get the mega clue, so that was fantastic.” – Elliott ([22:54])

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Final Thoughts

This episode delivers exactly what ClueLess promises: energetic, brain-bending play with English, delivered by comics who are as eager to crack each other up as to solve each puzzle. The show’s quick wit, running gags (Zachary Taylor, marital high stakes), and breezy competition make for compulsive listening—no encyclopedic knowledge required to laugh along.

For Fans: If you enjoyed the banter, check out Naomi and Andy's podcast Couples Therapy for more of their comic chemistry.

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Podcast episode summarized by AI. All notable quotes and summaries reflect the original tone and humor of the participants.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

I don't approve of name calling, but I do call people by their names. I just find it easier than saying hey, you, blue shirt man, or Brush your teeth, small child I am the father of. I'll even use honorifics for people who deserve it, such as my personal heroes, Mr. Klean, General Tso. One kind of person whose name gets used a lot is the president. All kinds of people use the names of presidents, from reporters to historians to very angry people carrying signs and shouting curse words that rhyme with that specific president's name. But a surprising number of musicians also mention presidents by name. So here's a question for you. In 2018, Billboard.com reported on which president was mentioned in the most published songs. Who was it? Keep listening to find out. This is Clueless.

[C]

Clueless.

[B]

Clueless. I'm Clueless. Welcome to Smartless Presents, Clueless, the puzzle podcast that makes your tummy feel funny when you go over the bumps. I'm your host, Elliot Kaelin, and I'm just a boy standing in front of a microphone asking you to listen to him. I'm also the author of Joke how to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense, a new book about joke writing that's in bookstores now. I had to mention it. The publisher said they would hurt me if I didn't. But I'm even more excited to say that on today's episode, I'll be joined, as always, by guests. And what wonderful guests we have today. The newest members in the Clueless Married Contestants club. She's an actor, writer, and standup. He hosts the podcast Beginnings, and together they co host the podcast Couples Therapy. Naomi Ekparigan and Andy Beckerman, thank you so much for joining us today.

[D]

Hello.

[B]

Hey. I think that wasn't your real voice.

[D]

Didn't expect, I'm going to be honest with you, didn't expect it to come out like that. Went for the normal voice and instead the brain at the last moment switched over some neuron and said, hey, you're going to sound like a No, I think.

[B]

I think it was like the you of the future suddenly jumped back in time and it was like an old man voice came. Came out of you very quickly.

[D]

Hey, where's the knishes?

[B]

Exactly. Exactly. Naomi, is this something that Andy does a lot is just turn into an old man?

[C]

Absolutely. I think in a lot of ways he was born an old man. And then every now and then, a young person fights their way out for pleasure.

[B]

We call that sporadic Benjamin buttoning. It's a medical term. Now, before we go on with the rest of the show, Naomi and Andy, tell me, do you know the answer to our opening question? Which president was mentioned in the most published songs as of the year 2018?

[D]

Oh, McKinley, obviously.

[C]

No, you know what I think? Andy Beckerman. Do you want to say?

[D]

Do you want to know what Ian?

[C]

Wife, Husband. Andy Beckerman. I think the answer is Richard Nixon. I feel like people are always talking about him. I feel like people are always talking about him.

[D]

Well, ABBA wrote an entire album cycle about Nixon, so obviously it is.

[C]

I like that you call them abba.

[B]

Never heard that when it's really abba.

[D]

Oh, sorry. No, it's really a B, B, A. I'm sorry. That I.

[B]

Okay, so which answer would you like? Is Nixon the answer you'd like to go with?

[C]

Andrew, do you support me? Of.

[D]

Wow, I didn't realize you were turning trivia into some kind of marital position. Let's see here. Yes, I support you with Nixon, even though I think. I think probably it's. Again, it's going to be James K. Polk for real.

[B]

But I'm sorry, you are both wrong. The answer is President Obama got mentioned a lot of songs as of year 2018. In published songs, Obama had 309 mentions. Below him was George W. Bush with 116, Neville Clinton with 105, Ronald Reagan 59, Trump with 33. Trump's already had some more mentions since then. Very few pop songs about Zachary Taylor. But These are the 2018 numbers. Maybe someone's written one since 2018. We don't know. Listeners research that. Let me know about it right in. So are you surprised that it was a modern president who would get mentioned in modern songs a lot?

[D]

Well, just think about how many probably right wing country singers mentioned Obama at the same pace that probably a bunch of rappers mentioned Obama and you probably. That's what boost the numbers up.

[C]

Yeah, it's wild to me. I don't. I am shocked. I am gobsmacked because it's like you're telling me we're talking about popular music. You like music from what, the 60s to 2018? And you're telling. And you're telling me they're talking about Obama like that.

[B]

I'm not telling you this. Billboard.com is telling you this. You've got to take it up with that website. That's what I would say.

[C]

You are the mouthpiece for Billboard.com and I've always said that, unfortunately, that's what.

[B]

This business does to you as it turns you into a mouthpiece for Billboard.com. another little known fact about the U.S. presidency, every single president has been a fan of hip hop. All of them. Even Zachary Taylor, who I mentioned before. It's the only thing most people know about him. So in our next game, we will honor that chief executive passion for rhyming by asking you questions where each answer will be a word that rhymes with the name of a former United States president. For example, if I asked you to describe the act of making a trade with a president who is once a peanut farmer, you would say what words?

[D]

I would say Jimmy Carter, and then I would have to think of the word.

[B]

And what word would mean making a trade? Trading something for something else.

[C]

Barter. Carter barter.

[B]

You're right. It would be a barter with Carter you did. Or a Carter barter. Now, are you ready to rhyme some names with words that are not names?

[C]

Maybe.

[B]

Okay, well, this first one, I think will be hopefully not too confusing. If you were at an outback steakhouse with our only president who was once a Missouri haberdasher and wanted him to have their signature onion dish, what would you order?

[C]

Okay.

[D]

Bloomin Onion. Right.

[C]

So we know a Bloomin Onion. Now, haberdasher, that's a hat maker, right?

[D]

That's.

[B]

Yes. Someone who generally sells hats and also. And could be clothing as well, but mainly. Yeah.

[D]

Hey, was the Batman villain the Mad Hatter? Was that. Was he a haberdasher originally and then became a Batman villain?

[B]

I think he was a scientist who was obsessed with the work of Lewis Carroll and went insane and patted himself on the Mad Hatter.

[C]

Okay, I like that you said you think Elliot, when you absolutely know.

[B]

And that's very relevant to this question. Exactly.

[C]

We have to stay on presidents. So.

[B]

But think about what kind of onion is it? You've mentioned it already.

[C]

It's Bloomin.

[B]

Okay. And what kind of president would rhyme.

[D]

With Bloomin Newman from Seinfeld.

[B]

Yes. When. When. But there's no. The thing was he. He ran for president under his real name, Wayne Knight. So unfortunately, that wouldn't work for this. If I said you had a knife out and you're fighting a fight with knife. Truman. Truman. Thank you.

[C]

Why did that.

[D]

Truman was a haberdasher.

[B]

He was a haberdasher in Missouri. Yes, among other things. You know, he was also a judge, I believe. And then eventually vice president and then president.

[C]

Don't you love the past when you can just have 40,000 jobs but then all of them powerful and they generating.

[B]

They were such thing as a career back then. You just kind of went from one job to another until you were president.

[C]

Exactly.

[D]

And now it's just McKinsey, consultant president.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Let's go to the next question. So that was great. You got bloomin for Truman, this one. If you wanted to celebrate the birth of a new child to World War II's supreme allied commander, what would you throw?

[D]

World War II, supreme allied commander.

[B]

Yes. And something you'd throw to celebrate the birth of a new child.

[D]

A Brisbane.

[B]

Chris for Chris. Unfortunately, there's no President Chris.

[C]

But wait, you said impending birth.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So wait, are we talking about a shower? Perhaps a baby shower? President Matt Lauer. I'm just going with rhyme. Eisenhower.

[B]

Yes. Thank you. It's a shower for Eisenhower. You did it, Lammy. You are. You are running away with this game. It's a cooperative game and yet you're somehow still winning. You're somehow still beating Andy.

[C]

You what? It's because my husband is a goof and so he somehow managed to get us onto Batman, Wayne Knight and things that are not related.

[B]

It makes sense because Wayne Knight was the Dark Knight. The original Batman. Yeah, the original Dark Knight was Wayne Knight. So let's go to the next question. If you were to go down into a gold mine with the United States most overweightest president, in what structure would you be with that president?

[C]

Okay, now this one I know, but Andy, would you like to take a second?

[D]

It's Taft, right? I mean that. Yes, I know that much.

[C]

Yes. And now what are you.

[D]

One thing I know, it's the BMI of every US President going back to Washington.

[C]

All right, so then you are in a shaft with Taft.

[B]

Very good. A shaft with Taft. A mine shaft with Taft. And for the final question in this game. But I have an alternate question if you don't get it. If you were to perform a disco dance for. For the president whose name Brits use as a synonym for a vacuum cleaner, you would be a.

[D]

Well, the Brits, obviously the word that they use for a vacuum cleaner is a lift. Yep.

[B]

So a Hoover.

[D]

Everyone. Everyone, just so you know, we're goofing. It's a Hoover.

[B]

You didn't really think it was in a lift with Clift Montgomery.

[D]

Clift Montgomery Cliff.

[C]

Yes, but the dance is what I. Is where I. My. My brow is furrowed.

[B]

Listen, that's why. So this one's a little tough. That's why I have an alternate one in case you have trouble with. With the same president, but a different word, but Hoover.

[C]

Wait, Hoover.

[B]

If you're performing a disco dance, you.

[C]

Could be a disco dance shoover a mover with Hoover.

[B]

You know what? I'm gonna give you Groover. What? Did you say Groover? Did you say Groover?

[D]

Groover.

[B]

Yes. You know what? Groover for Hoover is what we're looking for. So you got it. I'm gonna give you my alternate. Also, this was. If you didn't get that one, I was gonna say, if you were taking that same president to France's most famous art museum, but you did not know how to pronounce that art museum's name, you'd be going to the Lou Louver with Hoover. Exactly.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Nice work. Very good. You eventually got all of those. I did not think you were gonna get Groover, so I'm very impressed by that. I'm clueless. Okay, that was the nerdy part of the game. Now it's time for the really nerdy part of the game. We mentioned four of our presidents. Truman, Eisenhower, Taft, and Hoover. Can you put them in chronological order?

[D]

Wait, say them again.

[B]

Truman, Eisenhower, Taft, Hoover, Taft, Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower. Very good. You got it. That's it. And of course, way back before the mall was the Big Man. Daddy Z. Zachary Taylor. I don't know. I don't know why he's the one I keep mentioning.

[C]

Well, it's funny because every time you say Zachary Taylor, what I think of is actor from Home Improvement, Zachary Ty Bryan. I am not familiar with President. I didn't know we had a president named Zach.

[B]

Yeah, okay, they did call him Zach, too.

[D]

He's a heartthrob, too.

[C]

And no, it's really giving Tiger beat. President Zachary Taylor is so Tiger B. And I don't know him.

[B]

No, he was. He was an old man. He died fairly early into his term from eating too much food in the sun and getting sick in the sun. Yeah, he just said it was a hot day and he ate too much. Anyway, it's one of my. My younger son's favorite presidential death. Every now and then he'll go, who's the President who died because he ate cherries and cream in the sun. I'm like, that's Zachary Taylor.

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[B]

Listeners. Did you do as well as Andy and Naomi? If not, that's okay. Fixating on presidents merely reinforces the outdated great man theory of history and it's hard enough to find a good man. Am I right ladies? You know it.

[C]

Hey.

[B]

Just in case I'm not, let's move on to our main game. It's called Word Centipede. Word Centipede is not a game about rhymes. Put away your rhyming dictionaries. Take out your non rhyming dictionaries, if such a thing even exists. Naomi and Andy, I'm going to give you a set of words and you must tell me what word can go before them or after them to make a whole new word. For example, if I said fun, jail and fly, what word would you add to each of those? The same word to each to make three new words. House. Exactly right. House. You would make turn fun into fun, house, jail into jailhouse, and fly into house. Fly. Now, are you two ready to scent us some peds?

[C]

Absolutely. Andrew, look at me. Look me in the eye and tell me you're Ready? Don't you, don't you. Don't you let me down in front of company And Company. Is Elliot Kaelin and the listeners.

[B]

Hold on.

[D]

Is her marriage on the line?

[B]

Very much so.

[D]

I didn't know that.

[B]

Yeah, well.

[C]

Well, you should come into any trivia game thinking our marriage is on the line.

[B]

All right, your first set of words. Let, do, D, U, E, way, let, do, and way, W, A, Y, do.

[D]

Let, let, do, way.

[B]

Yes. What word could you add to each of those to make three new words?

[D]

What's the. All right, here's just a procedure, some kind of algorithm in our brains to try to get through this. Okay, what's the easiest one, Naomi, that you can think of to add a word to? Cuz none of those jump out at me as, like, an easy phrase.

[C]

I know the bat. The only thing that's coming to me off the bat right now, I'm thinking war, Ward, wayward.

[D]

Wayward.

[C]

But then I'm like, do not do isn't a thing. And then Ward let is not a thing.

[D]

Past due. That's the first thing that jumped out to me.

[B]

So that's a phrase. That's not.

[D]

That's a phrase, not a word. But that's the problem.

[C]

Yes, that is. That's what makes it tough.

[B]

I'm going to give you a little hint on this one. You're going to add to the top of each of the words.

[C]

Add to the top.

[B]

It's not always that way. But for this one, all three of them, you're going to add a prefix.

[C]

Okay? So now the only thing that's coming to me is leeway, but there's no such thing as a Lee Let or Lee Do. So that's.

[D]

Lee is probably a good name for a character in the Fifth Element.

[C]

That would be nice. Stay with me, Andrew.

[B]

Yeah, a lead. You also sounds like the kind of event that Zachary Taylor might have eaten all those cherries at and got sick.

[D]

Oh, we're going to a fine old Southern Lee Do. And yes, most of us die of food poisoning in a couple weeks, but we're gonna have some real fun down here. Also, I don't know why I'm Cajun.

[C]

The way you're not helping me. Andy is unreal right now because I am trying to think sideway.

[B]

The movie.

[C]

Underground, Subway, Subway, Sub, sub, do, sublet, Subway.

[B]

You got it. You got it. You added subs, you get sublet, subdue, and Subway.

[D]

When I hear sub, I'm just used to people on the street looking at me going, look at that sub.

[C]

I think it's important to hold for silence. I'm glad that you were with me on that, Elliot.

[D]

Devin, can you leave that silence in there?

[B]

You're very lucky, Andy, that the audience at home could not see the expression on your wife's face. Let's move on to our next question. In word. Centipedes. This next set of words. Sky, Blood, jaw. What word could you add to sky? Blood. And jaw.

[D]

Way.

[C]

Okay. Sky.

[D]

So what's the. Okay. What's the skyway?

[C]

Sub. Sub.

[D]

Let. Do.

[C]

No, let's.

[B]

Sub. Blood, Sub. Jaw. Yeah.

[C]

Skyline. Bloodline. Draw.

[D]

Line.

[B]

Very good. You got it. Line. Yes.

[D]

That was great.

[B]

Skyline. Bloodline. Draw. Line. Let's go to number three. Third set of words. Ward. W, A, R, D Word. W, A, R, D. Broad, B, R, O, A, D and door. I'm not gonna spell door for. You Know how that's spelled. So. So. W, A, R, D word. Broad and door.

[D]

Broadway, doorway, and then whatever. The first word was. Way.

[B]

Wayward. Wayward. Wayward. Very good. You got it.

[C]

Do you see how wayward is something I said in the first selection of words? And it came into the third selection? So in a way, what I was. Was ahead.

[B]

Yeah, you were seeing the questions in the future. Or maybe someone leaked you the questions ahead of time. You just got the order mixed up, in which case I need to figure out what's going on here.

[D]

No. Naomi used to be one of the creatures from Minority Report.

[B]

One of the creatures. I was a creature people.

[C]

I said a creature.

[B]

Question. Set number four. Before we get you in any more trouble, set number four. The words are X, as in ex, ex, over, and short. X over, short, ex.

[D]

Martin. Martin, short.

[C]

My eyes are closed right now. I'm trying to visualize you guys. And I don't know if you do this at home, too. If you have a visualized moment where you just close your eyes and try to see what comes to you, perhaps in a moment of clarity, what's coming to you.

[D]

Naomi, what do you say?

[C]

Okay. What I'm seeing is. Okay. I feel like Sylvia Brown right now. What I'm seeing is short.

[D]

Do you see any pre crime?

[C]

I don't see any pre crime.

[B]

It's rare. It's rare that we have people on as a team and one of them is actively sabotaging the team.

[C]

Thank you. This is what I'm saying.

[E]

Elliot.

[D]

Elliot, let me ask you. Is there a good way to do this? Because.

[B]

No.

[D]

What we're doing now. Okay, great.

[B]

And if you want. Oh, oh, oh.

[C]

Is it Shortage. Overage.

[D]

Wait, what about overt over?

[C]

That's just a T.

[D]

I was at.

[C]

Least trying to use age.

[B]

It almost works. Overt and text almost work. But to short doesn't or should short. Hey, it's me. Text.

[C]

I'm proud of shortage.

[D]

You know, I'm here, y'.

[B]

All. I'm just like, you were so close. There's no shame in that. You tried really hard. The answer is change. Exchange, changeover, and short Change are what we were looking for.

[C]

I'm sorry. Changeover is not a word. I will not accept it. Changeover is one word. Oh, I support my wife, Caitlin.

[D]

I have to support my wife. Changeover.

[F]

All I can say is that it's in the Oxford English Dictionary. That's all I can say.

[B]

We stick to words that are in the Oxford English Dictionary.

[D]

We're American. We're American. I don't use the Oxford English Dictionary.

[B]

No, it's no use the Oxford, Mississippi English Dictionary. So I'm going to write the word challenge next to that question and I'll bring it to the clueless judges. We'll see sometime. There's one set of words left in this game. Those words are land, genes, G, E, N, E, S. Like genetic genes. Not like you wear. And tax.

[D]

Thank you.

[B]

Land.

[D]

Like. And you thought we were so dumb based on our performance so far. They know I'm talking about chromosomes and not pants. And not pants.

[B]

So these words are land, jeans, and tax. What word can you add?

[C]

Land, land, man, man, jeans, tax, man.

[B]

And then I thought you could end with man. Tax.

[C]

Land, jeans, and tax.

[D]

Jeans has to be the easy, the easiest one, Right?

[C]

Like so little that would go with jeans.

[D]

So it be like, let's see here. Let me run through everything I know about gnome.

[B]

Gnome land, and the gnome tag. Yeah. That's what Sauron was imposing on Middle Earth. Yeah.

[E]

Jeans.

[B]

All right. Would you like. Would you like to know the answer?

[C]

I would.

[B]

Okay. The word we're at. This is a hard one. The word we're asking you to add is. Is for island, genesis, and taxis.

[C]

No, no, no, no. Actually, actually challenge. Okay. Take that to the board.

[B]

Those are all words.

[C]

The island. It's like Genesis.

[D]

Heartless boys down here right now to judge this.

[C]

I like the way. The way I. You know what? Actually, I went from feeling dumb to feeling enraged.

[B]

Okay, that's okay. Use that. Use that. Because those words have been well and truly centipeded. But the game is not over yet. Before we let these creepy crawlies. Creepy crawl off. That's the centipedes There's a Mega Clue. Mega Clue question. There is a theme which connects one of the words you created or that I told you in each of these sets. Can you tell us you'll get this one? Can you tell us what the common theme is between the following words? Exchange. Subway, skyline, Broadway and island.

[D]

Manhattan.

[B]

You got it. Manhattan. Exactly the place that the Muppets took. You did it. So you didn't do great in that game, but you did get the mega clue, so that was fantastic. So, listeners at home, did you get the answers? If so, that's great. You now have a bunch of centipedes in your house. Don't believe me? Go check your bed. But before you do that, let's take a moment to say goodbye to this episode of Clueless. I'd like to thank my guests Naomi Ekparigan and Andy Beckerman for never cracking under the pressure and also never pressing under the cracker, whatever that means. And I'd like to thank you, the listener, for being such good listeners. I feel like I could tell you anything. For instance, first I'm gonna tell you I have a book out, Joke Farming, how to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense. It's on store shelves now. You can go buy it. It'll teach you how to write jokes.

[F]

And this is producer Demon. I'd like to tell you that if you like any of the music on Clueless, I have a new album out. It's called Blame it on My Zodiac. And you can find it at painkillerthepigeon.bandcamp.com or honestly, anywhere you stream stuff.

[B]

Check it out. We'll be back next week with more. Smartless presents Clueless. I've been your host, Elliot Kaelin. Join us next time when I'll be bringing you all new games, but probably wearing the same pants. Goodbye, Clueless.

[F]

You have been listening to Smartless presents Clueless, a Smartless Media production association with Sirius xm. Your host is Elliot Kaelin, who also writes our scripts. Today's contestants were Naomi Ekparigan and Andy Beckerman. Check out their show Couples Therapy, anywhere you get your podcasts. Your producer, editor and engineer is Devin Tory Bryant, who is me. I also write all the music and sound effects. Today's puzzles were by Kevin Lehman and Matt Pack. Talent producer is Anne Harris, Associate producer Maddy McCann. Social media producer, Tommy Galgano. Executive producers are Elliot Kaelin, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett and Jason Bateman. Executive producers for Smartless Media are Richard Corson and Bernie Kaminsky. Remember to follow, subscribe, rate and review the show. It really helps. That's all for now. We will see you again for.

[B]

Smart less media.

[E]

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