SmartLess - SmartLess Presents ClueLess! 137 - Word Workout (w/ Jeff Max)

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

On this episode of ClueLess, host Elliott Kalan and constant contestant Sean Hayes invite Sean’s good friend Jeff Max to hit the gym for Word Workout! Each of the words we give you wants to slim down by one letter, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to answer the given clue. Keep track of all discarded letters to defeat the MegaClue! Subscribe to ClueLess HERE.New episodes every Monday and Thursday.Puzzles in this episode are by Josh Richmond.Script by Elliott Kalan.Music and sound effects by Devon Torrey Bryant. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Hey Smarties, it's Sean Hayes here. You may remember that we launched a new bite-sized game show last year called Clueless. In every episode, our hilarious host, Elliot Cailin, takes me and a friend of mine through a different game and sometimes they're word puzzles or chains of common phrases or robots singing songs, we have to guess. It's a whole lot of fun. Here's an episode that came out today with my good friend, actor and comedian, Jeff Max, where we play one of our favorite new games, Word Workout.

Check out Smartless Presents Clueless Anywhere. You get your podcast's new episodes every Monday and Thursday. I'd like to open this episode with a quick financial update. Due to inflation, a bird in the hand is now worth four in the bush please adjust your proverbs accordingly this is Clueless I'm Clueless! Welcome to SmartList presents Clueless the only puzzle podcast period I refuse to recognize any others. I'm your host, Elliot Kalin, and I come from the future with a warning for all mankind. But first, please welcome the man

who's got entertainment in his blood, but don't worry, he's taking something for it. Sean Hayes, thanks for being here, Sean. Yeah, I can't get off it. That's the problem. Today, we are joined by an old friend of mine. His name is Jeff Max. We grew up in the theater together.

If you heard the previous episode, you would know what I'm talking about. He needs a little slapping around sometimes because we gotta keep him real. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Jeff or Jeffrey, depending on how gay he is that day, Max. Hello! And he's got, sing a little something for us.

I'll help me with the headlifters and ball barrels. That's it. All right. Wow. That's it. That was a very little something. They say patience is a virtue, but having too much patience is just being lazy. So let's stop waiting around and reveal the answer to last episode's cliffhanger puzzle,

shall we? Yeah. You may remember it was an odd one out that went thusly. Which word does not belong? Drove? Never? Murder? School? Or unkindness? I mean, well, the first thing, Jeff, I was thinking was there's a like a group of crows can be a murder, a group of fish can be a school. Oh! But am I on the right track? You are very much on the right track, yes. Because you have a drove of something.

You do have a drove of something. But an unkindness, I don't know what that is. And a never, I don't know like a group of animals that's a never. Yeah, you're right. But I don't know a group of animals that's an unkindness. I mean, that's weird. But that does sound like one.

I'm going to say never. I'm just going to go for it. You're exactly right, Sean. Here's what I love about what you did. This is classic professional puzzle playing. You're like, I have a sense of it. I know what some of these things are. I'm narrowing in.

I'm getting closer. I'm using my logic to narrow it down to two. And then at the last two, you're like, I don't know which one, so I'm gonna take a gamble. Because every game player at heart is a gambler. You're exactly right. How about that? I would have never known there's a group

of animals called a murder. I've never heard of that. Oh yeah, murder of crows. A murder of crows? And it's an unkindness of ravens. Really? Is that really? Really.

By the way, just so you know, and everybody who works on this show, Jeff's signature is, Oh, really? Oh, really? Really. What's a drove? A drove of donkeys. Donkeys come in droves.

Okay, murders of crows, droves is donkey, schools is fish, unkindness is ravens, which is very close to crows's, and Never is nothing. Yeah, and Oh Really of Jeff's, I guess is the- Oh Really of Jeff's. Really!

This is what I'm missing, is we've never had a guest with a catchphrase before, and I'm very excited about that. Yeah, yeah, and by the way, a catchphrase that caught on in literally 10 seconds. Well, you also have to follow it up with, I never knew. Also get a couple of drinks in them and that oh really

is about two octaves higher and about 20 decibels louder. What, drinks? Yeah. Thank you to Monopoly for supporting today's episode. Clueless listeners, Monopoly has created three new ways to play with expansions you add on to your classic Monopoly set. If you want to own the whole board, the buy everything expansion lets you do just that. That's right, every space on the board is up for grabs.

Go to jail, buy it. Free parking, yep that too. And with the buy die, you get even more ways to win fast. If you're the kind of person who likes to press their luck, like Elliot, the free parking jackpot expansion is your jam. Land on free parking, spin the wheel, and boom, cash in big. But don't get too comfortable because it's risky. One spin could have you rolling in money or losing it all.

It's high stakes, fast, and definitely for the competitive players. And if you're a mastermind who loves a little chaos, like Sean, the Go to Jail expansion is a game changer. Jail isn't a punishment. It's strategic. Bribes, steal, and collect corruption cards to mess with your opponents. Turns out crime does pay, at least in Monopoly.

So whether you're a risk taker, rule breaker, or money maker, Monopoly has three new expansion packs for you to explore. Pick your pack or grab all three and let the game get a whole lot more exciting. Available now on Amazon. All is fair in Monopoly expansions. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Listeners at home, did you get the answer? If not, that's okay. Postmodern theory tells us all truth is relative. But let's pretend there's such a thing as objective reality for just a couple more minutes so we can play today's main game and it's called Word Workout.

Yeah. Word Workout, we're working on Word Sound. Work, work out, no need no key. Like for sure. Good, it's really good. Isn't that good? Yeah, it's really good. These are great songs. I can't wait for the album to come out.

Now, okay, we've got seven words for you. Each of them wants to slim down and lose some weight, and we're gonna help get them into shape. For each clue, I'm gonna give you the starting word, and then ask you to remove one letter, and then rearrange the remaining letters to create a new spelt word. I love this, I love this, I love this.

Let's have an example. If the clue was remove a letter from cinema to get a type of Japanese animation, what would you do? Anime. Yep, exactly. You take out the C, rearrange them, you get anime. Are you ready to send these words to the gym? Sure. Yeah.

Excellent. Word workout. Let's start with question number one. Remove a letter from candle to get a series of rhythmic movements. Rhythmic? Movements. Dance. Yes, very good. Damn, I would have never gotten that. Tell me, which letter did you remove out of there? I remove, well, if you speak the English language, I remove the letter L. Oh. Question number two. Remove a letter from basket to get a prime cut. Oh, I was going to say brisket.

Yeah. To get a prime cut. Take a look at those letters and see which ones you might be able to rearrange to me. Steak! Oh, you got it. Yes, steak. You take out the B, which is the part of the cow you don't use anyway, and you just get the steak.

Wow, that's good. You know, I'm going to go ahead and put the L from candle in steak. No, I'm kidding. And get Steelek. Get Steelek. Question number three. Remove a letter from course spelled C-O-A-R-S-E. So course is in rough.

Remove a letter from course to get the sports results. To get the sports results? Score! Yes, very good. You remove the A and you get score. Number four. Remove a letter from serial, as in things in order, S-E-R-I-A-L, to get some long tracks. Long tracks. Mm-hmm. Long tracks. Long tracks. Long tracks. Long tracks. Long tracks.

I was hoping you would also say long tracks, Jack. So we would all say it. Rails. Yes, rails, exactly. You remove the E and you get Rails. Damn Sean, you're kicking my... Come on. You got score. Right? I think I said that with you. Yeah. Question number five, remove a letter from barber to get a kind of fitness

activity. Remove a letter from barber to get a kind of fitness activity. Huh? Barber. B-A-R-B-A-R, right? Or is it E-R? E-R. B-A-R-B-E-R, yeah. Barber. Not the elephant? Barber the elephant is a different story.

He holds the scissors in his trunk. It's pretty cute. Wait. Ab? No. Would you like a hint or a clue? Sure. A hint.

Okay. The hint is this is a ballet-based fitness activity. That's the hint. If you want a clue, I'll tell you what letter to remove. Oh. It's a ballet-related activity. A ballet-based fitness activity. Bar. Yes, bar. Exactly right. B-A-R-E. Yes, you removed the B to get bar. That was good. But that's a hard one, right?

That was a really hard one. I hope you walk away from this knowing that you got a really hard one and it just gives you confidence for whatever you're doing next. Yeah. Wait, a fitness what? Activity. So what do you do there? You just hang out on the bar. The bar. No, when you do bar, you do like a bunch of- But I, but I would think it's more dance related and that, I don't know

anybody that goes to the gym and rushes to the bar. Does bar. Does bar. Well, they do. Well, they have, it's a, they've, they've started to, it's a, you know, they can turn anything into fitness. They turn ballet, exercise into fitness. Oh, is that new? Okay, great. Just like how Pilates used to be just plates. Right.

Yes. Right, very good. Sure. Question number six, remove a letter from a ringer to get the span of a monarchy Move a letter from ring rain rain. Yes rain. Very good And now finally our last one for this game remove a letter from the sellout to get away to mess up someone's hair Tussle yes Very good. That was good.

I thought that was going to be the hardest of them. But instead, if anything, it was the easiest of them. How about that? No pain, no gain. Excellent work. But now that we've sweated off all those unsightly extra letters, we've got to find some way to dispose of them. How about we recycle them as today's

Mega Clue. Mega Clue Question. To today's Mega Clue? Mega Clue Question. To solve the Mega Clue, I want you to take the letters you removed from those words, and I'll remind you what they are, and I want you to rearrange them to reveal a piece of workout equipment you could buy a drink from. And the letters are L, B, A, E, B, R, and L. And what's the clue? And the clue is a piece of- Barbell. Well, you don't even get the clue anymore.

It's too late. That's the right answer. Yay! It was a piece of workout equipment you could buy a drink from, and the answer was barbell. And it's not a bar again, B-A-R-R-E? No, this time it's just another kind of bar. Let's not lose our pleasing disposition.

And it's not an elephant. It's not a French elephant. Yay! We've narrowed it down. Babar. Nice work. Great work, guys. Well, listeners, did you do as well as Sean and Jeff? If so,

your steak is free! But before you chow down, make sure you keep a little room for today's cliffhanger puzzle. Oh, the haunting whirr-whirr-whirr of the cliffhanger puzzle. The cliffhanger puzzle is like if a genie let you wish for more wishes, except you only get one more wish, and it's a puzzle. And today's cliffhanger goes thusly. I'm going to read a sentence to you. Can you replace five parts of this sentence with five uses of the same one word while keeping the meaning of the sentence the same? So again, I'm going to read the sentence to you. I want you to replace five parts of it with the same word while keeping the meaning the same. And

that sentence is, after watching a concert and part of a tennis match on my TV, I put dishes on the table, then turned my clock back for daylight saving time. Again, I'll read you that sentence one more time. Yeah, slower. After... After watching a concert and part of a tennis match on my TV, I put dishes on the table, then turned my clock back for daylight saving time. So for next episode, can you replace five of the parts of that sentence with the same single word and keep the meaning of the sentence the same?

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Very good. Well, the feds are here and this time they've got a warrant same. Yeah, yeah. Okay, very good. Well, the feds are here and this time they've got a warrant, so we better ring this episode to a close. But first, I'd like to thank Jeff Maxx for finding the quickest path to our hearts. And I'd like to thank Sean Hayes for taking a more roundabout route to the heart. Sure. I get it.

He's getting there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Still on the road. Exactly. And I'd like to thank you, the listeners, for accepting these sound waves into your head right now. Until next time, this has been Smartless Presents Clueless, and I've been your host, Elliot Kalin, saying that by the power vested in me by the Universal Life Church and the state

of Montana, I now pronounce you married to whoever you're sitting next to right now. Mazel Tov! Very good. Clueless! You have been listening to Smartless Presents Clueless, a Smartless Media production in association with SiriusXM. Your host is Elliot Kaelin, who also writes our scripts. Your constant contestant is Sean Hayes, Dreamer, Adventurer.

Your producer, editor, and engineer is Devon Torrey-Brindt, who is me. I also write all the music and sound effects. Assistant engineer, Kyle McGraw. Today's puzzles were written by Josh Richmond. Talent producer is Anne Harris, associate producer Maddie McCann, social media producer Tommy Galgano, executive producers are Elliot Kalin, 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 more. Clueless. Clueless. Thank you to our partner, Monopoly, for supporting today's episode. Just like Clueless is a shorter, faster show from Smartless Media, Monopoly is introducing three new expansion packs that you add on to Classic Monopoly for fresh twists, faster gameplay, and a modern take on the game you love.

I'm talking about Monopoly. Look out for the all new buy everything, go to jail or free parking jackpot expansions to spice up your next game night. Pick your expansion and level up your game available now on Amazon. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro.