Guess what, mango? What's that? Well? All right, so you know that game Clue, and I think you know this fact, but you know it came from the game Cludo in England, right, Yeah? Actually, I think my cousins in India told me it's a pun on the word ludo, which was an old Roman game or something. Yeah, that's right. So they changed the name in the US because nobody here plays ludo. But that isn't the only thing they changed. It was kind
of interesting to look at the list. So did you know that in the British version, the murder weapons include a fireplace poker, a syringe, an axe, and even a bomb, which is insane. I mean doesn't feel like things you have around the house. I mean, except for the fireplace poker, you don't have a lot of syringes or bombs around the house. But also the characters are different. There's a Doctor Black, a Mr Gold, and a Colonel Yellow instead
of Mustard for some reason that makes no sense. I mean, Colonel Mustard is definitely a better name, but why change it from yellow? Like Americans know what yellow? I feel like Americans know what yellow is. But that's just another mystery for players to solve, which is perfect for today a show because it's all about mysteries. So let's dive in. Hey,
their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good friend Man Guesh Ticketer and sitting behind the soundproof glass dusting office collection of Hardy Boys Mysteries. That's our good pal and producer Tristan McNeil. So. I don't know if you feel this way, but every time I hear the word hardy boys, now I think of that Dirty Rock episode where Jack Donneghe orders like a wine sprinter from the bartender.
You know what I'm talking about, Yes, I do. I love it so much because like he gets the drink and the fartenders like here's your Nancy Drew and Jack donneghe goes for men. It's a hearty boy. So were you in the mysteries the same way? I was this a kid? I mean, I like them, but hearing you talk about how much you were into them, I definitely wasn't Sherlock Holmes for three straight halloweens like you were.
So so why were you so obsessed with I don't know, I mean I think I liked the idea of being my neighborhood Encyclopedia Brown And actually my mom got me these abridged classics as a kid. I don't know, did you ever have those? Yeah? Definitely. Yeah, Like I remember reading like Charles Dickens and Jules Verne and whatever. But I really got hooked on the Sherlock Holmes one and so much so that I actually started reading all the
Sherlock Holmes books in third grade. I mean I read Shlock Holmes, I read uh acta Christie and all the Miss Marbles and all that stuff. But I was just totally obsessed. So how long did this obsession last? I mean, I feel like, you're not that into mystery stuff now, are you? No? Not not just hiding. I mean I do remember trying to solve little mysteries around my neighborhood.
And so there was this kid who was just a total liar, and uh when he first came into the neighborhood, we'd all pull up in front of his house like on our bikes to greet him, and he immediately set off telling everyone he was like the second grade kids world boxing champion, which I don't think it's a thing, but you know. I mean, he was tough looking but clearly lying, and I just looked at him. It was like,
you don't have any tan lines. If you're you're the world boxing champion, you'd have tan from like being around the world. And uh, I'm pretty sure I read something like that in Encyclopedia Brown. But you know, all the kids around me were like, yeah, he's a liar, right right, So he was claiming to be the second grade world boxing champion. I love that. I also love that you just wanted to take him down so much, but like
count box him. Good for you for cracking that case. Now, of course, today we're talking about mystery, so I'm guessing you've got some other good stuff up your sleeve. So do you do you have a first fact for us? Yeah? I mean I actually like the fact that you started with Clue, because I've got a Clue fact of my own. But this is actually about Clue the movie, and you saw their doing a remake, right, Yeah, I'm super scited
about it. I mean, if you look at the line up, there's so many movies that are up my alley right now, Like there's a Clue movie coming out, there's a there's a Muppets mystery for adults that's coming out, and then to Mr Rogers Movies. I know, actually I saw they got Tom Hanks to play him, and it was based on that Tom's you know Esquire article. It was a ton of fun having Tom on the show not too long ago. But anyway, you were saying, yeah, so clue
the movie. Uh. The funny thing about that movie was that it bombed in theaters. And you know how when we watched as kids, it had all three endings together at the end of the film. Well, when you actually saw in theaters, you only got to see one of the endings. So why did they do it that way? It was a gimmick to get people to get to see the movie more times, Like if you want to see all three endings, you actually have to pay for three different tickets. Wow, which I'm guessing was very confusing
to the audience. And I also can't imagine the movie would be as good without those three endings together. Yeah, exactly. So critics mostly panned whatever version they saw, like the fun really isn't seeing all the endings together, And I guess newspapers eventually tried to give a lift by you know, revealing what ending you were going to see. They said, uh, in the listings that will be ending A B or C. But but no one really caught on and it actually only became a hit once it came out on video.
Al Right, well here's another fact for you. So did you know that Sherlott Colmes was almost named Sharing Ford. No, it actually sounds like you're just making up a name on the spot and you couldn't quite come up with something with. According to Conan Doyle's original note, he was leaning towards either sharing Ford Holmes or Sharon Ford Homes, either a real name. But this was all until he played a game of cricket. I mean I did know that Conon Doyle was a super into cricket. Actually I
read this book. Um, he played on Jam Barry's team who wrote Peter Penn and uh and the team was filled with all these British literary all stars like people I love like H. G. Wells, a million, Richard Kipling, P. G. Woodhouse was on one team. Yeah, and they were supposed to be super fun to hang out with but also
aggressively mediocre as player. Well, I guess he got inspired on the pitch because as he puts it, quote, years ago, I made thirty runs against the bowler by the name of Sherlock, and I always had a kindly feeling for that name. Well, I mean, Sherlock Holmes is so much of a better name than Sharing for It's kind of how like Google would be so much less popular if it went by the name of BackRub Original. Yeah, I remember that, alright, So so what else you got? Okay,
So here's a fun one about murder, she wrote. According to the BBC four, when reporters crunched the numbers, they found that Cabot Cove, which I'm not sure if you remember, but that's the queen idyllic town where Angela lands for his characters from uh, it would actually be the murder capital of the world. Really. Apparently two percent of the town's residents died over the course of the show's twelve which already feels a little high, but the murder rate
for visitors was even higher. And if you tab it all up, it would be the murder capital of the world right now, and it puts the current murder capital to shame. I love that they actually took the time to to calculate the all right, well, here's a mystery that's a little less murdery than that one. It's the
secret to dumb, dumb lollipops mystery flavor. So I always love the mystery flavor, and I'd assume they just picked one flavor a month and wrap them up in a mystery wrapper, which actually has a much more interesting story. So basically, the mystery flavor is really just a smart way for the manufacturer to not have to throw out any candy or even spend too much time cleaning the machine.
So according to our pal caracovalchick over at Mental Floss, it's the flavor that mingles together when one flavor rolls off the assembly line and another one comes on. That's really cool. So the mystery flavor is always changing. I guess yeah, that's right now. If your taste buds are really sophisticated, you might be able to solve the mystery and figure out what two flavors are in the next there lollipop con Well, we've got four more facts to go and a trophy to wrestle over, But why don't
we pause for a little break. Welcome back to Part Time Genius nine Things, where today we're talking about mysteries that man go. We'll get back to the facts in a minute. But what do you think about all this recent analysis of Sherlock Holmes. I mean, some versions think that he might be gay. There are people who think he displays classic signs of Asperger's or maybe that he's even a sociopath. I know, I'm actually in two minds
about this. Like I have such a fondness for homes from when I was a kid that I kind of just wanted to be like the character I imagined. But I kind of love those lists that analyze fictional characters now, like I saw Aerial from The Little Mermaid has been labeled a hoarder because you can't get rid of forks and things, or that you know your is a depressive, which I never thought about as a kid because I just thought he was like bumbling and slow. But you know,
it's it's a serious type. I want you to think about that great Jeff Reuben interview with Dr Batman now, listeners, if we haven't talked about it before. Our pal Jeff has a great show called The Jeff Reuben Jeff Reuben Show, and he interviews really interesting people. But one of the people he talked to was this guy who has a doctorate degree in Batman. How weird is that? Well, part of the interview was about how Batman is actually a
number of characters. Now. He's campy to some people, like fans of the old TV show, He's more of a detective to some, and more dark and brooding and some of them. Yeah, I mean, he's allowed to be all these things in parallel universes. And I guess that's kind of the same with Holmes and all these different interpretations
of him. Yeah, that's a good point. So I watched the new Ericio Poirot movie and in the first scene I'm really not giving away, but he sets this physical trap for someone, and I was like, why does every detective now have to be an action hero? Like why can't he just settle for being really, really smart? Yeah? All right, Well, speaking of really smart, what's what's your next fact? Mag So here's one that kind of builds off your dumb dumb story. Did you know that the
recipe for chartruss is a highly kept secret. It's kind of like Coca Cola or KFC And the story is pretty cool. So apparently it's a blend of a hundred thirty herbs, plants and flowers that go into it. Yeah, and the recipe was given to monks in sixteen oh five by an officer in Henry the Fourth's court, and for some reason it's been treated as a secret ever since. Only a few months at anytime. I actually know the recipe, and you know, a monk's not going to tell the secret.
But here's the cool thing about it. The color Charterers actually gets its name from the color of the liqueur, which itself gets its name from the Grand Chartreuse Monastery, which is where the alcohol is brewed. It's just a long chain of it gets its name from. That's very good. All right. Well, since you mentioned KFC, I do have to tell you one fact about that, and I'm gonna bump off one of my other mystery facts I had
and I'll save it for the future. But in two thousand sixteen, Colonel Sanders Nephew claimed to have found a copy of the famous chicken recipe in an old scrap book, and he even allowed the Chicago Tribune to give it a try. I mean, how much of a jerk is this guy? We're doing as a family secret man. But here are the ingredients, so salt, thyme, basil, oregano, sell re salt, black pepper, dried mustard, paprika, garlic, salt, ground ginger, and white pepper. I mean for being such a secret,
like none of it's that surprising. It's not like they had like oric acid, and and that's what gave it the tang that the reveal was a little anticlimactic. But when they tried it out, apparently it was indistinguishable from KFC seasoning. Alright, well, let's get back to some real mystery. So what's your last fact of the day. Mego, So, this is an amazing story I read about on Reddit and then followed a link to a newspaper. But it's from two thousand and eight, and this crime is genius.
So a guy wearing a yellow safety vest, safety goggles, a blue shirt, and a respirator mask and a respirator mask walked up to a guard at a bank in Monroe, Washington. Apparently Munroe is about thirty miles north of Seattle and it's on a river, And as money is being taken off the truck, he sprays the guard with mace, then grabs a bundle of cash and braces off But here's what's interesting about it. When the cops come, there are dozens of people wearing the same uniform that this guy
was wearing all around. He'd actually posted a job ad on Craigslist for construction workers, and he told them to show up at a particular time and wear the same outfit, and he promised wages of twenty nine dollars an hour to them. Enough that there was like this huge crowd of them, and so he disappears into this crowd. But this is the funniest part. Instead of using a getaway car, he'd gotten an inner tube and tubed down the river and that was near to the bank and made this
clean escape, but not a quick escape. But did they find him? I know, it feels so relaxed. Yeah, I mean, I guess they didn't, because the last article I found was a journalist trying to track down Craig from Craigslist to see if he had any clues. Wow, that's pretty good. Okay, Well I've got a pretty good mystery to close this. So have you heard about the President's mystery? I don't think I have what is it? And I don't know how I hadn't either, But it was fun looking this
up for this episode. So Franklin Roosevelt was apparently obsessed with mysteries, and he didn't think there were that many good ones out there, so he started to write his own. Now, he came up with an idea. So there's this guy, Jim Blake, who doesn't really love his life. He's in a bad marriage, dead end job. So he decided to try to scam five million dollars and then disappear without being traced. But the thing is, Roosevelt couldn't quite figure
out how Blake would get away with it. So he'd come up with an idea, then figure out a solution for finding him, and so he decided to take his problem to an author that he liked, Bolton or Sler, And then this is where we get political. They decided to solve it by committee. So they recruited five or six other top mystery writers at the time, and each of them took a chapter within the story. They'd have Blake run, then leave him in this bad situation for
the next person to figure out. And it was really good. So the story gets serialized in a magazine and it's called The President's Mystery. Then it was published into a book and even turned into a movie in nine teen thirty six, which gave Roosevelt a movie writing credit as
a sitting president. But the coolest thing about it, no one actually solved FDR's original problem, at least not until nineteen sixty seven, when Earl Stanley Gardner wrote a final final chapter and had his hero Perry Mason closed the case. Actually had a fact about Roosevelt's son, Elliott, who was a mystery writer and uh based his lead detective on
his mom Eleanor Roosevelt. But even though I'm a homes fan, and even though I had an Eleanor Roosevelt fact, I think I'm gonna let you walk away with this week's fact Off Trophy. Thank you. I'm honored. Actually, before we go, we just wanted to say we got a note on Twitter from one of our listeners, Nicole, and she had a difficult thing happened to her recently and asked for a light episode this week. So Nicole, we hope this did the trick. Thank you guys for listening. Se