Forts vs. Puzzles: a constructive debate
37 min
•May 15, 202511 months agoSummary
Smash Boom Best hosts a debate between forts and puzzles, with comedians Joy Dolo and Comrade Tripp arguing their respective sides while judge Petra from Minnesota scores each round. The episode explores the cognitive, imaginative, and practical benefits of both activities through creative arguments, rants, and improvised challenges, ultimately crowning forts as the winner.
Insights
- Both forts and puzzles offer distinct cognitive benefits: forts develop imagination and agency while puzzles strengthen neural connections and problem-solving skills
- Child engagement with creative activities is enhanced when they have autonomy and control over the experience, as demonstrated by fort-building's appeal
- Humor and creative storytelling are effective persuasion techniques in debate formats, particularly with younger audiences
- Physical and imaginative play serve complementary developmental purposes rather than competing functions in childhood learning
Trends
Growing recognition of imagination and creative play as measurable cognitive development tools in educational contextsIncreased focus on child agency and autonomy in activity design and learning environmentsIntegration of multisensory and interactive elements in educational entertainment for childrenDebate and argumentation as accessible learning formats for developing critical thinking in younger audiences
Topics
Childhood cognitive development through playImagination versus structured problem-solvingChild autonomy in activity designEducational benefits of creative playDebate as a learning tool for childrenPuzzle types and cognitive engagementFort construction and spatial reasoningNeuroscience of puzzle-solvingHistorical context of puzzles and playMultitasking and cognitive load
Companies
Brains On
Production company behind Smash Boom Best and the broader Brains On Universe podcast network
APM Studios
Co-producer and distributor of Smash Boom Best podcast
People
Molly Bloom
Host of Smash Boom Best debate show
Joy Dolo
Forever Ago host arguing for Team Forts in the debate
Comrade Tripp
Comedian defending Team Puzzles in the debate
Petra
Judge from St. Paul, Minnesota who scored the debate rounds
John Spilsbury
British map maker credited with inventing jigsaw puzzles in the 1760s
Anna Weigel
Producer of Smash Boom Best
Aaron Woldesalassie
Producer and sound designer for Smash Boom Best
Beth Perlman
Executive producer of Smash Boom Best
Quotes
"Forts let you decide. Kids don't always get a whole lot to say in their lives. Parents, teachers, and other grown-ups make the rules and decisions. But putting up a fort or designing one on paper is something that kids can do on their own."
Joy Dolo•Declaration of Greatness round
"Puzzles aren't just something to do, they're everything we've ever done. Everything that has helped us and will continue to help us. Challenging, exact, and most importantly, fun."
Comrade Tripp•Declaration of Greatness round
"Studies show that doing puzzles reinforces connections between cells in your brain called neurons. In other words, solving puzzles connects the puzzle pieces in your head."
Comrade Tripp•Declaration of Greatness round
"Fort is one letter away from Fart, which is also something that immediately ruined the fort."
Comrade Tripp•Micro Round
Full Transcript
Hi friends, you might have heard that Bark, Sandin and I are on the road this spring with brains on live. We've been to several cities so far and it has been so much fun. Our next two stops are Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. That's at the end of March. Then we just announced that we added Lawrence, Kansas in May and Columbus, Ohio in June. We're also heading to Chattanooga, Durham, Milwaukee, Portland, Buffalo and Ann Arbor, Michigan. We hope you'll be able to join us at one of those shows. We can't wait to see you to get tickets and get more information. You can head to brainson.org slash events. That's brainson.org slash events. From the brains behind brains on, it's Smash Boom Best. The show for people with big opinions. Hi, I'm Molly Bloom and this is Smash Boom Best, the show where we take two things, smash them together and ask you to decide which one is best. Today's debate requires a little concentration and is seen across the nation. Put your heads together for Forts versus Puzzles. We've got forever ago host Joy Dolo ready to rumble for Team Forts. Forts, beautiful. Forts, spacious guys. Fort Amber Waves of Forts. Please hold your pause. And comedian, Comrade Tripp is here to defend Team Puzzles. I can't sing, but puzzles, they're good. I was overwhelmed by patriotism. Not my beautiful singing voice. Sure, that too. And here to judge it all is Petra from St. Paul, Minnesota. Petra loves to write, plays the saxophone and has a dog named Luna. Hi, Petra. Hi, Molly. So you play the saxophone. Can I ask what your favorite type of music to play is? So we're playing greatest showman right now and I play the berry saxophone. So that's the really tall one with the twirly thing. And sometimes I play alto, sometimes I play berry. I play tenor and I love playing the da-da-da-da-da. That's my favorite part to play. And berry sax is like, it's huge. Yeah, it's almost as tall as me, so. That's so cool. Okay, you have a dog, but I'm told she isn't the only pet you get to play with since your dad's a vet. Yeah, so my dad is a vet. His clinic is like right across the street from our house. So I walk over there and get to hang out with all the fun pets and I do clean rooms because I find that part also fun. But yeah, I also get to sometimes cuddle the pets if they just had surgery or something like that. That's awesome. If you're interested in cleaning pet rooms, I also have a dog. And it's not my favorite part of having him. So Petra, you've listened to Smash or Best. Do you have any advice for our debaters today? Use a lot of funny jokes. I love funny jokes. And write down notes so that you can rebut against them a lot. Excellent advice. Will Petra side with Joy or Comrade? Only time will tell, but first. Smash, Boom, Best is a non-profit public radio program. That's right, which means we rely on support from our listeners to keep the show going. There are lots of ways you can support the show. You can donate by becoming a SmartyPass subscriber or by our merch. Like a Smash, Boom, Best hoodie, pencil pouch, or key chain. Head to smashboom.org to show your support. Thanks. Now on to the rules. Every debate consists of four rounds, the Declaration of Greatness, the Microround, the Sneak Attack, and the Final Six. After each round, our judge Petra will award points to the team that impresses her the most, but she'll keep her decisions top secret until the end of the debate. Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points as you listen. At the end of the show, head to our website, smashboom.org, and vote for whichever team you think won. Okay, Joy, Comrade, and Petra, are you ready? Yes. I was fort for this. I was born in fort. It doesn't work. Yes, I'm ready. I'm ready, everybody. That was impressive. What? Then it's time for the Declaration of Greatness. In this round, our debaters will present a well-crafted, immersive argument in favor of their side. Then they'll each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements. Move up to coin and Joy, you're up first. Tell us why we're fortunate to have forts. Oh, hey, friends. I was just heading inside my fort under the kitchen table. Wanna check it out? Ow, watch your heads. I call it Joy's Perfectly Paradoxical Palace because it's way bigger on the inside than on the outside. It's like an endless hallway and a set of Russian nesting dolls at a baby. There's a pickleball court, trampoline, movie theater, herb garden, plus seven bathrooms. And over here is the frozen yogurt machine, 17 flavors and infinite gummy worms. My fort has everything I could possibly need. It's the best place in the entire world. People have been building forts for thousands of years and not just under their kitchen tables. There are tons of extremely cool real-life forts all around the world. Like the Orsini Fortress in Italy, that has a museum, a moat, a drawbridge, and a friendly fox. Whoa! Or the Moran Garfurt in India, which stands on a cliff hundreds of feet above the city and is decorated with incredible paintings. And if you can't visit India or Italy, don't despair. You can still make the fort of your dreams with the greatest tool of all, your imagination. A fort is the perfect place to party with your own brain. You can build one pretty much anywhere you want, outside with tree branches, inside with couch cushions, on a sandy beach. So many possibilities. Hi, I'm Dan Fortley, the fourth Fort Lauderdale's best fort realtor, and I'm here to find you, your forever fort. This one's a steal. It's behind the couch. It comes with the Dust Bunny Gladiator Arena, a bottomless chicken nugget buffet, and a rock climbing wall. Listen, puzzles are okay. Like, if you can't make a fort and there's nothing else to do, who wouldn't want to make a picture out of tiny shapes over the course of several long excruciating hours? Only 639 pieces to go. Just need to... Just need to... Puzzle. A puzzle just doesn't do anything for my imagination. The picture is already there. If puzzles are good for anything, they're a way to turn off your brain and just cruise along finding shapes. That is, unless several of those puzzle pieces go missing because your cat knocked them off the table and then your dog ate them. Not only is designing and building a fort a top-notch way to use your noggin, you can use a fort in tons of different ways. Feeling sleepy and cozy? Boom, blanket fort. Ready for a rumpus with your pals? Shill a blazzle! Pill a fort wrestling ring combo. Want to sit in the dappled forest shade and contemplate the delicate yet chaotic balance of the universe? A doink, tree fort. So versatile. The point is, forts let you decide. Kids don't always get a whole lot to say in their lives. Parents, teachers, and other grown-ups make the rules and decisions. But putting up a fort or designing one on paper is something that kids can do on their own. Attention, please. I call this meeting of the Fort Fluffington Fuzzies to order. Since I have to apparently wait until I'm a teenager to learn how to drive a car, I declare Fort Fluffington to also be a magical vehicle. With forts, you're in the driver's seat. Plus, they can give you some time away from other people and everybody needs that sometimes. I mean, even Superman had his fortress of solitude where you could take a break from superhero stuff and his journalism day job. Forts, come on! They can be a cool way to learn some history or help you rev up your imagination. They could be a home away from home, but very close to home. A place where you can carve out the space you need. Plus, you can fill your fort with whatever you want. Speaking of which, what do you say we get some Fort Froyo with unlimited mixins? Last one, there's a wet puzzle piece that my cat barfed up on the floor. Yes. Yes to the Froyo. Thank you so much for the invitation. I mean, I'm hungry. Petra, what's it out to you about Joy's declaration of greatness? I loved everything that was in the fort, how there was so many things, and I kind of want to live in the fort now. You made me want to live there. There's room. It's in my imagination. There's 17 million rooms. You can pick one. And seven toilets. And seven toilets. We can put more in though. It's anything we want Petra. It's anything. Okay, Comrade, it's time for your rebuttal. Tell us why a fort is a dire destination. You've got 30 seconds and your time starts now. That was an incredible declaration, but not that incredible. Fort, yeah, they have lots of cool things, but eventually all those cool things have to go back to where they belong in your stuff. If you have a blanket fort, eventually you have to wash those blankets and put them back on your bed feeling sleepy. Yeah, after making a fort and then having to un-make it and put things back to where they belong, and the fort has gone forever. Yeah, I would feel sleepy too. Imagination, seven imaginary bathrooms. I have to use real bathrooms. It's time. Yeah, you know, it's true that, you know, sometimes you got to take the blankets down and wash them, but the memories last forever. I have a terrible memory. The imaginary memories. You'd think with puzzles that you'd have a good memory. I do. Well, then, hmm, makes me wonder about you, sir. I should do more puzzles is what you're saying. Yeah, I'm saying you should use your imagination more. Imagination will open up so many things. Imagine that your doctoration greatness was better. I'm gonna imagine that you're gonna win this. Oh, thank you. It's not working. It's not working. Comrade, it's your turn. Tell us why puzzles are simply the best. It's raining outside and also in your heart. You have nothing going on. Nothing to do except stare at the ceiling and breathe. You're just awake. Expecting to go back to sleep at the end of the day as the same person that you were when you woke up. Having achieved nothing. Lo, there is an activity to fill your day. Something to connect and create a jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly, you feel reinvigorated or maybe just invigorated for the very first time. With a reason to get out of bed and be a person. Sometimes the only problems we can solve come in a box March 3 and up. Puzzles are the perfect pastime for people from all places. One of the first people to break something solely with the intention of putting it back together was John Spillsbury. From the name, he sounds like someone who often drops croissants, but he was actually a British map maker. In the 1760s, he made some of the first jigsaw puzzles by pasting maps on wooden boards, then cutting them up into pieces. Mr. Spillsbury, what have you done to these maps? It's for the children. Now they'll know the world, piece by piece. Could we not have simply given them the maps as they were? Oh, Pishposh, where's the fun in that? And what fun they were. The love for puzzles has only grown since then, and puzzles themselves have grown to include many different types. Jigsaw, Rubik, Sudoku, Wheel of Fortune, Minesweeper, Candy Crush, Tetris, Legos, Escaperooms. There's no shortage of puzzles. A puzzle is anything fun that makes you think, and thinking is kind of a big deal. Studies show that doing puzzles reinforces connections between cells in your brain called neurons. In other words, solving puzzles connects the puzzle pieces in your head. Being able to solve puzzles is the barometer of braininess. They are the tests of your understanding of logic, knowledge, and ingenuity in a structured way. Gabby, you can't play Tetris all day. How else will I increase my dexterity and the connectivity of my neurons, Dad? Think of my neurons! Fine. Five more minutes. Oh yeah! After this, I'll do the crossword to further my cognitive ability. My neurons will be unstoppable! The popularity of puzzles is not at all puzzling. Some of the first toys we play with when we're young are puzzles, fitting square shaped blocks into square shaped holes, nesting cups that fit inside each other, stacking donut shaped rings by size, and since the day I was born I've been solving the puzzles of life. How to move my legs to walk, my mouth to speak, my butt to poop. Everything we will ever do is a puzzle. Even a fort can be a puzzle, but not a very good one. Writing this declaration of greatness was a puzzle for me. Organizing all of these arguments and sketches to make a cohesive essay was a puzzle. Plus, you can multitask while puzzling. Divide your attention. You can listen to this podcast while you solve puzzles. That's the circle of puzzles, and it moves us all. Can you make a fort whilst listening to the sound of my voice? Please don't. You can do anything while doing a puzzle, even another puzzle. But multitasking is also a puzzle in itself. Take on too many things at once and they'll be calling you Mr. Spillsbury. Puzzles can fill your day, or your week, or your entire life depending on how many pieces there are. Sometimes a puzzle can be frustrating. You get stuck or you can't find the right piece, but it's a good kind of frustration, because eventually you figure it out. And that makes the next puzzle you face, no matter what kind, a little easier and a little less frustrating. Puzzles aren't just something to do, they're everything we've ever done. Everything that has helped us and will continue to help us. Challenging, exact, and most importantly, fun. They're fun. Okay, puzzles are everything and that declaration of greatness was everything. Petra, what stood out to you about Comrade's argument? Well, taking a bunch of things on at once. I do that a lot. I have way too many sports that I can't keep track of, just can't. And also, I love the addition of the three plus, because that happens a lot. And also, I like the misery at the beginning when it was like, you have nothing to do and then there's the puzzles that come and show up. I really like that. Excellent work. Okay, Joy, it is time for your rebuttal. Tell us why puzzles are pointless. You've got 30 seconds and your time starts now. Puzzles are a thing, but I encourage you all to think outside of the puzzle box. Hold for laughter. Pasting maps, I mean, talk about messy. You're talking about cleaning up blankets. If you're pasting maps and cutting them up, do you know how much paste that is? Have you ever stuck your, have you had the embers glue on your hand? Does that peely thing? What a mess. Also, studies have shown that using your imagination comes from your hippocampus, which is really great for helping you solve other problems. So you're not only using your imagination, it's going to help you with your memory. It's going to help you problem solve. It's going to help you imagine different scenarios. And with puzzles, you get one picture. Yeah, I mean, paste, I mean, it's for the children though, Joy. It's for the children, for the good of mankind. Paste? Paste, pasting to make puzzles. Hmm, that seems a little confusing to me. And puzzles last forever. And tell your cat eats them. Yeah. And then your cat. And they're regurgitated. Yeah, then they still fit. They still kind of fit. Okay, Petra, it's time to award some points. So please give one point to the declaration of greatness you liked best, and one point to the rebuttal that won you over. You get to decide what makes a winning argument. Did one team's jokes make you giggle? Was another team's logic impeccable? Award your points, but don't tell us who they're going to. Have you made your decision? Yes. Wonderful. Conrad and Joy, how are you two feeling so far? You know, I think we trained for this. I think we're ready. You know, I've recently learned how to run a mile. I haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking I'm going to do it. I've also trained. I did some crossword puzzles. I tried to make my own crossword puzzle. I tried to, I didn't do very well. I used a lot of three letter words. We were here. I have a very worthy opponent and a worthy judge and a worthy cause. We all have. Okay, there's the second song. There's gonna be one more. Okay, it's time for a quick break. Look for your corner pieces and set up your couch cushions. And we'll be right back with more Smash Boom Best. Oh, that's right. We hiked up to this beautiful scenic vista to use our eagle eyes to spot a logical fallacy in the wild. A logical fallacy is a weak argument that can easily make your case tip over and go Timber. Yep. And today we're on the hunt for the appeal to nature fallacy. That's when you argue something is right just because it's more natural. It's a bad argument because not all natural things are good. And what does natural even mean? It's hard to pin down. Shhh, Dodd, I think I see the fallacy now. It's over yonder at the campsite down hill. Let's listen in. Ah, a weekend in the wilderness. What a great way to end the summer. I know. And look at our child, little Jamie, playing on the rocks and in the trees just like nature intended. Yep. And next week, Jamie starts the first week of school. What a big deal. Huh-huh. Yeah, so about that, I decided Jamie's not going. Um, excuse me? We both think education is super important. So why not go to school? Because I realized Jamie should be learning out here in the woods, collecting pine cones, learning to forage and build shelter. Everything little Jamie needs to know is being taught out here in the wild. But Jamie also needs to learn reading and writing and math at school, or at least with some kind of teacher. Nature is the teacher, and the forest is the classroom. Do you see wild animals going to school? No. They learn by doing out here in the woods, and we're animals, so we should do what's natural. Come on, let's live in the woods and hunt our meals. You had pizza delivered to our tent last night. Jamie needs to heal the call of the wild. Oh-ooh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-ooh! There it is, the fearsome logical fallacy called Appeal to Nature. See it in all its frightening glory. Spending time in nature is great, but it's also important to make arguments backed up with evidence, like saying going to school helps kids learn skills they might need later in life. Like how to use logic when debating. Exactly. Now, let's get our campfire going, and did I hear there's a pizza place that delivers out here? Because I could really go for a slice of pineapple pepperoni. Oh, me too. See you next time on State of the Big! It's Alien Exercise Hour! Hi-yah! Hoo-ha! While I stretch my snoodles and bounce on my trampolini, I'll listen to a new podcast. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I'm going to try for Everago, the best history podcast ever! To understand why anyone would think a TV show could change the world, we need to go way back. I'm going to try for Everago, the best history podcast ever! I'm going to try for Everago, the best history podcast ever! Way back! To America in the 1960s. Rock and roll was pretty new. Ford released the iconic Mustang Muscle. Zerp! Come back here, podcast! Must listen to Foreverago now! Listen to Foreverago wherever you get your podcast. Smash. Smash. You're listening to Smash Boom Best. I'm your host, Molly Bloom. And I'm your judge, Petra. And we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners. Take a listen to this forceful debate idea from Charles. Hi, Spanish Boom Best. My name is Charles, and I'm a global citizen now living in Madagascar. My debate idea is Kylo Ren versus Darth Vader. Nothing beats a debate from a far away galaxy. We'll check back in at the end of this episode to see which side Charles thinks should win. And now it's back to our debate. Forks versus puzzles! That's right, and it's time for round two, the... Micro round. For the micro round challenge, each team has prepared a creative response to a prompt they received in advance. For Joy and Comrade, the prompt was, RANT AND RAVE. For this challenge, we want you to rant for one minute about your opponent and rave about your side for another. Joy went first last time, so Comrade, you're up. Give us your rave review for puzzles and searing rant for forts. I recently stayed at a pillow fort designed by my nephew. He stands at 3 feet 2 inches, but not even he could stand within this structure. Even calling it a structure is a stretch because when I tried to stretch, the whole thing nearly collapsed. It made me envy my former self before I was ever trapped within this fort. Fort is one letter away from Fart, which is also something that immediately ruined the fort. Forts are very easy to ruin immediately. No windows, non-existent air flow, zero amenities, one star, four forts. Technically half a star, but I'm rounding up for family. The only saving grace of my stay was a puzzle that occupied my time while the walls around me wobbled. It was a welcome distraction from every thought in my mind. The puzzle was of an igloo, which I would have gladly preferred over this fort. I have suffered, but the puzzle almost made me forget about the pain in my lower back and the smell of the fart in my nose and in my mouth. Each time I connected one piece to another, I felt a calm wash over me. Creating a single image of a snowy structure was somehow able to melt my cold heart. Puzzles, four stars. Put both reviews together and you get all five. That's another puzzle. I formally request a refund for the fort experience. I casually request a hug. Did you fart in the fort? I fart in every room I live. Have you farted in this room? Yes. Probably. I think we all have. Have we not? I haven't farted in this room yet. That has yet to be determined. Yeah, it has yet to be determined. Joy? Yes. It's your turn. Please sell us on the finer points of forts and rant about pesky puzzles. Hello. I'm Joy's very real, somewhat ornery cat, Princess Caroline. Meow. And this is my favorite place in the world. Fort Fur Mixalot. Everything I need, real or imaginary, is here. An election of body hair circa 1994. The string I found under the desk. And another string I found in the bathroom. Joy's cell phone and a photo of my boyfriend Cat Stevens. The tabby from the alley down the street. Meow. Oh good. Here comes Joy with a bowl of some yummy salmon niblet. Oh no. It's in a puzzle feeder. I'll have to figure out how to unlock it, then hit a button, then chase a plastic bird before I get my treat. Don't tell me that's a real bird. I know it's fake. Oh meow. Those puzzle feeders are almost as bad as those word puzzles I see strewn about the place. Why must everything be so indirect, puzzles? Find the end of the maze. Search all the numbers in the right rows. Look for the hidden words. There is a reason why the riddler was the bad guy in Batman. What do you expect when your life revolves around puzzles? Puzzles have literally never made anyone happy. Period. The end. Meow. Oh, that's my cat timer. I better head back to Fort Fur Mixalot. I hope I'm not late for my mid-morning post-breakfast nap. Meow. Meow. Petra, what did you like about Joy and Comrade's micro rounds? I really liked the cat. It was also really mad about puzzles because cats can't talk. I don't know how you knew that, but maybe you can read Cat's Minds. My cat. Only your cat. Nobody else's cat. Just my cat. And then the puzzles make around. I liked how you said how Fort were not good because of all the things that can happen to them and how they're not good because even people that are three foot can't even fit in them. So. All right. Well, Petra, it is time to award a point. The criteria are totally subjective and totally up to you. Please award your point. Have you made your decision? Yes. Fantastic. Then it's time for our third round, the super stealthy... Sneak Attack. This is our improvised round where debaters have to respond to a challenge on the spot. Today's sneak attack is called End It On A High Note. On the fly, come up with a bedtime story designed to put a kid to sleep. As you go along, you need to tell it in a voice that gets higher pitched and more falsetto until it's super high. And I'm going to time you only have 30 seconds. Does this make sense? Yes. Yes. Okay, great. Yes. Start very low. All right, Joy, you are up. Your time begins now. Once upon a time, there was a girl who was so worried about everything in life. She was worried about school and her friends and her parents. But then she found a pillow and the pillow found another pillow. And the pillow found another pillow and those pillows formed a fort. And she felt safety inside of her fort. And she... Time. All I wrote down was once upon a time and fort. Perfect. It's all you need. Okay, Comrade, it's your turn. Let's hear your bedtime story about puzzles. Your 30 seconds begins now. Once upon a time in the land of Puzzletopia, there was a small puzzle piece. Every person in Puzzletopia was a puzzle piece. And their life goal was to find the pieces that they fit together. But there was one puzzle piece that had no other puzzle pieces that fit into it. So it was alone and it was me. I was that puzzle piece. But then the puzzle piece, the lone puzzle piece looked in a mirror. He connected to himself. He was fine alone. And that's okay. Be independent. Be yourself. That's the whole story. Sometimes a puzzle is just one piece and that's the whole puzzle at the end. That's it. I tried to put a moral, but it was... Yeah, I know. It's tough finding a moral at the end. All right, Petra. This is tough. But it's time to award a point for this sneak attack. Think about which sign impressed you the most. Did someone make you sleepy? Did someone impress you with their vocal range? Did someone sneak a nice little message in there? The criteria are totally subjective and totally up to you. Have you made your decision? I have. Perfect. Then it's time for our final round. The final six. In this round, each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Comrade, let's hear your six words on the power of puzzles. Put pieces in and piece out. Oh, very nice. Okay. Joy, it's your turn. Give us six words on why you're fond of forts. Fort. Beautiful. Fort. Spacious skies. Fort. Okay. Petra, it is time to award a final point for the final six. Have you made your decision? I have made my decision. Okay, tally up those points. Are you ready to crown one team the Smash Boom Best? Yes. Drum roll, please. And the winner is... Fort. Okay. Drum roll, please. And the winner is... Forts. Oh, no. Oh, no. Are you okay? No, I understand. It all came down to the final six. I just, I really liked how it connected to the song you sang at the beginning. Close as close can be. Everybody had equal points and then it all came down to the final six. A well-thought battle. Comrade, I really enjoyed your facts about puzzles. You know, it is actually puzzles and forts are good for cognitive development. They're good for problem-solving and analytical, logistical stuff. So you did a good job. And I like your vest. Thank you. Really good vest. You should probably go watch the video at Brains On's YouTube channel so you can see the best. Joy, I thought your singing was excellent. Beautiful singing. You're so imaginative and you were able to weave that into the structure of not only the physical structure of puzzles, but the structure of your arguments. And it was beautiful. I like your shirt, dress, flowers, orchids. What kind of flowers? Target. Ah, beautiful. Yeah, well done. And that's it for today's debate battle. Petra Crown forts the Smash Boom vest, but what about you? Head to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you think won. Smash Boom vest is brought to you by Brains On and APM Studios. It's produced by me, Molly Bloom, Anna Weigel, and Aaron Woldesalassie. We had engineering help from Michael Osborn and Evan Clark with sound design by Aaron Woldesalassie. Our editors are Shayla Farzan and Sandin Totten with fact checking by Rebecca Rand. And we had production help from the rest of the Brains On universe team Rosie Dupont, Rachel Brees, Anna Goldfield, Nico Gonzalez-Whistler, Ruby Guthrie, Lauren Humphert, Joshua Ray, Rebecca Rand, Mark Sanchez, and Charlotte Traver. Our executive producer is Beth Perlman in the APM Studios executives in charge are Chandra Kovati and Joanne Griffith. Our announcer is Marley Foyerworker Otto and we want to give a special thanks to Lulu, Austin Cross, and Taylor Kaufman. Joy, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to today? I'd like to give a shout out to everyone at Fort Snelling. It's a really fun place if you live in Minnesota to go visit. It's a local historical fort and I like history. And how about you, comrade? Any special shout outs? Just everyone in the puzzle community and my family, my niece and nephew who I care about. I'll name Dylan. He's nine, Malayla, she's four. We do puzzles together sometimes. We don't do forts anymore. No more forts for us. It's never too late. Yeah, but I love them. Thank them. And Petra, do you want to give any special thanks or shout outs? I'd like to give a shout out to my brother for going to the live show of Forever Go and meeting and my mom for being super chatty and talking to somebody that does. And so I got to do the podcast. We're so glad you're here. Before we go, let's check in and see who Charles thinks should win the Kylo Ren versus Darth Vader debate. I think Kylo Ren should win because he has a nicer lightsaber, a cooler one. And even though Darth Vader has a better connection with the Force, I think he should win because he's a little bit more powerful. If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and you'd like to be a judge or if you're any age and you have an idea for a knock down drag out debate, head to smashboom.org slash contact and drop us a line. And while you're at it, join Smarty Pass for bonus episodes and ad free versions of all four shows in the Brains On Universe. We'll be back with a new Smash Boom best debate battle next week. Gandalf versus Snape. Bye. See you later or never again. Bye. My plan for Puzzles is perfect. Pow.