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Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.

I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. All stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.

For Season 6, Jack and I have again decided to go ad-free. I do this because I love mysteries, Jack does it because he loves me. Jack maybe a starving college student but it\\u2019s because\\u2026 We do ask you support the writers of our show. You can find them all on our website at tgwolff.com/Podcast.

This is Season 6, Things that Go Jack in the Night. This season contains truly imaginative mysteries around one of the most common words in the English language. From the brandy distilled from hard cider known as applejack to that nefarious one-eyed jack, to the animals, vegetables, fruits, tools, weapons, and slang, the way the word \\u201cjack\\u201d is used in the English language is truly unique, inventive, and too numerous for us to count. And yes, it is also the name of my piano player and producer.

For Episode 11, a jackpot is the featured jack. This is The Crackpot\\u2019s Jackpot by TG Wolff

Research

Jesse Burkett and Patsy Tebeau were real players for the Cleveland Spiders. Burkett was one of the best players, leading the batting statistics. He went on to have a long career as a player and then a manager. Tebeau was the player manager for the 1895 series, the one where Cleveland won the Temple Cup, a precursor to the World Series. From the records, the summer of 1895 was one for the record books in Cleveland and elsewhere. Temperatures soared in the period that pre-dated the luxury of air conditioning.

ABOUT Jackpot

The first known use of \\u201cJackpot\\u201d was in 1865 according to Merriam-Webster. It was a hand or a game of draw poker in which a pair of jacks or better was required to open. This game is still played today, but largely isn\\u2019t known by the name. Today, the more common meaning is a top prize in a game or contest that is usually the accumulation of unwon prizes. A Lottery is an example. The consistent part of all the definitions is that the game or contest isn\\u2019t necessarily won each time it\\u2019s played and the money for the non-winning games is carried over. Interestingly, there was a 3rd definition, cited chiefly used in the Western US, where jackpot means a tight spot, a jam. Not the way we use the word here.

A link to Merriam Webster is in the show notes. Read something from the dictionary once a day. You\\u2019ll learn something that will entertain you.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jackpot

FYI, crackpot was first used in 1883. It means given to erratic or widely foolish notions. Interesting to me at least is there is only one definition and the meaning is the same as in 1883. LOL, when I scrolled down, there was a kid\\u2019s definition: a crazy or very strange person.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crackpot#dictionary-entry-1

Finally, I want to share some insults. In writing this story, I needed time-appropriate insults. Thank you Mental Floss for your 2018 article on Francis Grose\'s A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, first published in 1785. They culled it to their top 25. Here are my favorite 5:

1.\\tBob tail. \\u201cA lewd woman, or...'