It's time to solve this week's ScuttleButton puzzle.
ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each Tuesday or Wednesday I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)
For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?
You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.
(Why do people keep forgetting to include their name and city/state?)
And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.
Good luck!
By the way, I always announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN — seven or eight days after the puzzle first goes up. So you should try and get your answer in as soon as possible. But logistically, you have about a week to submit your guess.
Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week's puzzle:
Jefferson Governor 99 — Then Democratic Congressman William Jefferson unsuccessfully ran for governor of Louisiana in 1999.
Hair Loss? Ask Me! — Whatever.
Wings for Willkie (on plane) America — Wendell Willkie was the Republican nominee for president in 1940, losing to incumbent Franklin Roosevelt.
So, when you combine Jefferson + Hair + Plane, you may just very well end up with ...
Jefferson Airplane. The San Francisco psychedelic rock band from the love & flowers summer of 1967. While drugs and rock music almost destroyed our country back then, it took American ingenuity, and ScuttleButton, to save it decades later.
The winner, chosen completely at random, is Walt Taylor of Frederick, Md. Walt gets not only the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — but the Official No Prize Button as well!
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