An openly gay basketball player? Next thing you know, there will be openly clever ScuttleButton puzzles.
Only not this week.
ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday 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:
Hicks for Halloween (pic of a witch on a broomstick) — Louise Day Hicks, a vocal anti-busing leader, ran for mayor of Boston in 1967 and 1971, losing each time to Kevin White. In between she served in Congress.
Rocky Or Nobody — The wearer of this button wanted Nelson Rockefeller for President in 1968 and no one else.
Gandy Governor — Evelyn Gandy sought the Democratic nomination twice in Mississippi, losing the 1979 and 1983 primaries.
I (heart) NY — Campaign from the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, circa 1970s.
So, when you combine Witch + Nobody + Gandy + NY, you may just very well end up with ...
Which Nobody Can Deny. Witch just happens to be the next line to last week's answer, For He's a Jolly Good Fellow.
The winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Dale Smith of Franklin, Tenn. Dale gets not only the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — but the Official No Prize Button as well!
And don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on the open Senate seats at stake in 2014 and other assorted goodies. Click here to read the column.
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