Filed by KOSU News in Politics.
November 16, 2011

Now that the Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the constitutionality of ScuttleButton, I think it’s time you agreed to try out this week’s puzzle.

The rules are simple. Every Wednesday on this site I put up a vertical display of buttons. 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 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.

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 usually reveal the answer — and announce the winner — on Wednesday’s Junkie segment on TOTN. So you should get your answer in by Tuesday.

Here’s the answer to last week’s puzzle:

Skip Bafalis/You Can Believe Him — Bafalis, a Republican congressman from Florida, lost the 1982 gubernatorial election to Democratic incumbent Bob Graham.

TNT/Toomb Nixon Trank — A presidential coattail button from New Jersey in 1972, featuring President Nixon and two local candidates. True story: I got this button from Nixon’s brother Donald while he was campaigning on the street that year.

baseball card for Matty Alou — Alou, who briefly played the outfield for the New York Yankees but was much better known as a player for the San Francisco Giants, died last week at age 72.

So, when you combine Skip + Toomb + Alou, you kinda get …

Skip To My Lou — the old children’s song that I’m desperately trying, without success, to get out of my head right now.

And the winner, chosen completely at random, is … Ann Brekke of Chicago. Ann gets a TOTN t-shirt. [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]