Filed by KOSU News in Politics.
May 1, 2012

Just a word to the wise, that if you are considering taking refuge in the American Embassy in Beijing, don’t expect me to mail you a Political Junkie t-shirt if you happen to be the randomly chosen ScuttleButton winner.

And don’t expect to be the randomly chosen ScuttleButton winner if you don’t know how to play.

ScuttleButton, as you know, is the once a week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday (whatever) 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.

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 announce the winner on Wednesday’s Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday or Tuesday, depending on my mood, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

Here are the buttons used and the answer to last week’s puzzle:

I’m Proud to be an American — This button could be World War II vintage, but at the very least, the 48 stars indicates it’s certainly before 1959.

Tom Robinson Band — The 1970s British punk rock band. True confessions: the only song I have by them on my iPod is “2-4-6-8 Motorway.” I don’t think I know anything else by them.

Wallace for President/Stand Up for America — The former Alabama governor ran in 1968 on the American Independent Party banner and carried five Southern states.

So, when you combine American + Band + Stand, you may just very well end up with …

American Bandstand. The decades-long TV dance program hosted by Dick Clark, who died last month.

This week’s winner, chosen completely at random, is … David Lam of Las Vegas, Nev.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Political Junkie column, where I list my subjective Top 5 running mates of the past half century. You can read the column here. It also includes the secret ingredients to the Political Junkie cocktail being served at the Modern Hotel in Boise, Idaho. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]