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It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin collection

One thing that can't be debated: America needs ScuttleButton.

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 — eight days after the puzzle 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 the most recent puzzle:

Good-Bye Mr. Third Term Candidate — An anti-FDR button from 1940, courtesy of Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie.

I Cannot Recall Two Outstanding Senators Like Russ Feingold & Herb Kohl — Clever button from Wisconsin opposing suggested recall of the state's two Democratic senators.

Make U.S. HUM/Humphrey Muskie/in '68 — The unsuccessful Democratic ticket that lost to Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.

We Have the Natlynn/Bess Myerson Dresses — Old advertising pin for the 1945 Miss America. Myerson later surfaced as a Democratic Senate candidate from New York in 1980.

So, when you combine Goodbye + Kohl + Hum + Bess, you may just very well end up with ...

Goodbye Columbus. The 1959 Philip Roth novel made into a movie ten years later starring Ali MacGraw and Richard Benjamin. It was also timed for our visit to Columbus, Ohio, for thePolitical Junkie Road Show earlier this month. Click on this link to see a slide show.

OK, back to ScuttleButton. The winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Clare Weinkam of Cincinnati, Ohio. Clare not only gets the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — she gets the Official No Prize Button!

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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