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March is Women's History Month!

It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin collection

I know what you're thinking. Same old president. Same old Senate. Same old House.

And yes, same old 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:

Hurry Up Or I'll Be 30 — From a forgettable 1973 film starring Danny DeVito.

Kaine U.S. Senate — Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor and DNC chair, was elected last week, defeating George Allen.

Matt Gonzalez Mayor of San Francisco — Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party, ran in 2003 but lost a close contest to Gavin Newsom. He was also
Ralph Nader's running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

D Huddleston U.S. Senate — The 5,893rd time I've used this button in a ScuttleButton puzzle.

So, when you combine Hurry + Kaine + San + D, you may just very well end up with ...

Hurricane Sandy. And for the record, when I put up this puzzle, I had no idea of the awful mayhem and destruction this storm was capable of.

The winner, chosen completely at random, is ...Deirdre Carroll of Seattle, Wash. Deirdre 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 aftermath of the 2012 election. It explores what contributed to Mitt Romney's defeat. Click here to read the column.

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