Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
March is Women's History Month!

It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin collection

The Summer Olympics start soon, and I have a feeling that one record — the longest time it's ever taken you to figure out a ScuttleButton puzzle — could very well be broken this week.

You'll have a head start, of course, if you know how to play.

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.

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. But with a new puzzle up every Monday or Tuesday, you should get your answer in as soon as possible.

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

Jay Kim for Congress/California 41st District — Kim, a Republican, was the first Korean-American ever elected to Congress. First elected in 1992, he was later convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions and was defeated in the 1998 GOP primary by Gary Miller, who won the seat and still serves.

(picture of a Model T Ford) For President — Gerald Ford, who became president following Richard Nixon's resignation in 1974, sought a full term in 1976 but was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.

I'm a Fan of Dashin' Dan/The Long Island Railroad — He was the icon of the dashing commuter who ran to make the LIRR train.

Going Going Ian Gomm/Gomm With the Wind — Button produced for this 1979 album by Gomm, a British guitarist.

So, when you combine Kim + Car + Dash + Ian, you may just very well end up with ...

Kim Kardashian. Just know you won't be the first.

And in the event that you're not one of the 15,483,809 people who follow her on Twitter (at last count, and I'm not kidding), here are some of her Tweets in the past few minutes:

"Soooo sleepy"

"Just got the best spray tan"

"I feel so inspired"

Anyway, I'll probably continue to quote from Kim Kardashian's Tweets from time to time. Until then, it's time to announce this week's winner, chosen completely at random. And that person is ... Carol Lane of San Francisco, Calif. Carol gets a TOTN Junkie t-shirt, once they are restocked.

Don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which looks at every presidential running mate since 1964 and rates them as either a "plus" or a "minus." Click here to read the column.

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