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March is Women's History Month!

It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin collection

I heard about her death on the radio today and I was furious. The woman was a pioneer on women's and feminist issues, wrote "Sex and the Single Girl" and edited Cosmopolitan for decades. And yet, rather than honor this woman, the report on the radio insisted on mocking her, referring to her as Helen "Girlie" Brown. Given all that women have had to overcome in this country, she deserved more respect than that. Shameful.

Equally shameful is this week's easy ScuttleButton puzzle.

ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each 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 last week's puzzle:

"Who's Sane?" (drawing of President George H.W. Bush on tank) — Button appeared during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Barkley (with a lightning bolt) — With President Truman belatedly deciding not to run again in 1952, Vice President Alben Barkley threw his hat into the ring, hoping that lightning would strike at the Democratic convention.

So, when you combine Who's Sane + bolt, you may just very well end up with ...

Usain Bolt. The Olympic runner from Jamaica who may be the fastest man on Earth.

This week's winner, chosen completely at random, is ... David Steeves of North Olmsted, Ohio. David will get a TOTN Junkie t-shirt.

Don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which reviews the selection by Mitt Romney of Paul Ryan as his running mate. Plus, a setup to Tuesday's primaries. Click here to read the column.

*** NOTE: There will be no Political Junkie column or ScuttleButton puzzle next week. All that fun stuff returns the week of Aug. 27.

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