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It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin collection

I have a confession to make.

Yes, sometimes it's true, I do bend the rules to suit ScuttleButton. Sometimes I completely violate the precepts that ScuttleButton was founded on. So yes, many of you who write in to complain do have valid points.

But this week I may have gone too far. You'll see what I mean once you figure out the puzzle. I just want you to know that there was a serious rule violation this week and that I'm aware of it.

Not that anything will change.

Of course, we're getting away from the real point. ScuttleButton, as you know, 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. But with it now less than a week until the next show, your window for getting your answer in is smaller.

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

Ciro Rodriguez for U.S. Congress — A Texas Democrat, Rodriguez was defeated in his bid for a sixth term in 2010 by Quico Canseco (R).

a black circle — Well, that's what it is.

Vietnam / Cambodia / Kent / Augusta. March. May 30 — A 1970 march protesting the wars in Southeast Asia, the shooting of students at Kent State University, and the killings of students in Augusta, Ga.

So, when you combine Ciro + dark + 30, you may just very well end up with ...

Zero Dark Thirty. The new movie by Kathryn Bigelow depicting the killing of Osama bin Laden and the controversial use of torture to attain information about terrorists' plans.

The winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Jeff Kemmer of Ely, Minn. Jeff 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 Cabinet openings — and risks — facing the second Obama term. Click here to read the column.

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

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