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It's ScuttleButton Time!

Ken Rudin's ScuttleButton 010912

There was a lot of talk about God and religion during last week's Republican caucuses in Iowa.

Then came the miraculous victory Sunday in the playoffs by the Denver Broncos and their quarterback, Tim Tebow.

There are no coincidences when it comes to politics, sports and religion.

And that brings us to this week's ScuttleButton puzzle. Not everyone will agree about the above three subjects. But they will agree that ScuttleButton is America's favorite waste-of-time button puzzle. I mean, seriously, how much time must you waste on Sudoku?

But, in the immortal words of Rod Blagojevich, if you want to play, you need to know the rules.

Each Monday on this site I put up a vertical display of buttons. 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 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 announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN. But with a new puzzle up every Monday afternoon, you should get your answer in by Monday the latest.

Here's the answer to last week's puzzle:

Teen-Age Republican/TARS — GOP button circa late 1960s.

It's Kerr/Yes Sir! — Robert Kerr, an Oklahoma senator, sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1952.

Taylor for Governor -- Pat Taylor lost the Democratic runoff for governor of North Carolina in 1972.

Support Our Soldiers (map of South Vietnam) — A button in support of U.S. policy in Vietnam, made by American Patriots for Freedom, circa 1967.

PIE/Pat Is Electable — Pat Buchanan sought the presidency as the candidate of the Reform Party in 2000.

So, when you combine Teen + Kerr + Taylor + Soldiers + Pie, you kinda get ...

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The John le Carre spy novel that has become a new film starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.

And the winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Brad Bergman of Apple Valley, Calif. Brad gets a TOTN t-shirt.

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

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