Some good news for a change: More people are catching ScuttleButton fever than the swine flu.

The fever, in fact, seems to be spreading. In e-mails, on Twitter, and in a note attached to a rock thrown through my window, people are telling me that their lives have been taken over by a need to solve the puzzle before they can get things done around the house. One e-mail sent early Saturday morning — at 3:10 a.m.! — was from someone who said they could finally go to sleep because they figured out the answer.

 

Of course, there's only one way to figure out the answer each week. And that is to simply take one word or one concept per button, add 'em up, and arrive at a saying or a name. Also, you MUST include your name and city/state, otherwise we can't declare a winner.

And remember, the answer does not necessarily have to be political. For instance, the answer to a puzzle a while back was "Minnesota Twins" — not political at all, unless you're thinking Mondale and Humphrey instead of Killebrew and Oliva.

Last week's buttons, in case you forgot:

Feinstein for Vice President 1984 — The California Democrat, then the mayor of San Francisco, was on Walter Mondale's short list.

Perot for President — The independent billionaire won more than 19 million votes when he ran in 1992, the most ever.

Stop Souter / No Roberts Yes Roe / Impeach Earl Warren — Three buttons in opposition to three Supreme Court Justices (or nominees), David Souter, John Roberts and Earl Warren.

So, when you add Dianne + Ross + the three Supreme Court justices (and because they are on a horizontal line, that means what I'm looking for is a plural), you kind of get ...

Dianne Ross and the Supremes. Yes, I know her name is Diana. But Rule 4, Section 7.1 of the ScuttleButton bylaws gives me poetic license when it comes to altering reality.

The winner, selected at random among the correct responders, is (drum roll) ... Jeff Roberts of Ankeny, Iowa. Presumably, no relation to John Roberts. Or Diana Ross.

Wanna be alerted the moment a new ScuttleButton puzzle goes up on the site? (How can you NOT???) Sign up on our mailing list at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

New puzzle every Friday.

Tags: ScuttleButton