In the scheme of things, with so many crucial life-and-death issues of the day to talk about, I'll be the first to admit there are more important stuff out there than ScuttleButton.

Still, the way I see it, asking you to take a step back from the often ugly world of politics and solve a weekly button puzzle is an innocent distraction. It's fun, it's harmless, and, hopefully, it makes people smile.

And so I want to take time this Thanksgiving week and say, from the bottom of my heart, I am thankful for the thousands of people who have become addicted to playing ScuttleButton each week — and all the comments you send along with your puzzle answers. I of course read every single one. I'm also thankful for those who appreciate the blog posts and the silliness, as well as the serious discussions of politics and campaigns and issues. Your e-mails and comments and suggestions mean a lot to me.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful — and safe — Thanksgiving.

OK, back to ScuttleButton. It's time to announce this week's winner.

First, a reminder on how to play.

It's easy. Just check out my button puzzle each Friday. Take one word or one concept per button, add 'em up, and arrive at a familiar saying or a name. (Seriously: a saying that people from Earth might be remotely familiar with.) Submit your answer and hope you're the person chosen at random. That's it!

Oh wait. You MUST include your name and city/state to be eligible.

And also 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.

Here are last week's buttons, in case you forgot:

Reelect Mayor Cucci / Councilman Nagel — 1980s button supporting Jersey City Mayor Anthony Cucci and a ticket-mate.

Reelect Mayor Cucci / Councilmen Adams O'Reilly Lando Medel — same as above, only with different ticket-mates.

Overthrow the Government — Anarchist button, circa mid- to late-'60s.

So, when you add Cucci + Cucci + Coup (which, after all, is shorthand for overthrowing the government), you might end up with ...

Coochie Coochie Coo — and don't ask me to define this. (Who do you think I am, Charo?)

Lots of people feared that spelling counted on their submissions; rest assured, it did not. Anyway, this week's winner, chosen completely at random, is (drum roll) ... Jeff Katz of West Roxbury, Mass.

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.

NOTE: ScuttleButton is being replaced by Turkey this week. The puzzle returns on Friday, Dec. 4.

Tags: ScuttleButton