Apr.19

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Dem 51

   

GOP 49

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Blood Work

For last week's headline theme, we gave the hint that "the Civil War historian on staff very badly wanted to work Gettysburg in, but while that fits the theme, it does not work for any headline." Then we added that it's instructive that while the unused word was "Gettysburg," the category for the theme was Arts & Entertainment. And now, here is reader C.H. in Atlanta, GA with the solution:

I believe the theme relates to films or television shows in which fellow Georgian Jeff Daniels acted:

• Mike Johnson: An End to the Heartburn?—Heartburn (2008)
• Third Party Candidates: The State of Play—State of Play (2009)
• Republican Senate Candidates: Liars, Cheaters and Carpetbaggers—Cheaters (2000)
• I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: The Purple Rose of Cairo—The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
• This Week in Schadenfreude: Dumb and Dumber—Dumb and Dumber (1994)
• This Week in Freudenfreude: The Need for Speed—Speed (1994)
• Honorable Mention: Gettysburg (1993)

While not on the list, I'll never forget the first time I heard his opening monologue in The Newsroom's first episode:

We agree, that monologue is great.

Here are the first 30 readers to get the theme right:

1. S.G. in Durham, NC
2. A.J. in Baltimore, MD
3. S.S. in Carmel, IN
4. M.B. in Albany, NY
5. W.M.H.B. in Salamanca, Spain
6. R.D. in Cheshire, CT
7. R.C. in Eagleville, PA
8. S.K. in Drexel Hill, PA
9. M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO
10. R.H.O. in Portland, ME
11. B.M. in Chico, CA
12. J.W. in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
13. G.M.K. in Mishawaka, IN
14. C.H. in Atlanta
15. G.K. in Blue Island, IL
16. S.W. in Orland Park, IL, who adds "Believe me, I've no wish to become Infamous for whiling away The Hours solving your quiz. But if I get it right two weeks in a row, I'm liable to start calling myself The Answer Man."
17. J.N. in Zionsville, IN
18. D.D. in Carversville, PA
19. D.S. in Layton, UT
20. I.G. in New York City, NY
21. A.K. in Alexandria, VA
22. I.H. in Washington, DC
23. N.S. in Los Angeles, CA
24. M.C. in Falls Church, VA
25. S.J.V. in New York City, NY
26. B.R.M. in Aurora, CO
27. A.A. in South Orange, NJ
28. J.K. in Sandy Spring, MD
29. L.D. in Bedford, MA
30. K.R. in Austin, TX

We had no idea, when we put this together, that there are so many Jeff Daniels fans out there. Quite a few of the messages had laudatory things to say about his body of work.

As to this week's theme, it requires some of the words to the right of the colon but not all, the Israel story is not a part of the puzzle, the Trivial Pursuit category would be Arts & Literature (but only very loosely), and a hint is that putting this together made us think of the opening scene from Forrest Gump.

If you have a guess, send it in to comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject "April 19 Headlines." (Z)