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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Brown Mayonaise

Pro tip: None of the 10 most popular condiments in the United States is supposed to be brown (even brown mustard is actually yellow). So, if yours turn that shade, probably best to throw them out. This advice is less useful to our British readers, as THEIR Top 10 condiments list literally includes brown sauce.

Moving along, the first hint we gave as to last week's headline theme was this: "[We] are feeling very blau that we could not find a way to get Braun into a headline." We followed with the note that the headlines COULD have been put in chronological order, and revealed what order they would have appeared in, if we had done that. Here, now, is the answer, courtesy of reader R.B. in Fairfax, VA:

Your theme this week was Black women Members of Congress:

DNC, Day 4: It's Harris' Party—Kamala, of course, was a Senator from California

DNC Diary, Day 4: The Convention Hall Was Electric—Katie Hall, D-IN, served in the House from 1982-85, first Black woman elected from Indiana

Supreme Court: Nobody Is Going to Love This Ruling—Mia Love, R-UT, the first and so far only Republican eligible for this list

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: A Hunter on the Chisholm Trail—Shirley Chisolm, D-NY, the first Black woman elected to Congress

This Week in Schadenfreude: Vance Just Can't Fudge It—Marcia Fudge, D-OH, served in the House from 2008-2021

This Week in Freudenfreude: Still Waters Run Deep—Maxine Waters, D-CA, incumbent

I usually just enjoy the puzzle and don't write in, but I had to this week because of the clue: "[W]e are feeling very blau that we could not find a way to get Braun into a headline." A reference to Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-IL, the first Black woman Senator. But it's that other word that really got my attention (for reasons that will be obvious to you but not to your readers)—"blau" literally means "blue" in German, but did you know that the slang meaning is "drunk"? Was this item written by the staff mathematician?

Not written by the staff mathematician, but written by (Z), who only passed German in college because he wrote an amusing essay about a drunken man on his German 3 final.

Here are the first 50 readers to get it right:

D.M. in Grand Rapids, MI
J.N. in Zionsville, IN
G.K. in Blue Island, IL
D.S. and S.S. in Fort Collins, CO
R.B. in Fairfax
M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO
D.D. in Carversville, PA
D.M. in Oakland, CA
J.M. in Eagle Mills, NY
T.F. in Craftsbury Common, VT
D.S. in Tinley Park, IL
M.W. in Frederick, MD
M.H. in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who adds: "It's very gratifying that American politics has progressed to the point where you can actually execute this theme! It was 'Chisholm' that got it for me. It is truly a shame that she didn't live to see the Kamala Harris campaign potentially bring home what she started oh, so many years ago."
P.R. in Kirksville, MO
A.B. in Davidson, N.C
L.W. in Los Angeles, CA
D.B. in Pittsboro, NC
P.A. in Redwood City, CA
M.M. in Wylie, TX
R.F.W. in Atlanta, GA
M.M. in Dunellen, NJ
A.L. in Jackson Heights, NY
S.K. in Ardmore, PA
J.S. in Long Beach, CA
W.S. in Greenville, NC
A.C. in Kingston, MA, who adds: "What an awesome theme and group of women! Especially for this week!"
C.S. in Tampa, FL
A.N. in Los Angeles, CA
E.W. in Skaneateles, NY
J.C. in Chicago, IL
K.R. in Austin, TX
R.M. in Philadelphia PA
R.E.M. in Brooklyn, NY
T.M. in New York City, NY
R.S. in Milan, OH
N.K. in Cleveland Heights, OH
M.F.H. in Forest Park, IL
Z.K. in Albany, NY
D.C. in South Elgin, IL
L.B. in Savannah, GA
P.B. in Princeton, NJ
A.R. in Los Angeles, CA
D.M. in Austin, TX
L.R.H. in Oakland, CA
M.B. in Albany, NY
T.Z. in Albany, NY
T.J. in London, England, UK
W.L. in Springfield, MO
J.P. in Folsom, CA
J.S. in Columbia, MO

Note that we accepted "ballpark" answers.

As to this week's theme, we decided to return to songs for the first time in a while. Sometimes the song title is the whole phrase to the right of the colon, sometimes it's just part. That said, we tried to use famous songs from famous bands, and generally with fairly distinctive titles. The Trivial Pursuit category, beyond World of Music (from Trivial Pursuit Master Game - Walt Disney Family Edition), would be Sports & Leisure & Food (from Trivial Pursuit for Juniors). As to a hint, we'll say that if a headline word appears to be misspelled on "headlines theme" day, it almost certainly is not.

Note also that the theme is ALWAYS limited to the words to the right of the colon. That means that if a headline has no colon, it's not part of the puzzle. As noted in the past, we exclude headlines for items where, in our judgment, a game seems inappropriate. This week, that's the Arlington story.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com, ideally with subject line "August 30 Headlines." (Z)

This item appeared on www.electoral-vote.com. Read it Monday through Friday for political and election news, Saturday for answers to reader's questions, and Sunday for letters from readers.

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