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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Eddie Murphy Is "The Nutty Professor"

Our headline theme clues, last week, were: (1) the headline for the first item today was almost "MuskWatch: Americans are Leary of Elon" and (2) "you should be thinking about people. Some very stand-up people." Here's the solution, courtesy of reader G.M.K. in Mishawaka, IN:

They're the names of comedians:

MuskWatch: Pushing All the Wrong Buttons—Red Buttons

Pam Bondi: Bill Barr, the Sequel—Roseanne Barr

Donald Trump: He Was Nailed to the Cross for Me—David Cross

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Rock Fish—Chris Rock

This Week in Schadenfreude: Don't Mess with... Black Churches—Lewis Black

This Week in Freudenfreude: Tryin' to Get Up That Great Big Hill of Hope—either Bob Hope, or the yakkety sax man himself, Benny Hill

To make sure we only used people who are widely recognized as stand-up comedians, we limited ourselves to Comedy Central's list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians. Eddie Murphy, from the headline of this item, is on that list, of course. So is Denis Leary, from the hint we decided to discard.

Here are the first 50 readers to get it right:

G.M.K. in Mishawaka
C.B. in Lakeville, MN
N.H. in London, England, UK
T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts
M.M. in Dunellen, NJ
M.J. in Oakdale, MN
A.G. in Plano, TX
H.B. in Toronto, ON, Canada
T.F. in Craftsbury Common, VT
M.W. in Altea, Spain
K.H. in Maryville, TN
E.S. in Providence, RI
E.W. in Silver Spring, MD
E.P. in Plainville, CT
M.L. in Iowa City, IA
E.B. in Bloomington, IL
S.K. in Ardmore, PA
C.S. in Chicago, IL
S.G. in Durham, NC
M.G. in DuBois, PA
D.E. in High Springs, FL
P.A. in Redwood City, CA
M.B. in Albany, NY
A.F. in Chelmsford, MA
M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO

J.P.M. in Eagle Mills, NY
R.K. in Bel Air, MD
P.J. in Quakertown, PA
S.T. in Federal Way, WA
M.S. in Canton, NY
R.S. in Milan, OH
D.M. in Austin, TX
K.R. in Austin, TX
B.C. in Chippewa Lake, OH
D.D. in Carversville, PA
D.O. in Brookline, MA
J.G. in Berkeley CA
M.V. in Oak Park, IL
D.M. in Oakland, CA
S.W. in Corvallis, OR
P.R. in Havertown, PA
R.G. in Washington, DC
N.P. in Santa Rosa, CA
S.R. in Robbinsville, NJ
S.M. in Warren, MI
A.R. in Arlington, VA
C.E. in Clifton Park, NY
B.B. in Avon, CT
J.E. in San Jose, CA
A.F. in Minneapolis, MN

We really wanted to get Lenny Bruce in there, but it just wasn't doable.

As to this week's theme, it relies on one word in some cases, and on multiple words in others. It's in the Trivial Pursuit category Famous People & Events (which appeared in several of the special editions of the game). And as to a hint, we'll note this one's a bit on the tough side, but you should really start by looking at the calendar.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line "February 14 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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