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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Ranger Rick (a.k.a. Rick Raccoon)

We had two hints last week: (1) "Sarah Palin would certainly be unable to solve the puzzle, especially if Katie Couric is around," and (2) "[W]hile we doubt Sarah Palin could figure it out, we suspect Donald Trump probably could. After all, he's a New Yorker who likes Golf, and who fancies himself to be quite a Playboy and a Hustler."

And now, the solution, courtesy of reader B.B. in Avon, CT:

The theme is magazines:

The Epstein Files: Story of The Week Just Keeps Chugging Along

ICE Put on Ice: Judge Stops Government from Indiscriminately Grabbing People

In Congress: Democrats Get Mad, But Not Even

Programming Note: Stephen Colbert's Time on CBS Is Coming to an End

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

This Week in Schadenfreude: Find a Loophole, Save a Fortune?

This Week in Freudenfreude: The Day Mr. Rogers Made It Real Simple

The hint is a reference to Sarah Palin's 2008 interview with Katie Couric in which she was unable to name any specific magazines (or newspapers) as the sources for her news, and then turned around and claimed she reads "All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years."

Indeed. We very much wanted to fit Ranger Rick in last week, since that is the first magazine (Z) ever had a subscription to (it's about nature and stuff, so even Sarah Palin probably would like it, if she learns how to read). There was no way to make it work as part of a normal headline, though, so we saved it for the headline of this item.

Here are the first 50 readers to get it right:

S.K. in Ardmore, PA
T.K. in Manchester, MO
T.F. in Craftsbury Common, VT
M.M. in Dunellen, NJ
T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts
J.T. in Philadelphia, PA
J.E. in San Jose, CA
N.H. in London, England, UK
J.N. in Zionsville, IN
D.D. in Longmont, CO
R.S. in Landing, NJ
J.W. in Newton, MA
R.B. in Amherst, MA
D.D. in Highland Park, IL
M.W. in Altea, Spain
B.K. in Mystic, CT
E.S. in Providence, RI
D.E. in High Springs, FL
P.V.B. in Brooklyn, NY
A.G. in Plano, TX
M.H. in Ottawa, ON, Canada
R.S. in Federal Way, WA
M.J. in Oakdale, MN
J.B. in Royston, England, UK
B.K.J. in San Diego, CA

P.Q. in Metuchen, NJ
M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO
K.G.W. in Lafayette, IN
M.T. in Simpsonville, SC
B.R. in Arlington, MA
D.H. in Leesburg, AL
B.F. in Nashville, TN
S.E. in Okemos, MI
P.C. in Cleveland, OH
B.U. in St. Louis, MO
C.A. in West Palm Beach, FL
M.S. in Washington, DC
J.S. in Germantown, OH
M.K. in Larnaca, Cyprus
S.W. in Corvallis, OR
M.V. in Oak Park, IL
J.H. in Sturbridge, MA
D.B. in Pittsboro, NC
N.K. in Cleveland Heights, OH
D.D. in Carversville, PA
W.R.S in Tucson, AZ
A.A. in Branchport, NY
E.P. in Plainville, CT
G.W. in Avon, CT
G.M. in Chevy Chase, MD

The 50th correct response was received at 6:47 a.m. PT on Friday. Obviously, this theme was easier than the one that came before it.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, it's in the Trivial Pursuit category Language, and the "Never Forget" headline is not part of the puzzle. For a hint, we'll note that we were going to use a bookkeeper for this week's headline game, but then decided that would be overkill.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line July 25 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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