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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Sign of the Times

For last week's theme, we gave out THREE hints. Hint the first: [W]e'll tell you that British readers, people who are familiar with the Harry Potter books and, especially, British readers who are familiar with the Harry Potter books have a big advantage."

Hint the second: "This week's headline theme produced an interesting result. There were some early responses that said "Ah! Easy one!" And then, there were virtually no others. [Y]ou would guess this theme was inspired by the item about the two religious leaders. It wasn't, though if they were trying to solve the puzzle, we suspect they would have been in that 'easy one!' cohort. After all, as we pointed out, they are both on Team Jesus."

Hint the third: "Knowing that many readers are fans of the film Chinatown, we tried to work 'Noah' into a headline. But it just didn't work."

And here is the solution, courtesy of reader M.H. in Ottawa, ON, Canada:

This took me way too long, but your Sunday hint helped immensely. The theme this week: phrases formed with "cross"!

Today in MAGA: Better Dead than Red?: Red Cross

It's Up to You, New York: Will a Blue State Elect a MAGA Governor?: Blue Cross

Today in Dystopia: Putting the "New" in NewSpeak: New Cross, an area in southeast London

There's Something Happening Here: The No Kings Protests, Part IX: Kings Cross, also in London

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: What Is Your Condition Right Now?: Right cross

This Week in Schadenfreude: Southern (Dakota) Man, Better Keep Your Head: Southern Cross

This Week in Freudenfreude: That's the (Holy) Spirit: Holy Cross

The hint from Sunday, of course, refers to the character of Noah Cross. (Is this the first time that Electoral-Vote.com has featured a cross word puzzle?)

Indeed. Numerous Harry Potter scenes, including one of the key scenes at the end of the series, are set at Kings Cross Station. And of course the Pope and Patriarch know a thing or two about crosses. From this headline, it's "sign of the cross."

Here are the first 25 readers to get it right:

M.W. in Altea, Spain
T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts
G.W. in Avon, CT
S.K. in Ardmore, PA
R.S. in Milan, OH
B.E. in Brooklyn, New York
P.H. in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
T.K. in Manchester, MO
J.W. in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
J.N. in Zionsville, IN
C.W. in Atlantic Beach, FL
R.R. in Lancaster, PA
M.S. in Canton, NY
H.B. in Toronto, ON, Canada
J.S. in Huntington Station, NY
M.V. in Aurora, CO
D.M. in Oakland, CA
N.H. in London, England, UK
H.B. in State College, PA
M.R. in West Hartford, CT
M.H. in Ottawa
S.F. in San Marcos, CA
D.R. in San Francisco, CA
O.B. in Santa Monica, CA
J.J. in Chicago, IL

When we give a third hint on Sunday, it's a dead giveaway that we are (well) short of 50 correct responses.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, and it's in the category In the News. For a hint, we'll say that we thought British readers would have an advantage last week, though it would seem they did not. This week, we think they will REALLY have an advantage.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line November 7 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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