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I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Can You Get a Job with a B.F.A. in Puppet Arts?

Many universities have at least one or two unusual majors as part of their curriculum. Among the ones that are the most "out there" are Fermentation Sciences (Appalachian State), Turfgrass Science (Penn State), Bagpiping (Carnegie Mellon), Astrobiology (Florida Institute of Technology), Accent Reduction and Modification (University of San Diego), Ecogastronomy (University of New Hampshire), Nautical Archaeology (Texas A&M), Wooden Boat Building (Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building) and The Beatles (Liverpool Hope University).

That said, of all the offbeat majors we've seen, the one that seems least likely to lead to employment is the B.F.A. in Puppet Arts offered by the University of Connecticut. There aren't too many productions using traditional puppetry anymore, now that Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo are dead. And the ones that are—like, say Sesame Street—are probably pretty well staffed. Meanwhile, most animation that was once done by stop-motion is now done by computer. We guess the folks who pursue that degree are crossing their fingers and hoping for a reboot of the show ALF.

It's been a few weeks since we've had a headline theme, due to illness and other issues. But it's back. The last time we did one, we gave these hints: (1) "Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit would have liked this theme, we think" and (2) "[I]f you're still working on the headline theme, we'll give the additional hint that you don't need a Ph.D. to solve it. Literally."

And here is the solution, courtesy of reader M.C. in Newton, MA (who makes clear they are not a Master of Counseling):

This week's headlines all contain a type of degree:

Republiconvention: J.D. Vance Gets His Chance—Typical law degree in the U.S.

ElectionWatch 2026: Trump Effectively Concedes D.C. Is About to Get Much Less Friendly For Him—Doctor of Chiropractic

Fascism 101: Trump Administration Masters the Art of Censorship—More than a Bachelor's, less than a Ph.D.

Legal Bytes: Supremes Call Out Missouri AG on His B.S., Yet Again—Bachelor of Science

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Caveman and Associates—Typical degree at the end of a 2-year course of study

This Week in Schadenfreude: Even 40 MPH Is a Bit Too Much for Vivek Ramaswamy—Master of Public Health

This Week in Freudenfreude: BNA May Soon Be DPM—Doctor of Podiatric Medicine

As for the hint, Fahrenheit certainly is a type of degree, though rather different from those in the headlines. I imagine Anders Celsius would also approve, as would William John Macquorn Rankine. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, would not, as the unit is just "Kelvin" rather than "degree Kelvin" which is commonly written but is incorrect.

Correct. As to the Saturday hint, there was no Ph.D. in the headlines, and so you literally did not need a Ph.D. to solve it. Today's headline adds B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) to the list.

Here are the first 60 readers to get it right:

P.Q. in Metuchen, NJ
D.L. in Springfield, IL
P.R. in Havertown, PA
M.S. in Canton, NY
T.K. in Manchester, MO
E.M. in Jersey City, NJ
M.B. in Albany, NY
J.N. in Zionsville, IN
S.K. in Ardmore, PA
M.M. in Dunellen, NJ
D.D. in Bucks County, PA
H.B. in Santiago, Chile
D.C. in Teaneck, NJ
T.T. in Conway, AR
P.H. in Bozeman, MT
M.H. in Council Grove, KS
T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts
J.F. in Fayetteville, NC
T.P. in Kings Park, NY
A.F. in Minneapolis, MN
R.J.L. in Columbus, IN
E.S. in Providence, RI
S.P. in Coventry, England, UK
R.S. in Milan, OH
J.S. in Atlanta, GA
N.S. in Los Angeles, CA
P.R. in Kirksville, MO
P.A. in Redwood City, CA
B.R. in Arlington, MA
A.F. in Boston, MA

M.W. in Altea, Spain
R.P.E.H. in London, England, UK
J.W. in Folsom, CA
D.B. in Pittsboro, NC
P.H. in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
K.H. in Albuquerque, NM
A.L.C. in Portland, OR
R.B. in Richmond, VA
M.W. in Marlborough, CT
D.H. in Portland, OR
L.A.J. in Bourbonnais, IL
T.V. in Dinwiddie, VA
B.B. in Avon, CT
G.K. in Blue Island, IL
D.M. in Oakland, CA
N.K. in Cleveland Heights, OH
A.E. in Lima, OH
J.E. in San Jose, CA
S.G. in Durham, NC
N.P. in Santa Rosa, CA
M.C. in Newton
J.S. in Wheaton, IL
P.W. in Tulalip, WA
R.R. in Pasadena, CA
M.K. in Bothell, WA
M.T. in Wheat Ridge, CO
D.W. in Fremont, CA
E.S. in Cincinnati, OH
M.B. in Denver, CO
S.F. in Pemberton Borough, NJ

The 60th correct response was received at 5:53 a.m. PT on September 12.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, and it's in the category Literature. For a hint, we'll tell you that the profile of Mark Cuban, as a potential presidential candidate, was supposed to run today, but we ran out of time and space. Too bad, because it was that item that inspired the theme.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line October 2 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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