It Would Take More Than Two Letters To Turn Ford Into Gore

Here's this week's NPR Puzzle:

Name a well-known person from the 20th century who held an important position. Take the first and last letters of this person's last name, change each of them to the next letter of the alphabet, and you'll get the last name of another famous person who held the same position sometime after the first one. Who is it?

Vice presidents on parade! Gerald Ford, who has by far the more interesting geographical history (see his Wiki page) was Nixon's veep, and Al "The Shortest Name in Politics" Gore was Clinton's veep. The only real argument is whether vice president is "an important position."

Sunday's photos are all about Gerald Ford. (I'll be honest; I liked his wife, Betty, more than I liked him.) The first three are of Grand Rapids, MI, then one of Oak Park, IL, and the bottom two are Omaha, NE.

By contrast, Al Gore would have been Tennessee and Harvard. Boring. (I like him better than his wife, although I daresay she's a perfectly lovely person despite being called "Tipper.")

You can click on any of the photos in Sunday's post for more information.

Time for

Here are this week's picks:

Fewer than 50  51 - 100 101 - 150 151 - 200 201 - 250 251 - 300 301 - 350 351 - 400 401 - 450 451 - 500   501 - 550 551 - 600 -- Maggie Strasser 601 - 650 651 - 700 701 - 750 751 - 800 801 - 850 -- zeke creek 851 - 900 -- Ross 901 - 950 951 - 1,000 -- Word Woman

1,001 - 1,050 -- David 1,051 - 1,100 -- Henry BW 1,101 - 1,150 1,151 - 1,200 1,201 - 1,250 -- Magdalen 1,251 - 1,300 1,301 - 1,350 1,351 - 1,400 -- Curtis 1,401 - 1,450 1,451 - 1,500 1,501 - 1,550 1,551 - 1,600 1,601 - 1,650 1,651 - 1,700 1,701 - 1,750 1,751 - 1,800 1,801 - 1,850 1,851 - 1,900 1,901 - 1,950 1,951 - 2,000 -- Marie

2,001 - 2,050 -- Joe Kupe 2,051 - 2,100 2,101 - 2,150 2,151 - 2,200 2,201 - 2,250 2,251 - 2,300 2,301 - 2,350 -- skydiveboy 2,351 - 2,400 2,401 - 2,450 2,451 - 2,500 2,501 - 2,750 -- Mendo Jim 2,751 - 3,000 3,001 - 3,250 3,251 - 3,500 3,501 - 4,000 4,001 - 4,500 4,501 - 5,000  > 5,000  > 5,000 + new record

Our tie-break rule:   In the event that a single round number is announced with a qualifier such as "about" or "around" (e.g., "We received around 1,200 entries."), AND two separate people picked the ranges of numbers just before and just after that round number, the prize will be awarded to whichever entrant had not already won a prize, or in the event that both entrants had won a prize already or neither had, then to the earlier of the two entries on the famous judicial principle of "First Come First Serve," (or in technical legal jargon, "You Snooze, You Lose").  As of July 2012, this rule is officially no longer obsolete (and also I still just like having fine print).