More Challenging

OK, what do these dudes have in common?

As you think about that for a second, I'll take a moment to throw out a philosophical question for you: What was your favorite Christmas gift you received as a kid...and what influence did it have on the rest of your life?

Pretty deep, eh?

I'll share my story with you tomorrow, but I'd be interested to hear if there was one particular toy (or book, or surgical instrument...whatever) you received that somehow directed you toward your current career, your spouse, or hobby. Let me know. Thanks.

And now we resume our discussion of how completely unfair it is for me to ask you to deduce connections that exist only in my head. And yes, that's exactly what's going on with the photos above. For some reason, these 4 guys kinda remind me of each other. That's all. There's nothing about their names, their careers, or their behaviors that tied them together as far as I can tell. They're just each kinda goofy-looking. So yeah...that was a completely unfair challenge. So sue me.

For the record, though, they are Michael Richards (famous for having the same first name as Michael Jackson), Jan Stenerud (famous for keeking mör feeld goles than any other Norwegian), Myron Floren (Lawrence Welk's accordian shred-master), and Lyle Lovett (famous for his Chuck Berry-like ability to fill entire albums with virtually the same song by merely tweaking a minor lyric here or there.)

So, how'd you do on yesterday's challenge?

OK, the answer to yesterday's puzzle is the fact that as you proceed from left to right, the description changes by one letter each time.

Hutt -- Hurt -- Curt -- Cult

Ah, I see light bulbs going on all over the place. It's so simple once the secret is revealed, isn't it? But I'm guessing that only a few Mensa members figured this one out in advance of this posting, and that most of the rest of my diminishing audience thought about it for a few minutes, said to themselves "This guy's a psycho and I'm not reading this stupid blog anymore" and went back to reading "Family Circus" instead. I don't blame them. But if you have stuck around far, I hope you'll indulge me for a few more days of this sort of thing. I'll try to make it worth your time by including some trivia that you might find interesting.

So, let us examine our sequence in detail. The leftmost character is probably familiar to all but the most hermit-like readers; he's Jabba the Hutt, from the Star Wars movies. He's George Lucas' version of Don Corleone, the mafia boss of the outer planets...which come to thing of it, is sorta the same description I'd use for Bela Oxmyx, who was featured yesterday. Hmm, I probably should've gone with an all-galaxy roster of gangland figures -- that might've been a fun puzzle.

But I digress. The second figure is the versatile actor John Hurt, who is shown here in his role as "The Elephant Man". He's probably better known for having a slimy creature burst out of his chest in "Alien", but has also done many movies in which he isn't hideously mutated. He's also in the "Hellboy" movies and a couple of "Harry Potter" films, which seems appropriate since I have trouble telling those two franchises apart. I mean, seriously, isn't "Hellboy" an appropriate name for a scar-faced young lad who practices witchcraft? I'm just sayin...

Our third hideous monster achieved fame as a ubiquitious sportscaster in the 60s and 70s. His name was Curt Gowdy, and in addition to broadcasting baseball and other obscure sports, he was a well-known sportsman (aka "huntin' and fishin' enthusiast") who has a State Park in Wyoming named after him.

And lastly, we have the Blue Öyster Cult. Some would argue that they are the greatest rock band of all time. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but they did put on a spectacular laser and smoke concert, and entertained me and my friends for countless hours when we should have been studying in college. The trivia I'll share here is that the female lead character on the TV show "Dharma and Greg" was named after guitar player Buck Dharma (the one with the band's famous "upside down question mark with arms" logo in the photo).

OK, I made that up about Dharma. I don't know if the sitcom developer was a BÖC fan or not. The name is also a Sanskrit word with multiple meanings within Hindu cultures, and roughly translates to "mojo" in New York street slang. There's your multi-cultural cross-reference for the day. You're welcome.

OK, so here's today's puzzle. I think it's a bit easier, and I expect most of the people my age to figure it out. So...what's the connection between these guys?


Thanks for playing. And have a Merry Christmas!