New Game: Switcheroo

[Pastor Fireball]

Identify the 77 people and fictional characters based on the clues below. Using each answer only once, form 26 matches of 3 names and 2 of the associated words in the Word List based on a Tangredi, or hidden principle that you must discover for yourself. There may be alternate matches, but only one configuration will allow you to complete the puzzle.

Now I'm sure that most of you are sitting there, demanding that I check my math. "If there are 77 names and each can be used only once, you can't make 26 triplets because 77 isn't divisible by 3." Well, that's the Fireball twist this time around. You have to identify this clueless person on your own in order to complete the 26th and final triplet.

1. Let's clear up a myth: He and his longtime partner have never been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they do have a permanent memorial there.

2. Every NBA fan should know that he usually sits next to Jack Nicholson at L.A. Lakers' home games.

3. Before she died, Patti Page re-recorded her most famous song with this man as her pianist.

4. Riding high with eleven career #1 hits on the Billboard country chart, she was also the first country singer to win an American Music Award.

5. Ottumwa, IA, is best known as the hometown of "M*A*S*H" character Radar O'Reilly. This actor is probably Ottumwa's most famous real-life native.

6. Nora Ephron must've been humbled when a character based on her early life won this actress a Tony.

7. Jesse Jackson has had a few embarrassing moments in his lifetime. Having this man deliver his presidential nomination speech in 1984 would rank pretty high.

8. As luck would have it, he learned his craft at the Tennis-Club Blau-Weiss Leimen, which his father founded.

9. Michigan Republicans have wanted to turn the Wolverine State into a "red" state for years. They officially got their wish earlier this year, thanks to this mayor.

10. Everybody on the Bored probably breathed a sigh of relief when, of all of the Hollywood people who died this summer, she was the only one who was not a victim of the Tangredi curse that plagued my last puzzle. (She appeared in her fair share of turkeys, but none of them appeared in my puzzle.)

11. Sir Christopher Wren designed and built the church where this man was baptized in 1757.

12. In an effort to distance itself from its racist founder, the city council of Tulsa, OK, recently voted to rename one if its major streets and neighborhoods after this important American. (Here's the weird part: They have the same surname, so the place names never actually changed.)

13. He may share his real name with a genius, but he's only related to an "accomplished" stuntman.

14. An astonished Leontyne Price was among the guests at a party where he announced that he was leaving the wine business to pursue his acting career.

15. That was Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, that appeared on the cover of his 1979 album.

16. Exactly one day after I was born, the movie "Fame" was released. But exactly one day before I was born, my mother sat in the front row of a performance by this rockabilly singer, where he performed his signature song (which would become a Top 10 hit a few weeks later).

17. The record that he held was broken by John Dingell almost exactly 3 years after his death. (Not Dingell's death, obviously, as he is still very much alive at the time of this posting.)

18. He openly despises awards shows, which is why he has never submitted anything from the popular sitcom or game show that he stars in for Emmy consideration. (He did win two People's Choice Awards for his sitcom, though.)

19. A current Georgia politician and the famous daughter of a former Georgia politician share this first and last name (though they are not related).

20. This actor was the most famous member of George Walton Academy's football championship team in the 1979 season.

21. Gable, Brando, and Flynn all famously played this 18th-century figure on film, but Wilton Power was the first to do it.

22. Up until 2005, the game show that he hosted had won more Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show than any other in history.

23. You may or may not know that his real first name was Frank and he adopted his stage name from casting director Nan Collins' hometown.

24. Shortly before his death, he accepted the co-starring role in a film that began with him performing in the middle of the Australian outback.

25. Early in his career, he played a sailor in a Hitchcock classic. Years later, he appeared in Hitchcock's last film.

26. Lima, Ohio, mourned the loss of this native in 2012. "Family Guy" dedicated the episode entitled "Ratings Guy" to her memory, as she was a semi-regular voice on the series.

27. Fighting and exploring right up until his death, he was buried at sea in a lead coffin, wearing his full suit of armor. Modern day explorers are still looking for his corpse and coffin.

28. It should be no surprise that, in 2012, she tied the "gold"-en achievement that was previously achieved by her coach's sister-in-law.

29. She and the husband of the founder of the management company that she hired to kickstart her solo career dueted on a rock ballad that peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1989. To this day, it's the only Top 10 pop hit for either one of them.

30. He disowned his illegitimate son over the Revolutionary War, but he graciously took in his illegitimate son's illegitimate son toward the end of the Revolutionary War.

31. Could it be possible for a Howard University professor to become one of the first Black actors to direct episodes of his soap opera and the first actor from his soap opera to win an acting Emmy? The answer is yes.

32. Reality TV hasn't been kind to this popular 1980s singer. She got iced on "Skating with Celebrities", she got fired from "Celebrity Apprentice", and the singing competition on which she served as a judge had its second season canceled before production began.

33. You might be interested to know that this classical composer is a three-time Oscar nominee, thanks to a Dalai Lama adaptation, a Michael Cunningham adaptation, and a Zoe Heller adaptation.

34. Bell v. State was declared a mistrial and the conviction in Carr v. The State was overturned, both thanks to this prosecutor's misconduct. (They're not this person's only public controversies.)

35. Although her first album and second single became worldwide hits, she never had another successful album or single in the U.S. after she forgot the lyrics to our national anthem at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. (Very bad timing, as 9/11 occurred a month later.)

36. "Bad" doesn't begin to describe the animated series featuring this titular character. This "nasty and brutish" series was canceled after 7 episodes, making it one of the biggest turkeys of recent TV seasons.

37. Yasmine Bleeth's first co-star was this man who previously featured in the greatest comedy film ever.

38. Brain cancer isn't stopping this TV star. Doctors said she should've been dead by now, but she hasn't danced her final dance (both in real life and on TV) just yet.

39. Even in the womb, this music legend was exposed to Indian music. His mother listened to "Radio India" every Sunday at her home on 12 Arnold Grove while she was pregnant with him.

40. This actress, whose film career lasted only a decade, became a member of AMPAS almost 50 years after she retired... thanks to a lot of convincing from her friend, Ann Miller.

41. Racist politics weren't always in this man's blood. He got his first job at age 19 as a sports reporter for his city's newspaper. But by the time he worked his way up to city news editor, his conservative father-in-law convinced him to become politically active.

42. Absurd as it may seem, this comedian's parents thought that writing comedy as a teenager was a mental disorder, so they sent him to a psychoanalyst. After one visit, the psychoanalyst told him, "It's them, not you."

43. You might remember that he inbounded the final pass in what many people (myself not included) consider the greatest college basketball game of all time.

44. Embarking on his successful career as a movie director at age 23, he was probably not thrilled when the title of his directorial debut became better known as the title of a long-running video game series that began exactly 20 years later.

45. DFW Airport was not thrilled when he tried to smuggle a toy knife, a toy gun, and toy hand grenades in a 1991 publicity stunt.

46. O'Connor is not the last name of the Irish woman whom this Oscar-winning actor married in 1978.

47. He recorded over 40 jazz albums before his death in 1987, but he was perhaps better known as the second husband of the R&B legend whose backing band he led.

48. It made headlines when his 1764 copy of the Koran was used in 2007.

49. On her 25th birthday, she won the Best Actress Oscar. Thirty years later, she had one of the most famous falls in movie history.

50. His 35-year-long TV and film career includes roles that range from one of the greatest military heroes in American history to one of the worst military traitors in American history. And he played The King, too.

51. "Everybody Hates Chris", "George Lopez", and "Two and a Half Men" are some of the sitcoms where this depression posterboy has made his most recent cameos.

52. She connects Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, "Happy Days", and "The Bold and the Beautiful".

53. Up until 2008, this Emmy-winning interior decorator's face could be seen five days a week on cable TV. Now his face is only seen at Office Depot.

54. No other woman in the NASA Astronaut Corps class of 1978 besides her was a mother at the time of selection.

55. White Rain hairspray and Sanderson Farms chicken can boast that they've had her as their longtime spokesperson.

56. Of all of the guys who were known as the M&M Boys, he was the youngest "M" to help lead his team to its first championship appearance in franchise history.

57. "Rugged romantic" was how this actor was billed in the trailer for the only movie that he made with Esther Williams.

58. This former U.S. House representative, who is the son of a former U.S. House representative, destroyed his own political career when he refused to quit the U.S. Senate race that he had no chance of winning and refused to endorse the independent candidate who could have won that U.S. Senate race.

59. Here's an interesting Miss America fact: This Miss Kansas placed third runner-up in the year where the crown went to a future electric scooter spokesperson.

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".

61. On June 4, 1951, this world-renowned dancer became the father-in-law of a man whose medical discovery almost exactly 23 years later would save millions of lives.

62. Frankie Lohman was the last man he knocked out, bringing his lifetime amateur boxing record to 12-4 before retiring to become an actor.

63. After a successful two-year stint as a stock player with Shubert Theaters, this actor went on to a long Hollywood career in westerns, musicals, and film noir. But it was his co-starring role in a holiday classic that we most remember him now.

64. Chances are you would not survive 11 stab wounds to your face, neck, and back. This person not only survived it, but was the only person on his team to play in every single game that season.

65. Last July, this legendary composer's new work, Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, had its worldwide debut postponed due to illness. (Its new debut date is this December.)

66. Unbeknownst to him, this actor's lifelong love of flying would eventually lead to his witnessing one of the most tragic events in American history. He was flying his Beechcraft Baron directly over the World Trade Center at the exact moment that the first plane flew into it.

67. Every TV and film appearance this blonde actress has made in her career has been with her natural hair color... with the exception of her acting debut in a 1982 ABC Afterschool Special, where she was a brunette.

68. In the current U.S. Congress, she is older than any other female representative. (Only three male representatives are older than she is.)

69. Nobody knows if this fictional TV character would be as well-remembered today if he were still known by his original name of Sonny Friendly.

70. McClure, VA--birthplace of this bluegrass legend--still has the ZIP code of 24269, even though its only post office closed in 2011.

71. You remember that she wanted to focus on her salad, but you may not remember that she said that to Jane Clayson.

72. Possibly one record that will never be matched or broken is the one that she still holds for shortest acting performance to win an Oscar.

73. Unexpectedly, his most famous film (for which he would get both a Golden Globe nomination and a Top 10 pop single) became a worldwide success... even though it was originally intended to go straight to video after its first weekend at the box office.

74. Zero people on this forum might have remembered the WWF WrestleMania where, in the main event, this football star fought and beat Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow.

75. Zero people on this forum were even alive when this man became the only gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history to win the Democratic primary and the Republican primary at the same time.

76. Leonard Nimoy starred in a 1971 TV movie that took place on a submarine named after this military leader.

77. Everybody would have had a difficult time remembering the name Zacharenko, so it was a good thing that two RKO executives changed this actress's name. (She never liked her forced new name.)

Word List
Bond
Bucket
Castle
Chicago
Clock
Cosmetic
Daddy
Dame
Depend
Different
Emmys
Express
F-Word
Fake
Falls
Fox
Gloria
God
Heartbeat
Hurricane
Invest
Jerry
Junction
Lawyers
Lawyers
Line
Lion
Meet
Minnesota
Monica
New York
New York
NFL
North
North
Nurse
Pants
Pie
Porter
Porter
Poster
Proud
Recall
Rose
Silver
Solo
Stamp
Stooges
Swimming
Talk
Talk
3000

[frogman042]

Only have time to read through a few of the early clues:

13. He may share his real name with a genius, but he's only related to an "accomplished" stuntman.

Albert Brooks (real name Albert Einstein - and his brother is 'Super Dave' Einstein)

21. Gable, Brando, and Flynn all famously played this 18th-century figure on film, but Wilton Power was the first to do it.

Christian Fletcher

22. Up until 2005, the game show that he hosted had won more Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show than any other in history.

Bob Barker?

24. Shortly before his death, he accepted the co-starring role in a film that began with him performing in the middle of the Australian outback.

Steve Irwin?

25. Early in his career, he played a sailor in a Hitchcock classic. Years later, he appeared in Hitchcock's last film
Bruce Dern?

[Vandal]

13. He may share his real name with a genius, but he's only related to an "accomplished" stuntman.

Albert Brooks

38. Brain cancer isn't stopping this TV star. Doctors said she should've been dead by now, but she hasn't danced her final dance (both in real life and on TV) just yet.

Valerie Harper

43. You might remember that he inbounded the final pass in what many people (myself not included) consider the greatest college basketball game of all time.

Grant Hill

64. Chances are you would not survive 11 stab wounds to your face, neck, and back. This person not only survived it, but was the only person on his team to play in every single game that season.

Paul Pierce

[frogman042]

30. He disowned his illegitimate son over the Revolutionary War, but he graciously took in his illegitimate son's illegitimate son toward the end of the Revolutionary War.

Ben Franklin

48. It made headlines when his 1764 copy of the Koran was used in 2007.

Thomas Jefferson

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".

Arthur Godfry?

72. Possibly one record that will never be matched or broken is the one that she still holds for shortest acting performance to win an Oscar.

Beatrice Strait?

[franktangredi]

Oh, goodie! A new game! First pass.

1. Let's clear up a myth: He and his longtime partner have never been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they do have a permanent memorial there.
BUD ABBOTT -- since the answers seem to be in alphabetical order again

6. Nora Ephron must've been humbled when a character based on her early life won this actress a Tony.
ELIZABETH ASHLEY

7. Jesse Jackson has had a few embarrassing moments in his lifetime. Having this man deliver his presidential nomination speech in 1984 would rank pretty high.
MARION BARRY

10. Everybody on the Bored probably breathed a sigh of relief when, of all of the Hollywood people who died this summer, she was the only one who was not a victim of the Tangredi curse that plagued my last puzzle. (She appeared in her fair share of turkeys, but none of them appeared in my puzzle.)
KAREN BLACK

16. Exactly one day after I was born, the movie "Fame" was released. But exactly one day before I was born, my mother sat in the front row of a performance by this rockabilly singer, where he performed his signature song (which would become a Top 10 hit a few weeks later).
THE YEAR IS 1980, IF THAT HELPS ANYONE

17. The record that he held was broken by John Dingell almost exactly 3 years after his death. (Not Dingell's death, obviously, as he is still very much alive at the time of this posting.)
ROBERT BYRD

19. A current Georgia politician and the famous daughter of a former Georgia politician share this first and last name (though they are not related).
AMY CARTER

21. Gable, Brando, and Flynn all famously played this 18th-century figure on film, but Wilton Power was the first to do it.
FLETCHER CHRISTIAN

22. Up until 2005, the game show that he hosted had won more Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show than any other in history.
DICK CLARK? RAY COMBS? BUD COLLYER? I can't think of anybody else who might fit alphabetically here

23. You may or may not know that his real first name was Frank and he adopted his stage name from casting director Nan Collins' hometown.
GARY COOPER

25. Early in his career, he played a sailor in a Hitchcock classic. Years later, he appeared in Hitchcock's last film.
BRUCE DERN

27. Fighting and exploring right up until his death, he was buried at sea in a lead coffin, wearing his full suit of armor. Modern day explorers are still looking for his corpse and coffin.
HERNANDO DE SOTO?

30. He disowned his illegitimate son over the Revolutionary War, but he graciously took in his illegitimate son's illegitimate son toward the end of the Revolutionary War.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

31. Could it be possible for a Howard University professor to become one of the first Black actors to direct episodes of his soap opera and the first actor from his soap opera to win an acting Emmy? The answer is yes.
AL FREEMAN, JR.

32. Reality TV hasn't been kind to this popular 1980s singer. She got iced on "Skating with Celebrities", she got fired from "Celebrity Apprentice", and the singing competition on which she served as a judge had its second season canceled before production began.

33. You might be interested to know that this classical composer is a three-time Oscar nominee, thanks to a Dalai Lama adaptation, a Michael Cunningham adaptation, and a Zoe Heller adaptation.
PHILIP GLASS

36. "Bad" doesn't begin to describe the animated series featuring this titular character. This "nasty and brutish" series was canceled after 7 episodes, making it one of the biggest turkeys of recent TV seasons.
The "nasty and brutish" part seems to be a reference to Thomas Hobbes, but that doesn't fit alphabetically.

37. Yasmine Bleeth's first co-star was this man who previously featured in the greatest comedy film ever.
Since I doubt that she ever worked with Charlie Chaplin, this must be someone from IAMMMMW. Alphabetically, maybe BUDDY HACKETT?

38. Brain cancer isn't stopping this TV star. Doctors said she should've been dead by now, but she hasn't danced her final dance (both in real life and on TV) just yet.
VALERIE HARPER

39. Even in the womb, this music legend was exposed to Indian music. His mother listened to "Radio India" every Sunday at her home on 12 Arnold Grove while she was pregnant with him.
GEORGE HARRISON

44. Embarking on his successful career as a movie director at age 23, he was probably not thrilled when the title of his directorial debut became better known as the title of a long-running video game series that began exactly 20 years later.
RON HOWARD

49. On her 25th birthday, she won the Best Actress Oscar. Thirty years later, she had one of the most famous falls in movie history.
JENNIFER JONES

57. "Rugged romantic" was how this actor was billed in the trailer for the only movie that he made with Esther Williams.
RICARDO MONTALBAN?

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".
The character was supposedly based on Arthur Godfrey, but that doesn't fit alphabetically

63. After a successful two-year stint as a stock player with Shubert Theaters, this actor went on to a long Hollywood career in westerns, musicals, and film noir. But it was his co-starring role in a holiday classic that we most remember him now.
JOHN PAYNE

68. In the current U.S. Congress, she is older than any other female representative. (Only three male representatives are older than she is.)
LOUISE SLAUGHTER

69. Nobody knows if this fictional TV character would be as well-remembered today if he were still known by his original name of Sonny Friendly.
MURRAY SLAUGHTER?

72. Possibly one record that will never be matched or broken is the one that she still holds for shortest acting performance to win an Oscar.
BEATRICE STRAIGHT

73. Unexpectedly, his most famous film (for which he would get both a Golden Globe nomination and a Top 10 pop single) became a worldwide success... even though it was originally intended to go straight to video after its first weekend at the box office.
PATRICK SWAYZE?

[silverscreenselect]

Identify the 77 people and fictional characters based on the clues below. Using each answer only once, form 26 matches of 3 names and 2 of the associated words in the Word List based on a Tangredi, or hidden principle that you must discover for yourself. There may be alternate matches, but only one configuration will allow you to complete the puzzle.

Now I'm sure that most of you are sitting there, demanding that I check my math. "If there are 77 names and each can be used only once, you can't make 26 triplets because 77 isn't divisible by 3." Well, that's the Fireball twist this time around. You have to identify this clueless person on your own in order to complete the 26th and final triplet.

1. Let's clear up a myth: He and his longtime partner have never been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they do have a permanent memorial there.

Abbott or Costello?

17. The record that he held was broken by John Dingell almost exactly 3 years after his death. (Not Dingell's death, obviously, as he is still very much alive at the time of this posting.)

Jamie Whitten

18. He openly despises awards shows, which is why he has never submitted anything from the popular sitcom or game show that he stars in for Emmy consideration. (He did win two People's Choice Awards for his sitcom, though.)

Drew Carey

21. Gable, Brando, and Flynn all famously played this 18th-century figure on film, but Wilton Power was the first to do it.

Fletcher Christian

33. You might be interested to know that this classical composer is a three-time Oscar nominee, thanks to a Dalai Lama adaptation, a Michael Cunningham adaptation, and a Zoe Heller adaptation.

Phillip Glass

49. On her 25th birthday, she won the Best Actress Oscar. Thirty years later, she had one of the most famous falls in movie history.

Jennifer Jones

57. "Rugged romantic" was how this actor was billed in the trailer for the only movie that he made with Esther Williams.

72. Possibly one record that will never be matched or broken is the one that she still holds for shortest acting performance to win an Oscar.

Beatrice Straight

[smilergrogan]

5. Ottumwa, IA, is best known as the hometown of "M*A*S*H" character Radar O'Reilly. This actor is probably Ottumwa's most famous real-life native.
TOM ARNOLD, I think

26. Lima, Ohio, mourned the loss of this native in 2012. "Family Guy" dedicated the episode entitled "Ratings Guy" to her memory, as she was a semi-regular voice on the series.
Not just Lima, OH - Frank must have missed this one somehow.

28. It should be no surprise that, in 2012, she tied the "gold"-en achievement that was previously achieved by her coach's sister-in-law.
The sister-in-law is Florence Griffith-Joyner and coach Bob Kersee - I'm drawing a blank on the sprinter's name

[franktangredi]

11. Sir Christopher Wren designed and built the church where this man was baptized in 1757.

The first British name I could think of that fits alphabetically and chronologically is WILLIAM BLAKE. No idea if that's correct, though.

[silverscreenselect]

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".

If the word "secret" is intended as a clue, this might be a reference to Garry Moore, longtime host of I've Got a Secret, who got his start years earlier in radio (although not on Secret). He would seem to fit alphabetically.

[franktangredi]

46. O'Connor is not the last name of the Irish woman whom this Oscar-winning actor married in 1978.

JEREMY IRONS

[franktangredi]

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".

If the word "secret" is intended as a clue, this might be a reference to Garry Moore, longtime host of I've Got a Secret, who got his start years earlier in radio (although not on Secret). He would seem to fit alphabetically.

Henry Morgan was a regular on the show and would also fit alphabetically.

[franktangredi]

53. Up until 2008, this Emmy-winning interior decorator's face could be seen five days a week on cable TV. Now his face is only seen at Office Depot.

This was nagging me because I knew it was somebody I'd once used in a game. CHRISTOPHER LOWELL

[smilergrogan]

28. It should be no surprise that, in 2012, she tied the "gold"-en achievement that was previously achieved by her coach's sister-in-law.
The sister-in-law is Florence Griffith-Joyner and coach Bob Kersee - I'm drawing a blank on the sprinter's name

ALLYSON FELIX

Seems to be more last names that are first names than usual. PAUL PIERCE could make Pierce Brosnan, goes with BOND

The Tangredi could be something like 68. LOUIS SLAUGHTER + 21. FLETCHER CHRISTIAN = Louise Fletcher, goes with NURSE, and the other part would be a Christian ___, goes with ?
So we would need 26 (or 25) answers to serve as the middle part of the trios, using both halves of the name in the other capacity to make two matches.

[mellytu74]

20. This actor was the most famous member of George Walton Academy's football championship team in the 1979 season.

KYLE CHANDLER

[kroxquo]

1. Let's clear up a myth: He and his longtime partner have never been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although they do have a permanent memorial there.
Either Bud Abbott or Lou Costello

8. As luck would have it, he learned his craft at the Tennis-Club Blau-Weiss Leimen, which his father founded.

Boris Becker?

15. That was Soufriere Hills, Montserrat, that appeared on the cover of his 1979 album.
Jimmy Buffett?

18. He openly despises awards shows, which is why he has never submitted anything from the popular sitcom or game show that he stars in for Emmy consideration. (He did win two People's Choice Awards for his sitcom, though.)
Drew Carey

21. Gable, Brando, and Flynn all famously played this 18th-century figure on film, but Wilton Power was the first to do it.
Fletcher Christian

22. Up until 2005, the game show that he hosted had won more Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Game Show than any other in history.
Alex Trebek?

25. Early in his career, he played a sailor in a Hitchcock classic. Years later, he appeared in Hitchcock's last film.
Bruce Dern?

30. He disowned his illegitimate son over the Revolutionary War, but he graciously took in his illegitimate son's illegitimate son toward the end of the Revolutionary War.
Ben Franklin

32. Reality TV hasn't been kind to this popular 1980s singer. She got iced on "Skating with Celebrities", she got fired from "Celebrity Apprentice", and the singing competition on which she served as a judge had its second season canceled before production began.
Cyndi Lauper?

38. Brain cancer isn't stopping this TV star. Doctors said she should've been dead by now, but she hasn't danced her final dance (both in real life and on TV) just yet.
Valerie Harper

39. Even in the womb, this music legend was exposed to Indian music. His mother listened to "Radio India" every Sunday at her home on 12 Arnold Grove while she was pregnant with him.
George Harrison?

41. Racist politics weren't always in this man's blood. He got his first job at age 19 as a sports reporter for his city's newspaper. But by the time he worked his way up to city news editor, his conservative father-in-law convinced him to become politically active.
Jesse Helms

43. You might remember that he inbounded the final pass in what many people (myself not included) consider the greatest college basketball game of all time.
Grant Hill?

44. Embarking on his successful career as a movie director at age 23, he was probably not thrilled when the title of his directorial debut became better known as the title of a long-running video game series that began exactly 20 years later.
Ron Howard

60. You know it's no "secret" that his candid endorsement of a local shoe store on live radio was the presumed basis for a scene in Andy Griffith's classic movie "A Face in the Crowd".
Arthur Godfrey

62. Frankie Lohman was the last man he knocked out, bringing his lifetime amateur boxing record to 12-4 before retiring to become an actor.
Tony Danza?

63. After a successful two-year stint as a stock player with Shubert Theaters, this actor went on to a long Hollywood career in westerns, musicals, and film noir. But it was his co-starring role in a holiday classic that we most remember him now.
Darren McGavin?

72. Possibly one record that will never be matched or broken is the one that she still holds for shortest acting performance to win an Oscar.
Can't remember her name, but it was the wife in Network

[Bob Juch]

62. Frankie Lohman was the last man he knocked out, bringing his lifetime amateur boxing record to 12-4 before retiring to become an actor.

RYAN O'NEAL

[mellytu74]

71. You remember that she wanted to focus on her salad, but you may not remember that she said that to Jane Clayson.

MARTHA STEWART

74. Zero people on this forum might have remembered the WWF WrestleMania where, in the main event, this football star fought and beat Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow.

LAWRENCE TAYLOR


77. Everybody would have had a difficult time remembering the name Zacharenko, so it was a good thing that two RKO executives changed this actress's name. (She never liked her forced new name.)

NATALIE WOOD

[Vandal]

32. Reality TV hasn't been kind to this popular 1980s singer. She got iced on "Skating with Celebrities", she got fired from "Celebrity Apprentice", and the singing competition on which she served as a judge had its second season canceled before production began.

Deborah Gibson

[ToLiveIsToFly]

35. Although her first album and second single became worldwide hits, she never had another successful album or single in the U.S. after she forgot the lyrics to our national anthem at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. (Very bad timing, as 9/11 occurred a month later.)
MACY GRAY

70. McClure, VA--birthplace of this bluegrass legend--still has the ZIP code of 24269, even though its only post office closed in 2011.
RALPH STANLEY

[smilergrogan]

35. Although her first album and second single became worldwide hits, she never had another successful album or single in the U.S. after she forgot the lyrics to our national anthem at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. (Very bad timing, as 9/11 occurred a month later.)
MACY GRAY

70. McClure, VA--birthplace of this bluegrass legend--still has the ZIP code of 24269, even though its only post office closed in 2011.
RALPH STANLEY

Ok, this convinces me. William H. Macy played JERRY Lundegard in "Fargo", and Gray Davis was removed from office by a RECALL. I'm assuming that means we need a William and a Davis on the list (the Davis could also connect to 48. THOMAS JEFFERSON, but I don't know which word to put with Jefferson Davis.)

[smilergrogan]

Identify the 77 people and fictional characters based on the clues below. Using each answer only once, form 26 matches of 3 names and 2 of the associated words in the Word List based on a Tangredi, or hidden principle that you must discover for yourself. There may be alternate matches, but only one configuration will allow you to complete the puzzle.

Now I'm sure that most of you are sitting there, demanding that I check my math. "If there are 77 names and each can be used only once, you can't make 26 triplets because 77 isn't divisible by 3." Well, that's the Fireball twist this time around. You have to identify this clueless person on your own in order to complete the 26th and final triplet.

1. BUD ABBOTT
2. Every NBA fan should know that he usually sits next to Jack Nicholson at L.A. Lakers' home games.

3. Before she died, Patti Page re-recorded her most famous song with this man as her pianist.

4. Riding high with eleven career #1 hits on the Billboard country chart, she was also the first country singer to win an American Music Award.

5. TOM ARNOLD
6. ELIZABETH ASHLEY
7. MARION BARRY
8. BORIS BECKER
9. Michigan Republicans have wanted to turn the Wolverine State into a "red" state for years. They officially got their wish earlier this year, thanks to this mayor.

10. KAREN BLACK
*11. WILLIAM BLAKE
12. In an effort to distance itself from its racist founder, the city council of Tulsa, OK, recently voted to rename one if its major streets and neighborhoods after this important American. (Here's the weird part: They have the same surname, so the place names never actually changed.)

13. ALBERT BROOKS
14. An astonished Leontyne Price was among the guests at a party where he announced that he was leaving the wine business to pursue his acting career.
Somebody BROSNAN?
*15. JIMMY BUFFETT
16. Exactly one day after I was born, the movie "Fame" was released. But exactly one day before I was born, my mother sat in the front row of a performance by this rockabilly singer, where he performed his signature song (which would become a Top 10 hit a few weeks later).

17. ROBERT BYRD
18. DREW CAREY
19. AMY CARTER
20. KYLE CHANDLER
*21. FLETCHER CHRISTIAN
22. DICK CLARK
23. GARY COOPER
*24. Shortly before his death, he accepted the co-starring role in a film that began with him performing in the middle of the Australian outback.
SAMMY DAVIS?
*25. BRUCE DERN
26. Lima, Ohio, mourned the loss of this native in 2012. "Family Guy" dedicated the episode entitled "Ratings Guy" to her memory, as she was a semi-regular voice on the series.
WAITING FOR FRANK TO GET THIS
27. HERNANDO DE SOTO
28. ALLYSON FELIX
29. She and the husband of the founder of the management company that she hired to kickstart her solo career dueted on a rock ballad that peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1989. To this day, it's the only Top 10 pop hit for either one of them.

30. BEN FRANKLIN
31. AL FREEMAN, JR.
32. DEBORAH GIBSON
33. PHILLIP GLASS
34. Bell v. State was declared a mistrial and the conviction in Carr v. The State was overturned, both thanks to this prosecutor's misconduct. (They're not this person's only public controversies.)

*35. MACY GRAY
36. "Bad" doesn't begin to describe the animated series featuring this titular character. This "nasty and brutish" series was canceled after 7 episodes, making it one of the biggest turkeys of recent TV seasons.

37. BUDDY HACKETT
38. VALERIE HARPER
39. GEORGE HARRISON
40. This actress, whose film career lasted only a decade, became a member of AMPAS almost 50 years after she retired... thanks to a lot of convincing from her friend, Ann Miller.

41. JESSE HELMS
42. Absurd as it may seem, this comedian's parents thought that writing comedy as a teenager was a mental disorder, so they sent him to a psychoanalyst. After one visit, the psychoanalyst told him, "It's them, not you."

43. GRANT HILL
44. RON HOWARD
45. DFW Airport was not thrilled when he tried to smuggle a toy knife, a toy gun, and toy hand grenades in a 1991 publicity stunt.

46. JEREMY IRONS
47. He recorded over 40 jazz albums before his death in 1987, but he was perhaps better known as the second husband of the R&B legend whose backing band he led.

48. THOMAS JEFFERSON
49. JENNIFER JONES
50. His 35-year-long TV and film career includes roles that range from one of the greatest military heroes in American history to one of the worst military traitors in American history. And he played The King, too.

51. "Everybody Hates Chris", "George Lopez", and "Two and a Half Men" are some of the sitcoms where this depression posterboy has made his most recent cameos.

52. She connects Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, "Happy Days", and "The Bold and the Beautiful".

53. CHRISTOPHER LOWELL
54. No other woman in the NASA Astronaut Corps class of 1978 besides her was a mother at the time of selection.

55. White Rain hairspray and Sanderson Farms chicken can boast that they've had her as their longtime spokesperson.

56. Of all of the guys who were known as the M&M Boys, he was the youngest "M" to help lead his team to its first championship appearance in franchise history.

57. "Rugged romantic" was how this actor was billed in the trailer for the only movie that he made with Esther Williams.
RICARDO MONTALBAN?
58. This former U.S. House representative, who is the son of a former U.S. House representative, destroyed his own political career when he refused to quit the U.S. Senate race that he had no chance of winning and refused to endorse the independent candidate who could have won that U.S. Senate race.

59. Here's an interesting Miss America fact: This Miss Kansas placed third runner-up in the year where the crown went to a future electric scooter spokesperson.

60. HENRY MORGAN
61. On June 4, 1951, this world-renowned dancer became the father-in-law of a man whose medical discovery almost exactly 23 years later would save millions of lives.

62. RYAN O'NEAL
*63. JOHN PAYNE
*64. PAUL PIERCE
65. Last July, this legendary composer's new work, Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, had its worldwide debut postponed due to illness. (Its new debut date is this December.)

66. Unbeknownst to him, this actor's lifelong love of flying would eventually lead to his witnessing one of the most tragic events in American history. He was flying his Beechcraft Baron directly over the World Trade Center at the exact moment that the first plane flew into it.

67. Every TV and film appearance this blonde actress has made in her career has been with her natural hair color... with the exception of her acting debut in a 1982 ABC Afterschool Special, where she was a brunette.

*68. LOUISE SLAUGHTER
69. Nobody knows if this fictional TV character would be as well-remembered today if he were still known by his original name of Sonny Friendly.
MURRAY SLAUGHTER?
70. RALPH STANLEY
*71. MARTHA STEWART
72. BEATRICE STRAIGHT
73. PATRICK SWAYZE
74. LAWRENCE TAYLOR
75. Zero people on this forum were even alive when this man became the only gubernatorial candidate in U.S. history to win the Democratic primary and the Republican primary at the same time.

76. Leonard Nimoy starred in a 1971 TV movie that took place on a submarine named after this military leader.

77. NATALIE WOOD

Word List
*Bond
Bucket
Castle
Chicago
Clock
Cosmetic
Daddy
Dame
Depend
Different
Emmys
Express
*F-Word
Fake
Falls
Fox
Gloria
God
Heartbeat
Hurricane
*Invest
*Jerry
Junction
Lawyers
Lawyers
Line
Lion
Meet
*Minnesota
Monica
New York
New York
NFL
North
North
*Nurse
Pants
Pie
Porter
Porter
Poster
Proud
*Recall
Rose
Silver
*Solo
Stamp
Stooges
Swimming
Talk
Talk
3000

Matches:
11. WILLIAM Blake + 35. MACY GRAY + 24. Sammy DAVIS? = William H. Macy (JERRY) and Gray Davis (RECALL)
68. LOUISE Slaughter + 21. FLETCHER CHRISTIAN + ?. Christian ? = Louise Fletcher (NURSE) and Christian ? (?)
?. ? PAUL + 64. PAUL PIERCE + 14? ? BROSNAN? = ? Paul (?) and Pierce Brosnan (BOND)
?. ? JOHN + 63. JOHN PAYNE + 71. Martha STEWART = ? John (?) and Payne Stewart (SOLO?)
15. Jimmy BUFFETT = Warren Buffett (INVEST)
25. BRUCE Dern = Lenny BRUCE (F-WORD?)

[franktangredi]

1. BUD ABBOTT + 43. GRANT HILL + 38. VALERIE HARPER = Bud Grant (Minnesota) + Hill Harper

Minnesota is marked with an asterisk on the consolidation, but I don't see where it's been used.

[smilergrogan]

27. Fighting and exploring right up until his death, he was buried at sea in a lead coffin, wearing his full suit of armor. Modern day explorers are still looking for his corpse and coffin.
DE SOTO is out of alphabetical order for this one since it comes before the answer to 26. Maybe De Soto is wrong?

Payne Stewart might go with PANTS instead of SOLO (he died while flying his plane solo). That would leave Solo to match to Harrison Ford, which would require the answer to 29 to be have last name Ford.

75. Has to be EARL WARREN to make Warren Buffett.

[franktangredi]

If #26 is Phyllis, then #27 can't be DeSoto, alphabetically.

????? + 7. MARION BARRY + 26. PHYLLIS DILLER = ?????? + Barry Diller (Fox)

The most likely other name is somebody whose first name is Francis, to make Francis Marion ... who would also go with Fox. So Diller may go with something else.

[smilergrogan]

Payne Stewart might go with PANTS instead of SOLO (he died while flying his plane solo). That would leave Solo to match to Harrison Ford, which would require the answer to 29 to be have last name Ford.

I was wrong anyway - Stewart wasn't piloting the plane.