Saturday, May 28, 2016

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #523

Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #523 for May 23, 2016. The drawing is by Joe Dator.

"We can't return them. I didn't keep the barrel."


I also monkeyed around with these captions:
"Admit it:  they're more fun than visiting your mother."
"EBay."
"Amazon."
"Just our rewards points."



May 30, 2016 Update:  The Finalists



June 13, 2016 Update:  I voted for the third caption.


June 20, 2016 Update:  Winning Caption




Note:  Last week, Harry Bliss took us into Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. My caption needed to be reanimated. See the horrific outcome of Contest #522.

Posts about cartoonist Joe Dator are more fun than a...well, you know. Hot patootie, bless my soul! I really love his podcast too!

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9 comments:

  1. "You said to invite our close relatives."

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    1. When I was ranking the captions, there were a lot of entries about "your relatives" and "your side of the family."

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    2. Yeah, I think there will be a "relative" pun in the finalists, perhaps the winner. My favorite among those I ranked was something like, "Well, they're your relatives too." I saw a lot of usage of "barrel" too.

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    3. I'll be very angry if an Amazon caption is a finalist, considering that was the winner just a few months ago for a similar cartoon.

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    4. I eliminated the idea for that very reason.

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    5. I think this was the first contest where the finalists were based entirely on reader voting. The captions are lacking the wordplay you usually find in at least one of the finalists. Also, I think the email to all the entrants caused them to get a lot of ratings on the captions, making them feel more comfortable about relying on it.

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    6. You may be right, but I don't think this cartoon lent itself especially well to wordplay.

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