In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 193, we find two men eating sandwiches at the edge of a sinkhole in which a car has settled. The man standing on the left holding a sub is speaking.
The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed (and neither has my description of them): Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $190 into the first thirty-eight pay-to-play contests and this thirty-ninth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $195. Having achieved runner-up status with two previous entries, I've collected $200 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, just barely. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below, above the break. The cartoonist is Todd Condron who is new to me and new to the blog.
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| "I sold the hazard signs and bought lunch." "This is perfect—except for me forgetting the parking brake." "Let's never go back to eating over the kitchen sink." * * * "Eat slowly and savor the schadenfreude." "Agreed. After dessert, we look for survivors." "I can never repel into a sinkhole on a full stomach." |
From my perspective, there are some highlights. At 4:20, Bob Mankoff gives his supposed opinion of the quality of the entries. At 25:40, Lawrence Wood chooses my first caption and fights for it being added to the top six. Thanks, Lawrence. The caption is the subject of discussion through minute 28. Then at 29:25, Todd Condron, the cartoonist, discusses my third caption in his top ten. My first caption is ranked among the finalists at 44:00. At 50:15 during the big reveal of the winning contributors, Larry is the only one who seems to recognize my name. From the others, crickets.
Wood's Caption Contest Commentary mentions these same two captions:
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Image added June 1, 2025 |
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