In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #999 from the issue of July 27, 2026, a couple seated in their living room look up at a giant hole in a wall where an elephant has just gone out. The man speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "Enough with the dad jokes." |
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| "Now what do we avoid talking about?" |
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My copy of Tom Toro's new collection And to Think We Started as a Book Club . . . was signed by the New Yorker cartoonist at Oblong Books on October 16. That appearance included a conversation with cartoonist Michael Maslin before the book signing.
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In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 186, we find ourselves in the Garden of Eden after the forbidden fruit has been eaten. Eve is wearing a great many more fig leaves than Adam and she 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 $155 into the first thirty-one pay-to-play contests and this thirty-second challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $160. 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, thank goodness. 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 Tom Toro.
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| "But we could change the course of art history." "And what if the rest of you gets chilly?" "Then do it for me." * * * "No, more is more." |
December 1, 2024 Update: The Winner
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Two well-dressed Brontosauruses are out at a nice dinner. Or are they two Apatosauruses? Sauropod taxonomists can have a field day withThe New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #872 from the issue of October 30, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "How can we be sure it's plant-based?" |
November 11, 2023 Update: The Finalists
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The Earps and Doc Holliday couldn't make it to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #861 from the issue of August 14, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "So Tombstone is fresh out of guns AND wickets?" |
These captions couldn't shoot straight:
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| "No harm in them both bringing a mallet to a gunfight." "Why did they want us as seconds?" |
August 21, 2023 Update: The Finalists
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I found my way to an entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #807 from the issue of June 20, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "This isn't working. Let's try his country cousin." |
These captions got lost along the way:
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| "I don't expect much from the city mouse." "We've trained him to avoid carbs." "This is just like 'Goblet of Fire.'" |
July 3, 2022 Update: The Finalists
July 9, 2022 Update: I voted for the caption from Roswell, and not just because it followed a similar line to my own.
July 22, 2022 Update: The Winner
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This week, The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #800 from the issue of April 25 & May 2, 2022, threw me a bit of a curve. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "Let's see them find the strike zone." |
This caption was completely off base:
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| "We got him in a trade for a nobody." |
May 13, 2022 Update: The Finalists
May 21, 2022 Update: I voted for the caption from Erie.
May 28, 2022 Update: The Winner
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It's time to unpack my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #787 from the issue of January 17, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "I hope this trip will be a new beginning." |
These captions were too primitive:
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| "Did you pack my loincloth?" "I'm not bringing any screens." "I'm not just packing heat." |
January 29, 2022 Update: The Finalists
February 1, 2022 Update: I voted for the caption from Doylestown.
February 7, 2022 Update: The Winner
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There are encouraging signs of the pandemic beginning to resolve in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #758 from the issue of June 7, 2021. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "Please tell these nice people my only agenda is getting out of the house." |
These captions were not approved by the CDC:
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| "They want me to flash them my vaccination card." "Apparently, I'm blocking the recovery." "This is too stressful. I'm going back to working from home." "It's time to start wearing clothes." |
June 19, 2021 Update: The Finalists
June 26, 2021 Update: I voted for the caption from Monroe Township.
July 3, 2021 Update: The Winner
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| "I take back my saying you've dammed up everything but the kitchen sink." "I give up. How busy have you been?" "What I said was damn this old kitchen." |
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| "Get your hands off my thesis!" "Let go of my science project!" "Abduct your own damn alien!" |
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| "Some days I think Dad didn't really build this treehouse for me." "His motto is work hard, play hard." "It's his branch office." "On bad days he comes over and reads my comics." |
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| "No hitting below the snowbelt." "Bowl him over." "Melt him with your smile." "Keep him in his corner." "He's not wearing his mouth guard." "Knock his head off." "Make him sweat." "Don't worry. I know the guy who operates the thermostat." |
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| "I'm training him to hunt for cheese." |
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| "I see the crime scene is still evolving." |
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| "Why, yes, I used to work for Jet Blue. How did you know?" |
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| "You're in luck. Several upgrades are available." "I need people who are skilled at leapfrogging." |
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| https://www.research.net/r/550MC |
