My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #986—Almost

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #986 from the issue of April 13, 2026, a woman is doing squats with barbells in a gym while Atlas kneels with the world on his shoulders, sweating. The woman speaks. My submission, below, was all ready but I forgot to enter it. I didn't vote either. It happens. The drawing is by Daniel Kanhai.

"Aren't there asses to stare at in Rockefeller Center?"

These captions didn't work out:

"But can you touch your toes?"
"How do you hydrate?"
"Again, I'm never going to read Ayn Rand."

April 26, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

May 2, 2026 Update:  I voted for the caption from Plano.

May 10, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #968

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #968 from the issue of November 17, 2025, we see a classroom for doggies. The dog teacher lectures holding a globe with a large tennis ball for a sphere. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Kate Isenberg.

"Now, who can tell me which planet is the chewiest?"

November 28, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

December 1, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from Ann Arbor.

December 20, 2025 Update:  The Winner

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Five Housepets and a Globe: Ronald Searle Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Five concerned housepets ponder the state of the world in a New Yorker cover proposal by Ronald Searle. The globe sitting on what is evidently a scholar's desk is surrounded by a dog, three cats—one a small kitten—and a parrot. The magazine's ubiquitous strap is rendered in heavy black ink along the left border intersecting with the perpendicular line of the desk top. Ample room is set aside at the top for the magazine's logo. But The New Yorker rejected this design.

Searle, working in the south of France, submitted finished artwork for his proposed covers. Even without a sale to the magazine, the art could be used in some future book (this one wasn't) or sold to a collector. The year of creation would be handwritten on the studio stamp on the verso of the art. Doyle New York did not disclose any such date in its sale of this piece on December 9, 2021 but it looks to be from around 1989, give or take.

Ronald Searle
Doyle New York sale of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, December 9, 2021

https://www.doyle.com/auction/lot/lot-222---searle-ronald-pets--a-dog-cats-and-a-parrot-/?lot=1310521&so=4&st=Ronald%20Searle&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

In the catalogue's description of the lot, Doyle speculates that these animals are "perhaps planning global domination." I would further speculate that the author of those words is from the generation that grew up with "Pinky and the Brain."

Note:  See yesterday's post for James Thurber's much simpler approach to a similar idea.

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James Thurber: A Dog and a Globe

A dog by cartoonist James Thurber attentively contemplates the state of the globe in a drawing made more than a year before America's entry into the Second World War. Behind the dog there is a bird—perhaps it is a hopeful sign, the dove of peace.

Thurber's art bears the notation "For Thursday / (no caption)." If, as seems likely, this was created for The New Yorker, why was it needed for Thursday? The magazine, in those years, carried a Saturday publication date and the art meetings, I believe, were held on Tuesdays.

The Chris Beetles Gallery of London offers the original, calling it "Possibly drawn for The New Yorker, 1940." That certainly sounds reasonable enough. The title A Dog and a Globe comes from the gallery, which first showed the piece in 2024 in the annual exhibition The British Art of Illustration.

James Thurber
Chris Beetles Gallery listing accessed July 12, 2025

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artwork/44058/a-dog-and-a-globe

https://issuu.com/chrisbeetles/docs/illustrators_2024

Note:  Naturally, I would like to hear from anyone who can take a break from contemplating the state of the globe and instead document this James Thurber cartoon's appearance in print.

At this moment in time, 1,450 pounds sterling is about $1,958.60 US.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #866

The planet earth walks into a bar. It's The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #866 from the issue of September 18, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Elisabeth McNair.

"And bring some ice please. Mine's melting."

This caption was too unworldly:

"Keep 'em coming. I'm building up a tolerance to toxins."

September 30, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

October 7, 2023 Update:  I voted for the worldly caption from Grantsburg.

October 14, 2023 Update:  The Winner

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