In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #988 from the issue of April 27, 2026, a hammerhead shark is besting three people in a game of poker. The card shark speaks. My submission is below. The drawing is by Lynn Hsu.
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| "My game has really improved with the new contacts." |
May 10, 2026 Update: The Finalists
May 23, 2026 Update: I voted for the caption from Springfield.
May 25, 2026 Update: The Winner
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Fleetwood bookseller Charles Agvent is offering an original Playboy cartoon by the inimitable Gahan Wilson. It is, after all, that time of year when water safety should be on everyone's mind.
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| "Oh—and look out for the shark!" Gahan Wilson Original art Playboy, August 1997, p. 113 |
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| Gahan Wilson AbeBooks listing accessed December 12, 2022 |
Here's how this drawing appeared when published:
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| "Oh—and look out for the shark!" Gahan Wilson Playboy, August 1997, p. 113 |
Happy Shark Week, everybody!
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Cape Escape is a miniature golf course located in Orleans.
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| Cape Escape, Orleans |
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| Cape Escape, Orleans |
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| Cape Escape, Orleans |
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| Rabbit, Chatham |
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| Wild Goose Tavern, Chatham |
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| The First United Methodist Church at night, Chatham |
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| Beach in Chatham |
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| High tide |
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| Low tide |
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| Sharks puzzle |
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I took these photographs during my travels in Cape Cod during the summer of 2021. With international tourism still somewhat problematic, people had returned to the Cape in great numbers. Parking spaces were noticeably more difficult to find. The summer began with seeming great promise as COVID-19 vaccines decreased the number of individuals susceptible to the virus. It became increasingly apparent, though, that cases of the Delta variant were surging globally, and even locally. Despite this, the wearing of masks indoors remained minimal. None of this, though, will be apparent from these photos. More to follow.
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| The Sagamore Bridge Over the Cape Cod Canal |
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| Welcome to Chatham |
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| Artist: Swanson Studios |
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| Artist: Pati DuVall |
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| Artist: Emma Hardy |
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| Artist: Susanne Taylor |
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| Artist: Jennessa Durrani |
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| Taking aviation literally |
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| Lighthouse Beach |
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| Lighthouse Beach |
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| Gatsby's car |
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| Shark sighting |
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| "In memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice" |
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| "Here lies buried Dr. Samuel Lord who died of smallpox after devoted service to the citizens of Chatham in the epidemic of 1765-66" |
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| Back of 1941 monument to Dr. Samuel Lord |
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| The Cape Cod Canal and the Sagamore Bridge |
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| A tranquil scene from the neighborhood in Chatham where we stayed |
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| There will be no Chatham Band concerts this summer. The Whit Tileston Bandstand will remain empty. |
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| Lighthouse Beach |
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| The Chatham Light and Coast Guard Station |
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| Unsubtle warning |
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| The Chatham Light from Lighthouse Beach |
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| Visitors to the Chatham Fish Pier |
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| Harbor seal at the Chatham Fish Pier |
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| The U.S. Coast Guard heads out on patrol |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge |
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| License Plate for the Well-Traveled |
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| The Chatham Bars Inn |
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| The Chatham Bars Inn |
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| A brighter photo of the hotel taken on Sunday, a brighter day |
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| We bicycled into Harwich |
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| Black cat in the bay window |
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| Chatham Art in the Park: Whales in the Park |
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| Whales in the Park Kate Gould Park |
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The Chatham Squire is under new management. Dinner there was our only culinary disappointment this week, the first indifferent meal we have been served there in twenty years. Let's hope it was just an aberration.
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| At Ducks in the Window, rubber ducks are mostly compliant with wearing their masks. |
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| First United Methodist Church at sunset |
