This month the cartoonist, Lynn Hsu, joined our panel of judges. Her drawing is set on a residential street where a realtor is showing to a potentially interested buyer a huge cat tower that’s for sale. The realtor is gesturing toward the property and saying something. Hsu’s original caption reconciles the disparate elements (cats and real estate) while highlighting the home’s selling points: “It’s open concept and practically new, as the previous owner was declawed.”
A few of you tried the same approach:
- “It’s very pet friendly.”
- “It is fully carpeted.”
These entries work because cats are predators:
- “Full disclosure. There have been several hundred murders here.”
- “The neighborhood is very quiet, especially now that all the birds are gone.”
- “It’s the only neighborhood without a rodent problem.”
- “It has great bones. Everywhere.”
That last caption is also a pun, and here are a few more:
- “The mortgage is fixed, too.”
- “It comes with some strings attached.”
- “They are selling because this neighborhood is going to the dogs.”
Like that last caption, the following entries explain why the property is on the market:
- “The owners are moving into the box it came in.”
- “The seller downsized to a pile of warm laundry.”
- “The previous owner just got too old and had to be put down.”
- “The current owners just don’t find it interesting anymore.”
Like that last caption, the following entries all allude to the fact that cats often seem uninterested:
- “She might ignore your offer.”
- “The sellers are completely ignoring me.”
- “Make an offer. Or feign interest, rub against me, and walk away.”
- “I’ve had several interested buyers…briefly.”
- “The seller is highly unmotivated.”
These two entries note that cats spend much of their lives napping:
- “It’s a quiet neighborhood. You can sleep 23 hours a day.”
- “The owner will sleep on your offer.”
Here are the month’s best:
Sex joke: “It’s not that kind of cat house.”
Ironic caption: “Unfortunately, the lease states ‘no animals.’”
Reference to an English proverb: “The last owner spent their entire lives here.”
This caption refers to cats’ natural enemies: “No dogs allowed.”
I hate to criticize an entry on the grounds that it’s obvious—many of the best captions seem obvious once you’ve read them—but this one really is too predictable: “You said you wanted something pet-friendly.” Still, it works.
Because a couple of my fellow judges really liked this next caption, I won’t feel too guilty about admitting that I did not: “They’re open to all offers. Lowball, highball, yarn ball, furball.” I’m not sure why it bothers me. It’s clever, and it reconciles the disparate frames of reference, but it’s too cute.
This entry refers to a very annoying cat behavior: “The seller knocked our offer off the table.”
Finally, we have an entry that suggests the potential buyer might not need something as fancy as a cat tower: “Or would you prefer just a patch of sunlight on a rug?”
Congratulations to CAROL LASKY, who submitted this month’s winning entry: “The seller is highly unmotivated.”
Here are the five runners-up:
- “Full disclosure. There have been several hundred murders here.”
- “It comes with some strings attached.”
- “The previous owner just got too old and had to be put down.”
- “The seller downsized to a pile of warm laundry.”
- “The neighborhood is very quiet, especially now that all the birds are gone.”
Watch the Judging Process
For those of you who want to see how we made our selections, we recorded the process and that discussion
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