Caption Contest Commentary

Here we have a courtroom scene from Mick Stevens. The judge is on the bench and looking at two men at the defense table. They appear to be identical, and they’re wearing the same plaid suits. One of them is standing, speaking to the judge, and therefore delivering the line that must address both the…
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 This week we have a cartoon by Charlie Hankin. A realtor is showing a cave to a couple who are presumably in the market for a new home, there’s a “for sale” sign in front of the cave, the realtor is addressing the couple (and therefore delivering the line that will serve as your caption),…
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Here we have another drawing by Benjamin Schwartz. It shows a caveman proudly displaying his latest invention, a square-wheeled tricycle, to his neighbor. The tricycle needs round wheels. The invention of such wheels is credited, at least in cartoons, to cavemen. Initially, therefore, I came up with eight variations on a joke about a caveman…
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The contest that ended last week featured a drawing by Benjamin Schwartz. Through a two-way mirror we see a baby in a police interrogation room—he’s sitting in a highchair—while outside this room a male cop says something to his female partner. In movies, cops who are frustrated in their efforts to get a suspect to…
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Like many of you, I have lost The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest hundreds of times. But I’ve won it more than anyone else, so Bob Mankoff thought I might have something useful to say about the contest he recently started running on this website. Each week I will write about the most recently concluded…
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If the number of caption submissions we receive (and the number of cartoon suggestions the average cartoonist fields each week) are any indication, within the hearts of many lies a frustrated cartoonist. Let’s face it, most people think they’re pretty funny. Many are wrong. Humor is highly subjective; however, there is one metric which is hard…
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