In Shannon Wheeler’s cartoon, a woman who’s standing in an office doorway is addressing a man seated behind a desk that’s floating several feet in the air. Her mouth is open pretty wide, so I won’t come down too hard on anyone who submits an entry that ends with an exclamation point.
I will, however, pass judgment on any variation of, “You don’t understand the gravity of the situation.” That was a great caption for an old NYer contest featuring an Alex Gregory drawing of a man floating above his wife, but I’m getting tired of seeing it every time a cartoon features someone or something suspended in midair.
But who am I to criticize? All I could come up with this week were three pretty mediocre captions:
- “I’ll get some paperweights.”
- “I want to float something by you.”
- “I thought I was the floater.”
Now let’s see how you did.
There were a lot of puns, and some of the best double as a common phrase that takes on a new meaning in the context of the cartoon:
- “What’s the best way to reach you?”
- “Are things still up in the air?”
- “I’ll be working under you.”
- “You’ve been suspended.”
- “You got a raise!”
- “You didn’t specify what kind of raise.”
- “You wanted to float something by me?”
- “Can I float something by you?”
- “You must be the floater.”
And here are a few puns that don’t double as anything:
- “How does it feel to be the Office Drone?”
- “I’ve sent for the corporate ladder.”
- “Do you need a corporate ladder?”
The following four entries go after the same joke, but the last and shortest version is the best:
- “Oh, sorry I startled you.”
- “I hope I didn’t startle you.”
- “Sorry, did I startle you?”
- “Did I startle you?”
The next two captions were inspired by Sir Isaac Newton:
- “Are there any laws you don’t defy?”
- “It’s a law, Henry, not a suggestion.”
This caption does a nice job reconciling the two disparate elements in the cartoon—the levitating desk and the office setting: “The exorcist is here to see you.”
A lot of entries alluded to the fact that hot air rises, but the best one turned the woman into an insult comic: “Hot air does that.”
Here’s a longer but equally good insult: “For your next trick, can you get to the staff meeting on time?”
And, here’s a good caption for the #Me Too movement: “Try chasing me around the desk now.”
Finally, we have a caption that should resonate with any office worker: “The IT department says it’s probably your gravity.”
This week’s winner is the beautifully concise, “Did I startle you?”
Lawrence Wood has won The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest a record-setting seven times and been a finalist four other times. He has collaborated with New Yorker cartoonists Peter Kuper, Lila Ash, Felipe Galindo Gomez, and Harry Bliss (until Bliss tossed him aside, as anyone would, to collaborate with Steve Martin). Nine of his collaborations have appeared in The New Yorker, and one is included in The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons.