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Chris Weyant\u2019s cartoon is set in a fine restaurant, where a pirate is dining alone. A sommelier is presenting a ship in a bottle as if it were a bottle of wine. In front of the pirate is an empty wine glass. The sommelier is speaking.<\/p>\nChris Weyant\u2019s cartoon is set in a fine restaurant, where a pirate is dining alone. A sommelier is presenting a ship in a bottle as if it were a bottle of wine. In front of the pirate is an empty wine glass. The sommelier is speaking.<\/p>\n
Some wines are described as spicy, and Old Spice is a brand that used seafaring images in its advertising campaigns from the \u201870s\u2014I don\u2019t know how or when I learned that Matthew Perry\u2019s father played the clean shaven sailor in the TV commercials, but I have for some reason retained this information\u2014so I thought of this caption: \u201cIt\u2019s Old-Spicy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Other wines are described as oaky, and because sailing vessels were made from hardwoods like oak, I thought of these captions:<\/p>\n My final caption has the wine steward describing the bottle\u2019s contents in a pretentious manner that\u2019s typical of the way sommeliers, or at least the ones who appear in cartoons, talk: \u201cYour tongue may detect a salty flavor.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Now let\u2019s see how you did:<\/p>\n There were a lot of puns that played on the double meaning of the word \u201cport,\u201d but these two were the best:<\/p>\n Like that second caption, the next two entries refer to the way wine stewards suggest pairings:<\/p>\n I love that last caption because impossible burgers exist\u2014they\u2019re made with plant-based ingredients\u2014and a ship in a bottle is the traditional example of an \u201cimpossible bottle,\u201d which is one containing an object that does not appear to fit through the bottle\u2019s mouth. I know I shouldn\u2019t explain jokes, but I\u2019m not sure \u201cimpossible bottle\u201d is a commonly recognized term.<\/p>\n Like I did, several of you referred to an oaky finish, and these were the best two entries:<\/p>\n I like slapstick comedy, and these are essentially slapstick captions:<\/p>\n The image of the sommelier opening the wine bottle and accidentally hitting the pirate in the eye with the cork actually made me laugh out loud.<\/p>\n The next set of captions refer to Spanish and Chinese sailing ships:<\/p>\n That last caption is especially good because a traditional sommelier might dismiss Chinese wines as inferior to French and Italian varieties.<\/p>\n I like the way this next entry plays on the double-meaning of a word for another kind of sailing ship:\u00a0 \u201cOr perhaps you would like a schooner of beer?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m on the fence, however, about these next two captions:<\/p>\n The expression \u201con the rocks\u201d has a double-meaning that works well in the context of sailing ships and alcohol, but wine is, to the best of my knowledge, never served over ice cubes. On the other hand, it is sometimes chilled and I don\u2019t know much about wine, so if I got this wrong I apologize to the people who submitted those two captions.<\/p>\n This is a nice reference to the practice of letting red wine aerate for a short time before drinking it: \u201c<\/strong>Shall I let them breathe?”<\/strong> The implication that the ship is full of tiny people who are suffocating or drowning gives the cartoon a dark edge, like something that Charles Addams or Gahan Wilson might have drawn.<\/p>\n Here are the week\u2019s two best puns:<\/p>\n And while the following caption is far too long, it made me laugh: \u201cThe manager says this is the only thing in a bottle I can offer because of your tendency get all rapey and plundery when you’ve been drinking.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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