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This month we were joined by David Borchart. Unlike his fellow <\/span>New Yorker<\/span><\/i> cartoonists who think of jokes and then draw them up, David comes up with the drawing first and then tries to think of a fitting caption. In other words, he does what everyone who enters the caption contest is trying to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n David\u2019s drawing for this month\u2019s contest is set in the parking lot of a large mall. A middle-age woman is transferring bags from her cart into the back of her car and addressing a huge demon who has emerged from the depths of hell to offer her a crown.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When David first submitted this cartoon to <\/span>The New Yorker<\/span><\/i>, his caption was a little too long and intellectual: <\/span>\u201cYou want the Persephone who shops near Mount Etna in Sicily.\u201d<\/span><\/i> He later resubmitted the drawing with a much simpler and better caption: <\/span>\u201cQueen of the damned \u2026 of the damned what?\u201d<\/span><\/i> Still no sale, though, which is why you all got a chance to caption the drawing.<\/span><\/p>\n Some of you suggested the woman was rejecting the demon\u2019s marriage proposal:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Others had her considering it:\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n That last entry is a fine example of making the speaker oblivious.<\/span><\/p>\n Several of you suggested not that the demon was proposing, but that (like David Borchart suggested with his second caption) he was offering the woman an opportunity to rule over the infernal regions:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a joke that Alice Kramden might have made: <\/span>\u201cGive it to my mother-in-law. I\u2019m sure you know her.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This is a rare example of a really terrific pun: <\/span>\u201cI do love a good Faustian bargain.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n And this is an all too common example of a terrible pun that may nevertheless appeal to people who shop at a certain supermarket chain in the Mid-Atlantic and Western regions of the United States: <\/span>\u201cThis doesn\u2019t seem like the Safe Way.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Here\u2019s another, and much better, entry that refers to a chain of stores: <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m just here for the bed and bath part.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This entry suggests that the demon is trying, unsuccessfully, to make a sale: <\/span>\u201cI can get the same crown for 20% off at Faust\u2019s.\u201d<\/i><\/b> One reason I like that caption is because Faust\u2019s sounds like a department store where my mother used to shop back in the 1970s: Flah\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A similar set of captions suggested that the demon is trying to get the woman to sign up for customer rewards: <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t join loyalty programs.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This entry came out of left field\u2014we love that\u2014and suggests that the demon damaged the woman\u2019s car and is trying to convince her not to call insurance: <\/span>\u201cNext time you ding my car, just leave a note.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Many of you suggested that the demon is offering to make her Queen of the damned because he recognized something fundamentally evil in her character:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This next entry alludes to both John Milton and Joni Mitchell:<\/span> \u201cWell, they paved Hell and put in a parking lot.\u201d <\/i><\/b>Another caption that begins with the same word and also refers to paving (I\u2019m guessing it was submitted by the same person) alludes to a famous proverb: <\/span>\u201cWell, it <\/i><\/b>was<\/b> paved with good intentions.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Here are two more strong captions that are so nearly identical they, too, might have come from the same person:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n I like the way this next caption suggests that the demon has introduced himself with a title that\u2019s meant to inspire terror (i.e., Reaper of Souls), but the woman is completely unfazed: <\/span>\u201cNice to meet you. I\u2019m Carol, Reaper of Coupons.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This entry addresses the flames: <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re melting my ice cream.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n This one suggests the woman can\u2019t accept the demon\u2019s offer because she\u2019s running late and has to get home with her purchases: <\/span>\u201cI wish you\u2019d asked on my way in.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n And our final entry suggests that the woman\u2019s happy to accept the huge crown if she can just fit it in her car: <\/span>\u201cHang on a sec. I\u2019ll move some stuff around.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Congratulations to MARK STROUT, who won this month\u2019s contest with,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt least someone appreciates my shoplifting.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Here are the five runners-up:<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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Watch the Judging Process<\/h3>\n