| WEEK | TITLE | SYNOPSIS | INK Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1284 | Same difference | Explain how any two of the items in the provided list are similar, different or otherwise linked. | H |
| 1201 | Tour de Fours XIII: What's there to NOVE? | Coin a word or multi-word term that contains the letter block N-O-V-E. | H H |
| 1200 | The definitive dozen | Supply a word, name or multi-word term along with a wry definition or description; together, the term and description must total exactly 12 words. | H |
| 1197 | Picture This -- It's a Bob Staake caption contest | Write a caption for any of the cartoons provided. | H |
| 1196 | Hyphen the Terrible | Combine either half of a hyphenated word or compound term with either half of another such term to create a new hyphenated term, and describe the result humorously. | H H |
| 1191 | Mess with our heads | Reinterpret (or comment wryly on) a headline appearing in The Post (print or online) and dated Sept. 1-12 by writing a bank head, or subtitle | H |
| 1074 | Let's go parody-hopping | Describe a stage or movie musical in a parody of a song from a different musical. | H |
| 487 | Eee! Rotica | Come with a passage in a novel that ineptly describes hanky-panky. | H |
| 453 | Haiku 2 U2 | Write a haiku summarizing the career of any American politician, living or dead. A haiku is generally defined as a nonrhyming poem, of three lines. The first and last lines are five syllables; the middle line is seven. | H |
| 448 | What Kind of Foal Am I? | Mate any two of the horses qualifying for the Triple Crown races this year and propose a name for their foal. No name may exceed 18 characters, including spaces. | H |
| 409 | Nice Job, if You Get It | Take anything that might need its image enhanced and rename it in a way the keeps its essential identity, but makes it seem nicer. | H H H |
| 405 | The "Sty"le Invitational | Take any word--this may include people or places--put a portion of it in "air quotes" and redefine it. You may not alter the spelling. | H H |
| 401 | A Matter of Degree | Describe a sign of some modest change in a situation and pair it with a sign of an extreme change in that same situation. | H |
| 396 | April Foals | Mate any two of the horses qualifying for the Triple Crown races and come up with appropriate names for their foals. Maximum 18 letters and spaces. | H H |
| 394 | Life in the Blurbs | Come up with a blurb used to sell a real or imagined book or movie that would be likely to have the opposite of the intended effect. | H |
| 391 | Spinning Out of Control | Take a headline in today's Washington Post and create a subhead that spins the story in an opposite or unexpected direction. | H |
| 390 | Canine Fashion | Write: 1. A caption for the provided image explaining what is happening; 2. An explanation of why the image is not photography but art; 3. A description of what additional items might be needed to make the image complete. Sex and potty jokes will be disqualified. | H 2 |
| 388 | Pitches in the Dirt | Come up with a sales pitch to get any surplus product off the shelves. | U H H |
| 383 | A Kinder, Gender Nation | Take an noun and give us a reason or two why it should be either masculine or feminine. | H H H H H H |
| 379 | Rather Unusual | Come up with lines that could be uttered by Dan Rather, with his unbearably folksy excesses. | H |
| 378 | Bill Us Now | Come up with a bill sponsored by any of the newly elected U.S. senators and representatives, and explain the purpose of the bill. | 3 |
| 368 | Hyphen the Terrible | Combine the first half of any hyphenated word in a story in today's paper with the second part of a different hyphenated word from the same story, and provide a new definition. | H H |
| 364 | Low Marks | Come up with a new punctuation mark. Tell us what it looks like, and what it is used for, and use it in a sentence. | H 4 |
| 363 | It's Your Movie | Take the title of any movie and make it the answer to a riddle. | H 4 |
| 361 | Bad Libs | Select one subject, one verb, and one object from the provided lists, and then answer the riddle you create. | 3 |
| 359 | It's No Party | Come up with a new political party and its main political tenet. | 2 |
| 129 | REMAKE US HAPPY | Come up with alternative story lines to movie titles, new or old. | 1 |
| 123 | WHY IS POOP FUNNY? | Come up with creative answers to any of the five questions above that might be asked by a 5-year-old. | H |
| 119 | MUZAK TO OUR EAR | Come up with unfortunate Muzak songs to hear on the phone while on hold. You can use either a song title or a lyric. | H |
| 114 | THE JOKE'S ON YOU | Come up with jokes to culminate in any of these six punch lines. | H |
| 113 | WHAT KIND OF FOAL AM I? | Take a list of horses nominated to the Triple Crown races this year, choose any two, and propose a name for their offspring. | H H |
| 88 | GIVE US SOME GOOD NEWS | Come up with ways things are going to be different now that Republicans have ascended to power. | H |
| 74 | SHIRT HAPPENS | In 10 words or fewer, what should the back of the "Year 2" T-shirt say? | W |
| 65 | DESPERATELY SEEKING HUMOR | Write a personal ad. It may be for a celebrity or for anyone in need of adroit euphemism. | H 3 |
| 63 | BAD ABOUT YOU | Come up with a lame idea for a Style Invitational contest, an idea destined to create unfunny results. | H |
| 59 | A GRAVE AFFAIR | Write appropriate epitaphs for the not-yet-dead. | I |
| 55 | ESCAPE CLAUSES | Send us self-serving moral loopholes through which the enterprising 1990s transgressor can crawl. | 5 |
| 49 | A SLALOM OCCASION | Come up with events for a Washington Olympics. They can be winter or summer sports, based on bureaucracy or other themes peculiar to Washington, and must include a brief description of the event. | H |
| 40 | NOT WRONG. JUST INCORRECT. | What's next on the political correctness agenda? | H |
| 39 | WAY OUTSIDE THE LINES | Name a new crayon color for the 1990s, with a description. | H |
| 34 | INSPECT A GADGET | What do these machines do? | 1 |
| 32 | FATAL ART ATTACK | In 50 words or fewer, describe a performance art concept that might get public funding. Winners will be audacious enough to seem like art, but pretentious enough to seem to have a social "message. | 3 |
| 23 | HAPPY ENDINGS | Modernize an old quote or expression by altering its ending. | H |
| 22 | STUMP US | Come up with slogans for the 1996 presidential campaign. | H H |
| 11 | YOU GIVE US THE BACKS OFF OUR SHIRTS | The back of the shirt needs a slogan, something that captures the spirit of The Style Invitational. What is that spirit? You tell us. | H 7 |