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PERMANENT INKSTAIN FOR GARY CROCKETT



WEEK TITLE SYNOPSIS INK Types
1617 Mess With Our Heads Look at a headline and see a funnier meaning. H H 3
1614 The Tile Invitational XI Make up new words with the letters we give you H 4
1613 What's the Worst That Could Happen? After the election, we mean. And be funny about it. H H 3
1611 Ask Backwards XLIII We give you the 'answers'; you tell us the questions. H H
1609 Saved! Tell us funny ways to be thrifty in these parlous times H H
1608 Stick It An election bumper sticker contest H
1605 Get Thee to a Punnery Change a quote slightly and credit it to someone else. H H
1604 Call Your Dog Give us creative names for various pets H
1603 Hu-boy, It's Limerixicon XXI Write a limerick featuring a word beginning 'hu' or 'hy'. 3
1600 Taylorgaters Take a line from a 'Tortured Poets' lyric and rhyme it with one of your own. H
1596 History for the tl;dr Crowd Sum up an event for the 21st-century reader in a rhyming couplet. H
1593 Qwerty Lashes Write us something funny from just a few letters of the keyboard. H
1592 It's Parody Time Write a funny song about ... anything you like! 3
1591 Our Typo Humor More fun with headlines. H H
1590 All You Need Is Ink Take a line from a Beatles song and rhyme it with your own. H
1588 Colt Fusion Because of our munificense and guilt, you get a full hundred foal names to 'breed' for 'grandfoals' H
1587 The Trite Stuff Replace some well-worn phrases with better ones. H
1586 Pun for the Roses Our annual crazy-popular horse 'breeding' wordplay contest. H
1585 Bring Up the Rear Move the last letter of a word to the front. H H H H
1583 A Thousand Words Write a funny poem about the artwork of your choice. H H
1582 You're Workin' on a Chain, Gang A classic connection game. L H
1581 SOTU-Speak Use words from Biden's State of the Union speech to write some lines for another oration. H
1580 Hi, Anxiety! Tell us some funny ways to stress yourself out. H
1577 Why the #$%#$% Not? The Washington Post is looking for some bold ideas -- Let's show it some! H H H H
1573 The Invitational Week 55: Tour de Fours — Be STUD-ly Give us a new word or phrase containing 'DUST' in any order of letters. 2
1571 Dead Letters, our annual obit contest Write a funny verse about someone who died in 2023. H
1568 Nextra! Nextra! Tell us the funny news events from 2024 L H H
1564 "Air" "Quotes" A new forefinger contest H H H 2
1561 Let It Be a Lesson to Us Tell us some things to be learned from Costco, the bathroom, TV shows, etc. H
1560 The 'Hole Story Write us a funny 'Am I The Asshole' question H
1559 As the Word Turns 'Discover' new words by snaking through this random grid H
1558 It's Parody Time Send up the news with those songs and videos you do so well H
1557 Tailgating On the Highway Pair a Dylan line with your own rhyming one H H
1556 Cross Us Up Mirror a phrase, more or less H
1555 Do You Have to Spell It Out for Us? Give us "backronyms" H H
1554 U (Heart) TFG's BFFs Reach out to beleaguered Trump supporters and bathe them in the warmth of your love, to help bind the nation’s wounds H
1551 Ask Backwards XLII We give the answers. You give the questions. H H
1549 The Tile Invitational X It's our 10th running of this coin-a-word game. H
1548 Poll-ish Jokes Come up with a ridiculous reader poll. H H
1547 Alphabettering Write a funny sentence containing all 26 letters. H H H
1541 Wrong enough for ya? Fake facts about the weather H
1540 Picture This It's caption contest time, with eight motley pictures to choose from. H
1539 Get Real, Reel Name a scene in a movie, a TV show, or literature, and tell us how it might be revised (perhaps less satisfyingly but far more realistically) H
1536 Colt Following Now that we have the winner and punners-up of our venerable foal-name contest, it's time for 'grandfoals'. 2
1534 Pun for the Roses Our renowned horse name 'breeding' contest returns! H H
1531 The Worst New Contest Ever Describe something that would be worse than a second Trump presidency W
1530 Mess With Our Heads Reinterpret any headline by adding a 'bank head'. H
1525 Arty Har-har Give us an idea for a humorously audacious modern art work H
1524 Picture This A caption contest H
1523 Where in Hell ...? Name a "circle" for some "evil", plus a suitable punishment H H
1522 Questionable Journalism Find a sentence published in the next week and tell us what question it could answer H
1521 Send Us the Bill Our "Joint Legislation" contest H
1520 Nextra! Nextra! Read All About it. Predict the big news events of 2023 H
1518 The final Post edition Some all-time favorite entries H
1515 Munich-ipals -- European "sister cities Choose any two or more towns from the 51 countries in Europe/Eurasia and come up with a joint endeavor the “sister cities” would undertake. H
1511 The inside word--our 'air quote' contest Highlight part of a word, name or short phrase in “air quotes” to give the word a new meaning or description. H
1499 Picture This, a cartoon caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. H H
1498 V for Verses -- misuse a word in a poem Write a short (eight lines or fewer), humorous poem that uses one or more words in other than their actual meanings. H
1496 Same Difference -- compare two items on this list Tell us humorously how any two (or more) items on the provided list are alike or different, or linked in some other way. H
1493 Frankly speaking with feghoots Tell a feghoot -- a mini-story (a ridiculous one is fine) that ends in a groaner pun on a familiar expression, title, line from a song, etc. L H H
1491 The add biz Choose any word, name or phrase beginning with A throough E, then add any single letter of the alphabet to it -- one or more times -- and define the result or show how it would be used. H H
1490 It's parody time -- sing the news Write a satiric song about anything in the news these days. 4
1486 No can do: Signs of incompetence Give us a clue that someone was incompetent in a given field. H
1485 Switchcraft -- transpose two letters in a word Switch the positions of two letters within a word, name, title or phrase, then describe the result. H H H
1484 Two ways about it What's something (printable) you could say in two -- or more -- of the provided situations. H
1483 Pun for the Roses -- our famous foal-'breeding' contest Breed" any two of the provided names and name the "foal". As in actual thoroughbred racing, a name may not exceed 18 characters including spaces. 3
1482 The Tile Invitational IX Rearrange the letters of any of the letter sets provided to create a new term, then define or describe; you may use all seven letters, but also just six or five. H
1480 Oh, you don't really mean that Define" inaccurately and humorously any of the provided words. H
1477 Thinking outside the big box Send us a humorous "review" for any of the provided items listed on walmart.com<\em>. H H
1475 Hail to the Commanders! Write a song (set to any familiar tune) or shouted cheer for the Washington Commanders. OR: Write for any other D.C. institution, e.g., the Metro, the Senate, the National Zoo, The Washington Post. H
1474 Hyphen the Terrible Combine one side of a hyphenated word or phrase with one side of another such term -- either side can be the end or the beginning -- to create a new term. AND! Both halves of the term must come from the same issue of a newspaper (The Post or another one) or published the same day on its website, Feb. 3 through 14. H 2
1472 Phony money -- tell us fake financial trivia Tell us some fake trivia about money or the financial system. H H H
1470 Your add here -- a prefix feast Add a "prefix" -- by which we mean at least one syllable of any kind (but not multiple words) -- to the beginning of any word in well-known phrase, name, book title, etc., and describe the result. H
1469 Post Mortems 2021, our obit poems Write a poem of no longer than eight lines (plus an optional title) about someone who died in 2021. M H
1465 Put your '22 cents in for our annual pre-timeline Name some humorous news event to happen in 2022. H H
1464 Picture this -- a caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. H
1462 Time for a new career? Tell what would happen if any two people switched professions or other roles. H 4
1460 These new words are on fleek From the provided list, write a humorous poem of eight lines or fewer. H H
1458 Do adjust your set: TV anagrams+ Use all the letters of any TV show (including streamed ones), past or present, to create new show; or it can be an episode of the original. H
1456 The hunting of the snark Ask an insulting rhetorical question in the form (or a variation) of "Is that your _______ or _______? H H 2
1451 Could have said it worse ourselves Give us a humorously bad "first draft" of a famous line from history, literature or entertainment. H
1449 Let's have a get-together Begin with a real name; append to it a word, name or expression so that they overlap; and finally define or "quote" the resulting phrase or name. 4
1448 Hear, hear -- it's Limerixicon XVIII Supply a humerous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any word, name or term beginning with "he-". H
1447 Give it to us straight Take any sentence from an article or ad in any publication (print or online) dated July 29 through Aug. 9, 2021, and intepret it in “plain English". H
1446 Clue us in -- and we spill the beans Write novel clues for as many as 25 answers in the provided grid, across or down, first substituting your own letters for any covered ones. H H
1442 Same difference, or missing links Choose any two (or more) items from the utterly random list above and say how they're different, alike or otherwise linked. H H
1440 It's parody time! Write a satiric song about anything in the news these days. H H
1439 Vowel Movement: The Musical Choose a song title; remove all the vowels; then add back as many vowels as you like to create a new title, and describe the song. You might also provide a line or two of lyrics. H
1437 One-offs: A 'typo' neologism contest You're a fat-fingered typist: Change a word, name or phrase by either adding or substituting one letter that's adjacent (in any direction) to the original one on a regular QWERTY keyboard, or by doubling the correct letter. H
1436 Haven't seen it: Fun with movie titles Misinterpret a movie title in a supposed plot description. H H
1433 Questionable Journalism Choose any sentence (not a headline!) in an article or ad in The Washington Post or another publication dated April 22 through May 3, and write a question it might humorously answer. L 2
1432 Turn tale and run with it Offer a new angle on a folk tale, nursery rhyme, children's song, etc., with a short poem, mini-story (under 100 words) or song parody. W H H
1431 The On-Our-Way-Back Machine Tell us how (in some funny way) things will be different as we emerge from the pandemic. H H
1430 Back to racing speed with the 'foals' Breed" any two of the provided names of the 100 horses nominated for the 2021 Triple Crown races and name the "foal" to humorously play off both parents' names. H
1429 Forsoothsayers Quote a line or so from any Shakespeare work, and exemplify it with a contemporary quote, real or imagined. 4
1427 Rocky of ages, or Badenov for you? State any historical event -- right up to 2021 -- in the provided "A, or B" format. W
1426 Mess with our (or others') heads Reinterpret an actual headline (or a major part of it) by adding a bank head, or subtitle. H H
1422 The Collaboratory Think of a book, movie or song title. Then pair its creator, star, singer, etc., with an unrelated "collaborator" to produce a wordplay on the title. H
1420 Singing on the job -- a parody contest Write a humorous "work song" for any job or profession. Set it to any well-known tune. L
1419 Send us the bill -- 'joint legislation' Combine two or more names from the provided list of the new members of Congress to “co-sponsor” a bill based on their combined last names, and state its purpose. H
1418 Tour de Fours XVII: Just Undo It Coin a word or multi-word term containing the letters U-N-D-O -- consecutive but in any order -- and describe it. H
1411 Back end of a Bulwer Write a humorously awful final sentence or two to an imaginary novel. H 2
1410 Legends of the fall -- more fictoids Tell us some bogus trivia about autumn, or things that happen (or have happened) in autumn. H H
1409 Skip a groove: Drop a letter or more from a song title Drop one or more letters from somewhere in the middle of a song title and describe the new song, and/or quote some lyrics from it. H H
1407 Your ad space (or space ad) here Come up with an idea for promoting some commercial product or service (a) in space, (b) in a prison, (c) at a kindergarten, (d) by a football team or (e) in the White House. H
1406 The news could be verse Write a poem based on a recent news article, in which the lines' first letters spell out the title or subject of the poem. H
1405 Okay, once more around the track Breed" any two of the provided foal names that got ink in Week 1400 and name the offspring to reflect both parents' names. H
1404 Ask Backwards XXXIX The answers are provided. You supply the questions. W H H
1403 Who was that masked man? Current a short listing for a current or past TV show that has a coronavirus story line, or one reflecting some other issue in the news right now. H
1401 How hai? A joke-haiku contest Write a joke (roughly) in the "It's so xxx" genre as a haiku. H
1399 The lie-zy days of summer Tell us some bogus trivia about the summer or things that happen or have happened in the summer. H
1397 Trope springs eternal Use any of the four provided standard settings -- (a) desert island, (b) bartender at a bar, (c) desert, (d) psychiatrist next to a couch -- and describe a cartoon that includes your choice of characters, along with a caption. H
1396 Hail Limerixicon XVII: Write a limerick featuring a 'ha-' word Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term beginning with "ha-". H
1394 Two movies, one line Cite a real or coined line, or give a description, that could work for two different movies, plays or TV shows. 2
1393 Second chance (acned conches?) for anagrams Describe any of the provided anagram businesses, or offer its slogan. H
1389 TankaWanka 4: Haiku plus tu Write a TankaWanka about something that's been in the news lately. H
1388 Turning around a business Create a business, product, organization or similar entity that contains a word, name or phrase and its anagram, and describe it. H
1387 Movie clips -- drop letters from the middle of a title Delete one or more letters (they must be consecutive) from the middle of a movie title, and describe the resulting new movie. H H
1386 Colt following: It's the grandfoals! Breed" any two of the 70 foal names that got ink this week and name the offspring to reflect both parents' names. H
1385 Don't you want to see new places? Change any place name slightly and describe the new place. L H
1384 Of course there are stupid questions! Give us stupid questions, especially ones reflecting Our Current Situation. H
1383 Questionable Journalism Choose any sentence (not a headline) in an article or ad in The Washington Post or another publication dated May 7 through May 18, and write a question it might humorously answer. H
1380 Both sides now Delete one or more letters (in a row) from a word or brief phrase to find another word, and define it. H H H H
1378 It's (emergency) Parody Time Write a song about life in the Age of Corona, set to a familiar tune (or even one of your own, if you perform it on video). H
1376 Get thee to a funnery Add a character (or more) to a Shakespeare play and supply some resulting dialogue. H
1375 Mess With Our Heads Reinterpret an actual headline (or a major part of it) by adding a bank head, or subtitle. H
1374 Versus' verses in a rap battle Write a mini-"rap" between any two characters, real or fictional, as in the provided ERB example. W M
1373 Prime time for some Amazon reviews Send us a humorous "review" for any of the provided Amazon-listed items. H
1372 Trash talking, 1880-style Write a quatrain or -- heck -- two of Balliol rhyme about some person. H
1371 The Tile Invitational VII Create a five-, six-, or seven-letter word (or phrase) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided sets and define it. H
1370 What's in a name? Write something about a well-known person, real or fictional, using only the letters in that person's name. H
1367 Pick me up at work, okay? Give a pickup line from someone in a particular profession, or from a particular person or fictional character. H
1366 Tour de Fours XVI -- It's the LIAR club Coin a word or multi-word term that contains the letter block L-I-A-R and describe it. L 2
1364 Clue us in Supply clever, funny clues for as many as 25 of the words and multi-word terms in the provided grid. H H H
1363 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1334 through Week 1359. H
1361 2020 vision -- the year in preview Name some humorous news event to happen in 2020. H H 2
1358 What to your wondering eyes will appear? Write a humorous passage -- a "quote", an observation, a joke, a dialogue, a poem, anything -- using only words that appear in "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (a.k.a "The Night Before Christmas"). H
1357 It's parody time! Write a satirical song about anything in the news right now, set to a familiar tune. H H
1356 Ask Backwards 38 Sixteen "answers" are provided. Tell us the questions. H H
1355 The inside word Highlight part of a word, name or short phrase in "air quotes" to give the word a new meaning or description. H H
1354 As the Word turns 5: Taking our vowels Discover" a word or multiword term that consists of adjacent letters -- in any direction or several directions -- in the provided grid, and provide a humorous definition. H H H
1353 What's playing at the retroplex Change a movie title to its "opposite" by reversing one or more words; then describe the new movie. H
1352 Hee-rotica -- Steamy prose for unsteamy life Write a short steamy scene (100 words would be considered long) about a non-steamy event. H 3
1349 Revise and extend these remarks Go to congress.gov/congressional-record and click on the PDF for any day's Congressional Record. Choose any sentence (or substantial part of one) and write a question that it could answer. H H 3
1348 Same difference Explain humorously how any two or more of the provided items are alike, different or otherwise connected. M
1346 AZ if -- balancing acts Think of a new word or two-word phrase that begins and ends -- either way -- with one of the provided "alphabetically balanced" pairs. L H H
1345 The confaketionary -- food fictoids Tell us some comically false "fact" about food, drink or dining. H
1342 MRGRS: Mash 2 abbrevs. Combine two acronyms or other abbreviations, whether of entities or expressions, into one big one, and describe it, offer a slogan for the new organization, etc. H
1341 Portmanteautapping from E to R Coin a portmanteau word beginning with E through R, in which the words overlap by at least two letters, and describe it. W
1340 Not-ables -- slightly alter a famous name Slightly alter the name (make sure the original is obvious) of a famous personage -- past or present, real or fictional -- and describe the resulting nonpersonage, or offer a quote from that person, or both. I H 4
1339 Songs for a modern error Write humorous lyrics about some modern woe, set to a familiar tune. M H
1338 Picture This -- cartoon captions Supply a caption for one or more of the provided cartoons. H
1335 Put it in bee-verse! Or . . . Write a humorous poem of eight lines or fewer that includes at least one of the provided words, used in Round 9 or later of this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee; OR: write a joke in Q&A form that uses at least one of the words. H
1334 Mull 'er over: A search for collision Combine any two words, names, abbreviations, etc., from anywhere in the redacted Mueller report, in a two-word or hyphenated phrase and define it. 4
1333 Check your (homo)phones Invent a homophone--a word that sounds the same as an existing word but is spelled differently--and define it. H H
1332 We'll call them Spellimericks Write a humorous limerick that's an acrostic: a pertinent five-letter word or name spelled out by the first letter of each line. H 2
1331 Paste Imperfect Choose a headline or sentence from The Post or another publication, print or online, dated May 9-20, 2019. Then change that headline or other text by:
     A. Deleting up to 40 consecutive characters from it (put brackets around the deleted text);
     B. Adding up to 40 consecutive characters from the same article or ad (write the additions in capital letters);
     or C. Both A and B, as long as the added text goes at the end of your headline or sentence.		 H H
1328 Hooked on 'classic': a do-over Summarize a book or play by any author, or retell a scene (or even a moment) from one, in the style of some other person. H
1327 Mess with our (or anyone's) heads Reinterpret (or comment wryly on) a headline (or a big part of a headline) by writing a bank head, or subtitle. H H H
1322 Back to the drawing board Come up with an idea for an invention that still needs a bug ironed out. H
1319 The Tile Invitational VI Create a five-, six-, or seven-letter word (or phrase) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided sets and define it. H H
1316 Lies, damn lies, with statistics Tell us some bogus trivia using "statistics" or some bogus quantitative meaure. H
1315 Clue us in -- our reverse crossword Supply clever, funny clues for as many as 25 of the 74 words and multi-word terms in the provided grid. H
1314 Bill Us Now -- 'joint legislation' Combine two or more names from the provided list of the new members of Congress to “co-sponsor” a bill based on their combined last names, and state its purpose H
1311 Nextra! Nextra! The year in preview Name some humorous event to happen in 2019. H
1308 Picture this -- or these This week you have two choices: (1) Write a caption for one or more of these pictures, or (2) explain what is wrong with the picture. You might also combine two pictures into one -- or all four into one. H H H
1306 PolitiCaroling: A song parody contest Write a song about something in the news lately -- political or otherwise -- using a Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year's tune. H
1304 All the muse that's fit to print Present a "what if" scenario and explain its effect. H
1303 Neologisms to di- for Replace a digraph in an existing word or phrase with another digraph to make a new term. H H H H H
1302 Ask Backwards 37 Fifteen "answers" are provided. Tell us the questions. Do one or more, up to a total of 25 A&Q's. H H
1298 It's IGH time for 3-word phrases Make up some entity that might take a three-letter abbreviation of GHI, HGI, GGG, GHH, etc., and then humorously describe it. 3
1297 A different type o' headline contest Change a letter in an article or ad in the Post or another publication dated Sept. 13-24 by adding or subtracting one letter; substituting a letter; transposing two letters; or changing spacing or punctuation; and then add a "bank head. H H H
1292 Golly gosh, it's Limerixicon XV Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term, beginning with "gl-" through "go-". 2
1291 Film flam -- movie anagrams Rearrange the letters of a title of a movie or play to make a new title, then describe the new work. H
1289 Fake gnus: bogus animal trivia Tell us a fictoid -- a humorously false "fact" -- about the nonhuman animal kingdom. H
1288 Your results may vary Write a funny disclaimer or warning for some product or service. H 2
1287 It's parody time: Oldies for newsies Write some song lyrics about something in the news these days, set to a familiar tune. H
1279 Just do it -- the 'real' way List some "accurate" directions for using some product or completing some task. H
1278 Colt following: The 'grandfoals' Breed" any two of the 68 foal names that got ink this week, and name the offspring to reflect both parents' names, in the style of today's inking entries. H 2
1277 Come into Beeing with neologisms From any of the 15 provided Spelling Bee letter sets, coin a new term of one or two words and define it humorously. You may also supply an especially clever or funny definition of a real term. H
1275 That is the question Choose a line from Shakespeare (or a significant part of a line) and pair it with a question that the line could humorously answer. H H H
1274 Heading for a foal -- our horse name 'breeding' contest Your job is to "breed" any two names of the 360 horses nominated for this year's Triple Crown races and name the "foal" to reflect both names. L
1273 Restocking the Cabinet Explain why a particular person -- or thing -- ought to fill a Cabinet post or other U.S. government position. H
1272 The hex files: creative curses Come up with a creative curse. H
1271 Yodel Doyle's praises with a D-O-Y-L-E neologism Coin a new word or phrase that contains the letters D, O, Y, L and E. H H
1269 Mess with our (or other) heads Reinterpret (or comment wryly on) a headline appearing in The Post (print or online) or another publication and dated March 1-12 by writing a bank head. H H
1268 Playing pinocchio Tell us some humorously bogus trivia about the news media or the publishing or broadcasting industries. H H H
1267 Jingle bungle Suggest an ill-advised spokesman (dead or alive, or fictional), along with a humorously noooo slogan or jingle. H 3
1264 A cry for Yelp: 'Review' any place Write a humorous review, positive or negative, of anyplace (real of fictional) one might visit. H H
1263 Playing the short game Using the three-letter Olympic national abbreviations and/or the abbreviation for any college, tell what would happen if one abbreviated team played another. H H H
1257 The year in redo, Part 1 Enter (or re-enter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1203 through Week 1229, except for Weeks 1205 and 1206. H
1255 Tour de Fours XIV: SANT is coming Coin a word or multi-word term that contains the letter-block S-A-N-T; the letters may be in any order, but there may be no other letters between them. L
1254 Inkorporation--a change-one-letter contest Change the name of a present or past business, store or agency (not just a product) by adding one letter, deleting one letter, transposing two letters or substituting one letter for another. H
1251 Thanking outside the box Tell us something to be thankful for. H
1248 C'mon, fess up! Send us a brief "confession" -- there will be categories for true and just-kidding. H H
1247 Script tease Offer a quote from a script whose title you've given a different plot. H H
1246 Questionable journalism Find any sentence (or a substantive part of a sentence) that appears in The Post or another publication, in print or online, dated Sept. 21-Oct. 2, and pair it with a question it might answer. H
1240 We GIVE you Limerixicon XIV Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term beginning with "gh-" or "gi-". T
1239 MASH 3 Combine two movie titles and  describe the result. H H H
1238 D-E-F Comedy Jam (or E-D-F, etc.) Coin a threeword phrase (you may add an insignificant word or two)  whose words begin with D, E and F — in any order — and describe it. H
1236 Portmanteaux faux Explain--inaccurately but amusingly--how a real word is a combination of two or more words, with an illustrative sentence, as in the provided examples, or some other funny way. H
1235 The Sound of Science Write humorous lyrics on the subject of science or technology, set to a well-known tune. H
1230 What in creation . . . ? Supply a brief monologue or dialogue about a Creator's specifications or planning for some living being. T H
1227 Celebrate ortho-diversity! Name and describe a new life form -- and no letter in the term may be used twice. H
1225 The Ideas of March Suggest a march for some group or field, along with one or more slogans. (You might also, or instead, comment on the march with some pertinent wordplay.) W
1224 We beg you to differ Explain how any two (or more) items in the provided list are the same or different, or otherwise connected. H H H
1223 Post again out to mislead public! Write a humorously sensationalistic, misleading headline on an otherwise mundane article or ad published in The Post or elsewhere from April 13 to April 24. H H
1218 Mess with our -- or anyone else's -- heads Reinterpret (or comment wryly on) a headline appearing in the Post (print or online or another publication dated March 9-20) by writing a bankhead, or subtitle. H
1214 The alternaugural address Write a humorous passage — a “quote,” an observation, a joke, a dialogue, a poem, anything — using only words that appear in Trump’s inaugural address. H
1211 The best tweets in history Write a stupidly disparaging tweet (140 characters or fewer, including spaces) about some laudable figure of past or present, true or fictional. W H H
1208 A RIP-roaring year: Obit poems Write a humorous poem of no longer than eight lines about someone who died in 2016. H
1207 Clue us in -- a reverse crossword Supply clever, funny clues to up to 25 of the 72 words and multi-word terms in the provided grid. 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 H
1198 Give it to us straight Take any sentence from an article or ad in any publication dated Oct. 20 to Oct. 31 — or from an online article dated within that period — and translate it into “plain English". 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 H
1194 Nyetymologies: fake word origins Provide a humorously untrue explanation for the derivation of a word. H 4
1193 Poedtry Write a Poed, which consists of four lines: The first line contains six one-syllable words. The second line contains three two-syllable words. The third line contains two three-syllable words. The fourth line contains one six-syllable word (or a name totaling six syllables.  And at least two of the lines must rhyme. W H
1192 Ask Backwards The 15 provided phrases above are the answers. You provide  the questions to as many as you’d like (up to 25 entries  total). 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 H 4
1187 Just drop it, okay? Drop the last letter from an existing word, phrase or name and define the result. H
1184 Plan C -- a third candidate? Explain why some novel person (or thing) should be president; you could also suggest a president-veep ticket. H 2
1183 C'mon, be honest with us Write something in roughly the form "If X were more honest, (then) Y. H
1179 Blasted alphabetical contests . . . Coin a three-word phrase whose words begin with A, B and C -- in any order -- and describe it. 4
1176 Let 'er RIP: Write an obit line Write a humorous line or two for someone's obituary -- either for a particular person (dead or not) or for a fictional or generic one. H
1174 Colt following -- It's time for the grandfoals Breed" any two of the 57 foal names that got ink this week and name the offspring to reflect both parents' names. H
1173 Tinker with the recipe Slightly change the name of a food or brand of food (or something else in the food industry) and describe it, or write a slogan, jingle, etc. H H
1172 Pieces of 'Pie' Write a short passage -- an observation, a joke, a dialogue, a poem, anything -- using only words that appear in the song "American Pie". H
1171 What's my (next) line? Take a line from any song and pair it with your own second line to make a humorous rhyming couplet; the second line should match the rhythm of the first, rather than the second line of the song itself. H H H
1170 Derby or not Derby Breed" any two of the provided racehorses nominated for this year's Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont; and name the foal to reflect both names. H
1169 Be caustic by acrostic Review or otherwise describe a movie, book, play or TV show (or Internet equivalent) with words whose first letters spell out the name of the work. H
1167 So what's to liken? Take any two items from the provided list and explain how they're similar or different, or connect them some other way. H
1166 Questionable journalism Take a sentence (or most of a sentence) that appears in text (not a headline) in The Washington Post or on washingtonpost.com dated March 10-21 and make up a question that the sentence could answer H
1165 B all you can B Change a word, phrase or name by adding one or more B's, and/or by replacing one or more letters with B's, and define your new term. H H
1161 Give us four Pinocchios Tell us some false "facts" about politicians, present or past. H H
1160 A remeaning task Redefine an existing word or two-word term beginning with P through Z. H H
1151 To [a glass], snarkly Write a short, snarky (but witty) note to one of the provided glassbowls. T H
1148 It's TankaWanka II Write a TankaWanka about something that's been in the news lately. The poem must consist of five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables in that order. And it must include at least one rhyme. 4
1147 It's E-Z find-a-word -- yours Create a word or multi-word term that consists of adjacent letters -- in any direction or several directions -- in the provided grid, and provide a humorous definition. H
1145 A DICEy situation Coin a word or multi-word term that contains the letter block D-I-C-E. H
1142 Two-faced tweets Combine two well-known names into a Twitter handle, and write a tweet (no more than 140 characters and spaces) that that portmanteau person might write. W H H H
1141 Mess with our heads Reinterpret (or comment wryly on) a headline appearing in the Post (print or online) Sept. 17-28 by writing a bankhead, or subtitle. H H
1140 You're giving us a bad name Cite a REAL brand name, past or present, note its original use, and then say what sort of product, organization, etc., that name would be bad for. H
1137 Be a published author! Give us a spicy title for a boring book, real or imagined. 4
1136 Gaah! It's Limerixicon XII Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term beginning with "ga-". H
1134 The 'Sty'le Invitational Red'ux' Put quotation marks around part of a word, name or phrase and define the result. H
1131 One man's trash Suggest a humorous way to reuse one or more of the items listed above -- or anything else advertised on RepurposedMaterialsinc.com. H
1129 Right in the pampootie Write a humorous short poem (eight lines or fewer) incorporating one of the 50 provided words. H
1128 Drone for a loop Give us some novel uses for a CICADA micro-drone, assuming that anyone can get one, and that it can have a micro-camera, micro-grips, etc. H
1125 The song remains the sa Supply a real song title that has the end or beginning -- or, what the heck, both -- chopped off and describe it. H
1124 Heed! Indeed: Advice verse Write one of the provided reminders as a humorous poem of eight lines or fewer. H
1122 Colt Following: 'Grandfoals' Breed" any two of the 65 foal names that got ink this week and name the offspring to reflect the parents' names. H
1120 Celebrating our differences Each of the provided 17 items appeared in a different Style Invitational compare/contrast contest from 1996 to 2014. Explain how any two of them are alike or different or otherwise linked. H
1117 You got another sing coming Write a song about a topic or person lately in the news, set to a familiar tune. H
1116 Punning in place Create a new term using only the letters in a place name. You don't have to use all the letters, but you can't use a letter more often than it appears in the word. H H
1115 Our type o' headline Change a headline in an article or ad in the Washington Post and then add a "bank head" or subtitle. W H H H
1114 Awww together now Write us a humorous headline -- from the past, present, or future -- that puts an optimistic perspective on some otherwise not-so-promising news. I H H H
1111 When you riff upon a store Use a wordplay on a song title as a name or slogan for a real or imagined business. L H H H
1110 The mama of all humor Write a [Someone’s] Mama joke for some well-known figure, past or present, real or fictional. H H
1109 Fictoids of Columbia Tell us some humorously untrue “facts” about Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area. H
1106 Show your resolve Suggest a New Year's resolution that someone might make 100 or more years in the future. H
1102 Let's get Sirius Suggest a new radio channel and describe it. H
1100 Pun and ink -- the feghoot Contrive an elaborate scenario that ends in a novel groaner pun on a familiar expression, title, etc. H H
1098 Prime time for some Amazon reviews Send us a creative "review" for any of the provided items that are listed on Amazon. H
1097 Futz your sign Select a line from one of the horoscopes appearing anytime from Nov. 6 through Nov. 17 in the Washington Post's daily Style or on washingtonpost.com and "clarify" it with a translation or extra "information". H H
1095 TankaWanka! Write a TankaWanka about something that's been in the news lately. The poem must consist of five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables in that order. And it must include at least one rhyme. H
1094 TAXI's the fare for Tour de Fours XI Coin a word or hyphenated term that contains the letter block T-A-X-I; the letters may be in any order, but there may be no other letters between them. H H
1093 You're only as rich as you fee What are some really bad ideas for various businesses to make a few more bucks? 4
1092 Are we having funds yet? Suggest a humorous fundraising "challenge" for any organization. H
1091 Good idea! or not. Come up with a good idea and, through a small change in wording, a bad idea. H
1088 Ask backwards with our answers, your questions Supply the questions to as many of the 16 supplied answers as you like. H H H
1085 Eww-venirs: Ideas for gift shops Suggest a humorous--but NOT horribly tasteless--tchotchke, T-shirt, etc., from a real or imagined gift shop at a particular tourist site. H
1083 Everybody get appy Offer up an idea for either a humorously useful app or a humorously counterproductive one. H
1081 It's the stupidity, stupid Write us stupid questions that will make us laugh. W 3
1079 Little piddle riddle Ask a question and answer it with a rhyme. H
1077 Time marches Swiftly Give us a novel Tom Swifty, playing on either an adverb or a verb (e.g., "We care about the little people, the BP chairman gushed"). H H
1076 Dactyly fractyly Send us some double dactyls that conform to Gene Weingarten's rules. H
1074 Let's go parody-hopping Describe a stage or movie musical in a parody of a song from a different musical. H
1073 Bank shots: Mess with (y)our heads Quote a headline appearing in the Washington Post, washington.com or another publication, print or headline, dated May 22 to June 1, and supply a "bank" headline that either misinterprets it, as in the examples above, or comments wryly on it. H H H H
1072 The Tile Invitational Come up with a 5-, 6-, or 7-letter term by scrambling any of the provided seven-letter ScrabbleGram sets, and define it. H H
1069 It's a small, small world Write a humorous poem of no more than eight lines -- it doesn't have to rhyme -- using only the top 1,000 words on Wiktionary.org's list of the most common among 20 million words found in movie and TV scripts. 3
1068 An iffy proposition Suggest some humorous action that you would take if you were in someone's position, more or less in the form "If I were _____ my first act would be _____. H H
1067 A(t)tribute to your wit Alter a well-known quote slightly and attribute it to someone else. L
1066 It's mating season Breed" any two from the provided list of 100 of the 3-year-old racehorses nominated for this year's Triple Crown and name the foal to reflect both names. H H
1065 The ands have it Slightly alter ANY well-known phrase in the form "A-and-B" -- it doesn't have to be Latinate/Anglo-Saxon -- and define it. H
1064 HistoRebuffs Alter some moment in history and tell us -- in no more than about 50 words -- the likely outcome. W
1063 Same difference Take any two items from the provided list and explain how they're similar or different. H
1062 Scanning the headlines Write a rhyming poem about something currently in the news. H H 3
1061 Less taste, more fill-in Give us a novel clue for any word or phrase in which the remaining letters in the provided crossword puzzle fit, across or down. H
1060 Picture this Write a caption, or captions, for one or more of the provided cartoons. H
1058 Eastwood Ho Create a good-bad-ugly progression. H
1056 Weather or nuts Coin a term relating to the weather, climate, etc. -- either literal or figurative -- and define it. H H H
1055 Oh, K! This week, to commemorate both Kevin Dopart and his 1K ink blots: Change a word, phrase or name by adding one or more K's, and define your new term. H H 3
1054 Dead letters Write a short, humorous poem commemorating someone (or maybe even something) who died in 2013. W H
1049 Be rating Come up with a new movie rating and describe it. H H
1048 Ask Backwards You supply the questions to as many of the provided answers as you like. H
1047 Bank shots Quote a headline appearing in The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com or another publication, print or online, dated Nov. 14 to Nov. 25, and supply a humorous "bank" headline that either misinterprets it or comments wryly on it. H H
1046 Derive us crazy Offer a bogus but funny explanation of how a particular expression originated. 4
1044 Play it safe Come up with a comically safety-conscious rule for the workplace or elsewhere. H
1043 Rechanneling celebrity Describe a TV reality show featuring a celebrity pursuing some unlikely endeavor. 3
1042 Tour de Fours X: Go SANE Create a new word or two-word term containing the letter block S-A-N-E -- in any order, but consecutively, and define it. H
1041 What have you got to lose? Answer a question, real or rhetorical, that appears in a song. L H
1039 Shookespeare Combine any of the words in Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, in any order, to create a humorous sentence or longer passage. H
1037 Outrage us Find something offensive about an inoffensive name of a product, organization, place, etc. H
1035 The Empy 500 Explain what news Bob Staake is trying to tell in any of the provided drawings. H H
1034 What's to like? Supply an original joke of the form "I like my [your choice] the way I like my [something else of your choice]: [some clever, funny parallel]. H 4
1032 Hid stuff Explain the symbolism "obviously" evident in any well-known site, artwork, etc., in 75 words or fewer. H H
1031 The 'Sty'le Invitational Choose any word, name, or short term; emphasize a key, suddenly pertinent part of it with quotation marks; then redefine the word. H
1030 The cinquain feeling Write a clever cinquain. The five-line form is straightforward: first line, two syllables; second line, four syllables; third line, six; fourth line, eight; fifth line, two. 4
1028 Joint Legislation Combine the names of two or more of the First Congress senators and/or representatives to create "joint legislation". H H
1027 Built for two Give humorous related names for any pair of features in a given building, organization, etc. H H
1025 In so many words Create an original backronym for a name or other term, especially one that's been in the news lately. H H H
1019 What a turnoff Tell us some creative things that children and families could do during Screen-Free Week. H H
1018 Reologisms Write a clever, funny definition for any of the Loser-concocted neologisms from Week 1014 as well as from Week 1000 that deserve better definitions than their creators offered at the time. H
1017 Vowel play Write a "univocalic" newspaper headline -- one that uses only one vowel throughout. H
1013 Har monikers Write a riddle that uses a pun of a person's name in the answer. H
1011 Top these! Try your hand at any of the contests mentioned in this look back. H H
1008 Switched reels Re-arrange all the words in the title of a movie, and describe the resulting work. H H
1007 Clue us in Come up with creative, funny clues for the words and multi-word terms in the provided grid. 4
1006 It's a ... a ... Create a new superhero (or duo) and describe the superpower, or not-very-superpower. H 2
1005 Send us the bill Name a piece of legislation "cosponsored" by two or more of the 98 new House and Senate members provided. H
1003 Just do it Use a well-known advertising slogan for a different company, organization or product to humorous effect. H
1000 We now have 4 digits; you now have 7 letters Choose any word, name or two-word term beginning anywhere from T through Z; then add one letter, drop one letter, substitute one letter for another, or transpose two adjacent letters, and define the result. H
997 Unworthy causes Name a dubious charity and describe its mission. H
996 A Life-Time opportunity Combine two magazines or journals and describe the result, supply a marketing pitch, or suggest a story or two that it might publish. H H
995 Ask backwards We give you the "answers" and you supply jokes in the form of a question. H
994 Stick it to us Suggest a slogan for one of our two new honorable-mention Loser Magnets for 2012-2013. H
991 Tour de Fours IX Create a new word or two-word term containing the letter block V, O, T, and E and define it. H 2
989 On the double Come up with a double or multiple profession, and explain how each job complements the other(s). H H
987 Bank shots Take any headline, verbatim, appearing anywhere in The Washington Post or on washingtonpost.com from Sept. 6 through Sept. 17 and reinterpret it by adding a "bank head," or subtitle. H H
986 Hear here! Give us a sentence or short dialogue that would be a lot funnier if a word in it were mistaken for a homophone of that word. H H
980 Def jam Supply a humorous definition for any of the provided Loser-penned neologisms. H
979 The madding crowd Suggest funny, original ways to tick people off. H
976 Join now! Combine the beginning and end of any two words or names in this week's Style Invitational or Style Conversational columns to make a new term, and define it. H
975 Gone mything Debunk a "Sixth Myth" about one of more of the recent "5 Myths" topics provided. H
974 Eat our dust! Write a limerick humorously describing a book, play, movie, or TV show. H H
973 A real triple crown The horses in this week's list either produced no inking "foals" in Week 965, or ran in the Kentucky Derby but weren't on the initial list. "Breed" any two and name the foal. H H
972 Trends and neighbors Choose any two items on the provided list and explain how they are alike or different. H
970 Couple it Take a line from any well-known poem and pair it with your own second line to make a humorous couplet. H
969 Colt following Breed any two "foals" in today's results, and name the grandfoal. H
967 Overlap dance II Create a phrase that overlaps two terms, each of two words or more, and describe the result. H
964 The Grossery Bag? Suggest a design and/or slogan to go on the side of the ardently desired Style Invitational Loser Bag. H
963 The overlap dance Send us a Before & After "person" whose name combines two people's names, real or fictional (okay, you can use animals' names, too), and describe the person in a funny way. H
962 Questionable journalism Take any sentence (or a major part of it) that appears in the Post or in an article on washingtonpost.com anytime from now through March 19 and supply a question it could answer. H
961 The end of our rhops Write a funny passage or headline whose words all have the same number of letters. H 2
960 Raving reviews Send us a creative "review" for any of the provided items that are listed on Amazon. H H
958 All's Weller Write a "wellerism," a sentence that starts with a quote, often a short proverb, and goes on to include some sort of wordplay on something in the quote. H H H
957 Fearful Symmetry Write a clever passage whose successive words are one letter longer until the middle of the passage, and then become one letter shorter. M
956 Give us some bad ideas Finish any of the provided "You know" phrases. H
955 Twits' twist Create a phrase by combining a word or phrase with an anagram of that word or phrase, and define or describe it. H H
952 Dead Letters Write a humorous poem about someone who died in 2011. H H
949 Analogies Give us an analogy using "a is to b as x is to y." M H H
948 Look back in Inker Enter any Style Invitational contest from Week 891 through 945 (except for Week 896, which was the same contest for the previous year). H
946 Another round of Bierce Write a clever definition of a word, name or multi-word term. H H 4
943 Ask backward XXIX You are on "Jeopardy!" You supply the questions for as many of the provided answers as you like. H H 2
940 Our type o' headline Change a headline by one letter, or switch two letters, or change spacing or punctuation, in a headline (or most of a headline) appearing on an article or ad in The Washington Post or on washingtonpost.com from Oct. 7 through Oct. 17, and elaborate on it in a "bank" headline (subhead). H H
938 Free and Lear Write a limerick using the first two lines of any of Edward Lear's 115 limericks plus your own remaining three lines. H H
936 Hoho contendere Slightly alter a well-known foreign-language term and define it. H
935 The 400 blows Write a humorous poem--choose your form--about the Virginia earthquake, Hurricane Irene or another well-known natural event. H
934 Same difference Explain how any two items in the provided list are similar or different. H
930 We WANT stupid complaints! Complain comically unreasonably about some innocuous thing appearing in the print Post or on washingtonpost.com over the next week or the previous few days. M
928 Play feature Use the title of a movie as the answer to a riddle or other question. H
926 Outrageous fortunes Come up with a fortune cookie line that you'd like to see. H
925 A remeaning task Redefine a word in the dictionary beginning with I through O. H
922 A Banner Week Write entirely new, humorous lyrics to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner”; they can be on any subject. W H H
920 Sarchiasm Write an original chiasmus, in which the elements of a phrase are inverted for comedic effect. H H
917 Wryku Write a haiku--a sentiment that can be broken into three lines with exactly five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five in the third--on any subject that's been in the news in the last couple of weeks. H
916 Bank shots Take any headline, verbatim, appearing anywhere in The Post or on washingtonpost.com from April 22 through May 2 and reinterpret it by adding a "bank head," or subtitle. H H H
915 Picture this Write a caption for any of the cartoons pictured here. H
912 Pair-a-phrase Lift a word that appears inside a longer word; pair it with the original word to create a phrase; and define it. H
911 Help! Create a short humorous dialogue -- or a monologue featuring one party -- of a phone call to 911, or a call for help to someone else. H
910 Your ad here Slightly alter an advertising slogan so that someone else could use it. H H
908 Recast away Fire an actor or actress from a movie or TV show, past or present, and offer a replacement for the role. W H
907 Naming rite Come up with a creative, somehow fitting sponsor for some public facility or part of one. L H H H H H H 4
905 Anticdotes Give us an untrue anecdote responding to one of these past Editor's Query topics. W H 3
904 We move on back Move the first letter in a word or name to the end of that word and define the resulting word. H
902 What's the good news? Take any sentence, or substantive part of a sentence, or a headline from an article or ad in The Washington Post or washingtonpost.com from Jan. 7 to Jan. 18 and make it sound upbeat (or not so bad). H
901 Dead Letters Write a humorous poem about someone who died in 2010. H
899 Clue us in Send us funny, clever clues for any of the words already in this grid. H
898 Pre-current events Predict some humorous news event that would happen in 2011. H H
897 Catch their drift Take any sentence from an article or ad in The Washington Post or washingtonpost.com from Dec. 3 to Dec. 13 and translate it into "plain English. H
896 Other people's business Describe what might happen if any of the above institutions (a) were run by an institution of your choice or (b) ran an institution of your choice. H 4
894 Look Back in Inker Enter any Style Invitational from Week 841 through Week 890 (except for Week 844). H H H
892 Get a move on Change the location of something for humorous effect. Provide an explanation if you wish. H
891 Mirror, Mirror Write a word-palindrome sentence, in which the first and last words are the same; the second and next-to-last, etc. I H 2
890 Double-teaming Combine the names of any two pro sports teams -- even from different sports -- and describe the result. H H
889 Tour de Fours VII Coin and define a humorous word that includes -- with no other letters between them, but in any order -- the letters P, O, L and E. H
887 Plus-Fours Write a limerick whose third or fourth line is one of those listed above. H
886 Look both ways Give us a new term that's a palindrome and define it. H
885 Mess with our heads Take any headline, verbatim, appearing anywhere in The Post or on washingtonpost.com from Sept. 10 through Sept. 20 and reinterpret it by adding a "bank head. M H H H
881 What's in a name? Take the name of a person or institution. Find within it a hidden message. H H
880 Our greatest hit Start with a real word or multi-word term or name that begins with Q, R or S; add one letter, subtract one letter, replace one letter with another, or transpose two adjacent letters; and define the new word. H H
878 Safety in blunders Tell us a way to make the nation more secure. H H
877 Quipped from the headlines Write a rhyming couplet about some matter in the news. H H 4
876 Oilies but goodies Write lyrics somehow related to the oil spill, set to an existing tune. H H H
871 Remarquees Change a movie title by one letter (or number, if the title includes a number) and describe the new film. W H