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PERMANENT INKSTAIN FOR JOHN MCCOOEY



WEEK TITLE SYNOPSIS INK Types
1585 Bring Up the Rear Move the last letter of a word to the front. H
1557 Tailgating On the Highway Pair a Dylan line with your own rhyming one L
1551 Ask Backwards XLII We give the answers. You give the questions. 4
1545 Their Base Behavior Tell humorously how some business or organization could alter its product or message to appeal to Trump’s cult. H
1542 Your (B)ad Here Tweak an ad slogan to use it for another product H
1509 MASH MASH: combine 2 one-word movies Combine two single-word movie titles to make a new movie and describe it. H
1497 The if-word Give us a "what if" scenario and its humorous result H
1489 Let's movie things around Rearrange the words of a movie title to create a new movie, then describe it 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
1480 Oh, you don't really mean that Define" inaccurately and humorously any of the provided words. H
1440 It's parody time! Write a satiric song about anything in the news these days. 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. H
1429 Forsoothsayers Quote a line or so from any Shakespeare work, and exemplify it with a contemporary quote, real or imagined. H
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
1414 Divining comedy: 2021 predictions Name some humorous news event to happen in 2021. H
1408 Re-Organization Slightly change the name of a nonprofit organization and describe it. W H
1395 Add nauseam: A plus-one contest Add a "plus one" to some familiar numerical grouping, true or fictional H H
1392 Picture this -- caption these cartoons Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided Bob Staake cartoons. H
1381 Let's be equinoxious with fictoids about spring Tell us some untrue trivia about springtime or things that happen or happened in the spring. 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. 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
1362 The Year in Redo, Part 1 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1307 through 1333, except for Weeks 1309-1311. 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
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
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. H
1337 Lidder me this: anagram riddles Write a Q&A joke (or an A followed by a Q, if you're into "Jeopardy!") in which the punchline contains an anagram or one or more relevant words or names. 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
1321 Pumping Prime: Amazon reviews Send us a humorous "review" (like the provided samples from our earlier contests) for any of the provided items. 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
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 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
1310 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1282 through Week 1306. H
1307 One-for-one for all Replace one letter in an existing word, name or multi-word phrase with one different letter (in the same place in the word) and define or describe the result. H
1304 All the muse that's fit to print Present a "what if" scenario and explain its effect. 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
1300 Botch office sensations Add "13" to an existing movie title, and some humorous trouble to the plot. H
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
1286 Mind your P's and B's (and more) Replace one or more P's in a word, name, or multi-word term with a B or with another letter and define or describe the results. H H
1284 Same difference Explain how any two of the items in the provided list are similar, different or otherwise linked. H
1282 Picture This Write a caption for one or more of the provided pictures. H
1280 A la'ugh' a minute with 'air quotes' Highlight part of a word, name or short phrase in "air quotes" to give it a new meaning or description. H
1276 What 4? A limerick contest Use a limerick using one of the provided lines as Line 5. 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
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
1267 Jingle bungle Suggest an ill-advised spokesman (dead or alive, or fictional), along with a humorously noooo slogan or jingle. W H
1262 Clue us in -- a backward crossword Supply one or more creative clues for the provided filled-in crossword grid -- as many as 25 clues in all. H H
1256 Picture this -- a caption contest Provide a funny caption for any of the provided cartoons. H
1253 Fashion x fiction: More fake trivia Tell us some totally bogus trivia about clothing or fashion. H
1249 Ask Backwards 36 Choose any of the 15 provided items and follow it with a question that it could humorously answer. H
1247 Script tease Offer a quote from a script whose title you've given a different plot. H
1241 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
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
1232 Picture this -- a caption contest Write a caption for one or more of the provided cartoons. 2
1221 Who's kidding whom? Take two people from history, past or present, and tell what their child would be like H
1210 Send us the bill: Our 'joint legislation' game Combine two or more names from the provided list of members of Congress to “co-sponsor” a bill based on their combined last names, and state its purpose. H
1209 Invented facts: A fictoid contest Tell us a humorously untrue account of how a product or invention came to be, or got its name. H
1199 We want some bad choices Offer one or more funny Questions for Terrible People, as shown. H 4
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
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 2
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
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
1144 Someone else's business Name a real brand, along with something else it would be a better name for. 3
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
1130 Yux Redux: Play on a foreign phrase Make a word play on a foreign phrase or term (or English phrase using foreign words) and describe it. 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
1123 The Tile Invitational III Give us a five-, six-, or seven-letter word (or two words) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided seven-letter sets. H
1119 We want hue so bad Invent a name for a color and describe it. W
1104 A pair of threes Choose two or three entities represented by a single three-letter combination beginning with E- through H- — see the links at bit.ly/abbrevs-e-h — and say how they are alike or different. H
1091 Good idea! or not. Come up with a good idea and, through a small change in wording, a bad idea. H
1086 Playing the dozens 1. Start with any 12-letter word, name or multi-word phrase.
2. Add one letter OR drop one letter OR substitute another letter OR switch the position of two letters to create a new term, as in the examples given.
3. Define or describe the result humorously.		 H
1081 It's the stupidity, stupid Write us stupid questions that will make us laugh. H
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
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
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
1059 With parens like these . . . Add some words in parentheses to a well-known song title to make it funnier in some way. H
1053 Questionable journalism Quote an actual sentence, from The Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, or another print or online publication dated between Dec. 26 and Jan. 6, and follow it with a question that the sentence might answer. H
1036 Just for liffs Use a real place name, from anywhere in the world, as a new term. H
1035 The Empy 500 Explain what news Bob Staake is trying to tell in any of the provided drawings. H
1013 Har monikers Write a riddle that uses a pun of a person's name in the answer. H
979 The madding crowd Suggest funny, original ways to tick people off. 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
965 Foaling around Breed any two of the horses in this year's Triple Crown races and name their foal. H
960 Raving reviews Send us a creative "review" for any of the provided items that are listed on Amazon. 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
947 Tour de Fours VIII: Neologisms Come up with a new word or two-word term that includes the letter block N-O-E-L, in any order but with no other letters between them, and define it. H H
943 Ask backward XXIX You are on "Jeopardy!" You supply the questions for as many of the provided answers as you like. H
941 They don't say! Give us a quote that a particular person, present or past, real or fictional, sooo wouldn't have said. H
924 Doomed to repeat it Create "Unreal Facts" about history. H
919 Good Luck With 13 Alter a 13-letter word, phrase or name by one letter (add a letter, drop a letter, switch two letters somewhere in the word, or substitute one letter for another) and describe the result. H 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
913 Bring up the rear Move the last letter of an existing word or name to the front of the word, and define the new term. 3
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
910 Your ad here Slightly alter an advertising slogan so that someone else could use it. H
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
903 Bill us now Combine the names of two or more members of Congress as co-sponsors of a bill. H