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PERMANENT INKSTAIN FOR JON GEARHART



WEEK TITLE SYNOPSIS INK Types
1619 A So-So Contest Give us jokes that are so [something] that [something]. H
1617 Mess With Our Heads Look at a headline and see a funnier meaning. T
1614 The Tile Invitational XI Make up new words with the letters we give you H
1613 What's the Worst That Could Happen? After the election, we mean. And be funny about it. T
1612 Asterisky Business Put words in Horace's mouth: Tell us a joke that not everyone will get. W
1611 Ask Backwards XLIII We give you the 'answers'; you tell us the questions. H
1610 Wryku Write a haiku about something in the news. H
1609 Saved! Tell us funny ways to be thrifty in these parlous times H H
1608 Stick It An election bumper sticker contest W H
1606 The Cold New Trend What would be an even sillier new fad than decorator refrigerator shelves? H
1605 Get Thee to a Punnery Change a quote slightly and credit it to someone else. T L H H H
1604 Call Your Dog Give us creative names for various pets H H H H 4
1602 We Got Game Tell us some funny ways to 'improve' a sport. H
1601 Stop, Hey, What's That Sound? Tell us what these noise-words mean. H
1599 Picture This It's our caption contest. H H H
1598 Same Difference We give you a random list of things, and you tell us how any two are alike or different. H
1592 It's Parody Time Write a funny song about ... anything you like! H
1590 All You Need Is Ink Take a line from a Beatles song and rhyme it with your own. H
1589 Wait Wait Right Here! Write some 'Not My Job' questions a la the NPR quiz show. H
1588 Colt Fusion Because of our munificense and guilt, you get a full hundred foal names to 'breed' for 'grandfoals' H
1586 Pun for the Roses Our annual crazy-popular horse 'breeding' wordplay contest. H H H
1585 Bring Up the Rear Move the last letter of a word to the front. H H
1584 Seeds of Change Make an anagram of a name-brand product. H H
1583 A Thousand Words Write a funny poem about the artwork of your choice. H
1580 Hi, Anxiety! Tell us some funny ways to stress yourself out. H H
1579 Captions Courageous Write a description for any of six photos H
1578 The Pepys Show Give us a diary entry from anyone in history. H
1577 Why the #$%#$% Not? The Washington Post is looking for some bold ideas -- Let's show it some! H H H
1576 Praise the Lurid! Give us clickbait headlines for mundane stories. W H H H H
1574 Oh, Grandpa, Stop! Turn a 'dad joke' into a less-tame 'grandpa joke' H H H H H 4
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. H H
1571 Dead Letters, our annual obit contest Write a funny verse about someone who died in 2023. M H
1570 The Invitational, Week 52: Replaying Around -- The 2023 retrospective, Part II Enter or reenter our Week 26-50. H H
1569 Look Back in Inker -- Our 2023 retrospective, Part 1 Enter or reenter our Week 1-25 contests. 3
1568 Nextra! Nextra! Tell us the funny news events from 2024 H
1567 Picture This A caption contest H
1566 Well, the Good News Is ... Put a positive spin on a bad-news headline H 2
1565 Oh, For Namesakes! Compare two people who share part of a name. M H
1564 "Air" "Quotes" A new forefinger contest M
1563 The Perfect(ly Ridiculous) Gift Offer up some products for people-who-have-everything catalogs. 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 H
1559 As the Word Turns 'Discover' new words by snaking through this random grid 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
1553 Doody and Muldoon Write a Muldoon, a four-line poem that features at least two body parts and a place name, and at least one rhyme. H
1551 Ask Backwards XLII We give the answers. You give the questions. H
1549 The Tile Invitational X It's our 10th running of this coin-a-word game. H
1545 Their Base Behavior Tell humorously how some business or organization could alter its product or message to appeal to Trump’s cult. H
1540 Picture This It's caption contest time, with eight motley pictures to choose from. T H H 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 H
1538 Rhymes Against Humanity Write a four-line poem about people in the news, using either of two poetic forms M H
1537 A Crooning Achievement Write a lyric for a politician to sing. 4
1536 Colt Following Now that we have the winner and punners-up of our venerable foal-name contest, it's time for 'grandfoals'. H
1533 The Very Last 'Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions' Tell us a stupid question followed by a funny retort. H H H H
1532 We Bee Back With Neologisms Make up words using letter sets from the NYT Spelling Bee game H
1531 The Worst New Contest Ever Describe something that would be worse than a second Trump presidency H H
1530 Mess With Our Heads Reinterpret any headline by adding a 'bank head'. M H H 3
1528 It's Our Birthday. Party Like It's 1993. As the Invite turns 30, enter your choice of contests from our year of infancy H H
1527 Film Flim-Flam Use all the letters in a movie title to make a new movie H H
1524 Picture This A caption contest H
1522 Questionable Journalism Find a sentence published in the next week and tell us what question it could answer H H 3
1521 Send Us the Bill Our "Joint Legislation" contest H H
1519 Dead Letters The post-Post humor contest barely skips a beat as the Czar and Empress begin with the annual obit poems. 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 H
1513 You're such a card Come up with a greeting card rhyme for an un-greeting-card occasion. H
1512 Alphabetter Write a 26-word sentence or other passage whose words each start with a different letter — except that the X in the X-word may appear elsewhere in the word, as long as the word has an “ex” syllable. T
1508 Tour de Fours XIX —Laughtime Achievement Coin a word or phrase containing the letters E-L-D-N — consecutively but in any order — and describe it. T I H H H
1507 All over the map! Choose one of the contiguous 48 U.S. states or D.C. Then write a funny slogan for that state by “traveling a route” from that state into several others. Use the first letters of the states in your route as the first letters of the words in your slogan. H H H
1505 Munici-pals Choose any two or more real U.S. or Canadian towns — they need to show up on a Google search — and come up with a joint endeavor they would undertake. H 4
1504 All set — anagram all 100 Scrabble tiles Write a Scrabblegram — an anagram of all 100 tiles in an English-language Scrabble set (your choice for the two blanks). Any punctuation is fine. H H
1499 Picture This, a cartoon caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. T 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
1497 The if-word Give us a "what if" scenario and its humorous result H 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
1494 Put it in bee-verse Write a humorous poem of eight lines or fewer that includes at least one of the words used in Round 4 or later of this year's bee; OR: write a joke in Q&A form that uses at least one of the words. L H
1492 Set us right -- conservative humor Send us conservative-leaning humor in a Q&A joke format or a knock-knock joke. M
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. T H
1490 It's parody time -- sing the news Write a satiric song about anything in the news these days. T
1489 Let's movie things around Rearrange the words of a movie title to create a new movie, then describe it H H
1488 Let's recycle! Come up with humorous uses for ANY product or combination of products listed at RepurposeMaterials.com, including but no restricted to the provided list. T
1487 Colt following -- now it's the grandfoals Breed" any of the "foal" names provided in today's results (including the intro) and give the "grandfoal" a name that reflects both names. 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
1484 Two ways about it What's something (printable) you could say in two -- or more -- of the provided situations. H 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. L H
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. T
1481 Mess with our heads Reinterpret some actual headline (or a major part of it), from any publication, print or online. H H
1480 Oh, you don't really mean that Define" inaccurately and humorously any of the provided words. T H
1479 It's a WordleVite! Write a prhase of 5-letter words Write a phrase or sentence consisting of two to six five-letter words or names, then define it or say something funny about it. AND the Wordle part: once a letter is in the right, "green" place -- the same place as it is in the final word (like the P in "pouty" in the example provided) -- your subsequent words must keep those letters in their right places. L L 2
1478 It's a small, small world Write a humorous poem, eight lines max, using only words from the provided list of 1,000 most common English words. H
1477 Thinking outside the big box Send us a humorous "review" for any of the provided items listed on walmart.com<\em>. T
1472 Phony money -- tell us fake financial trivia Tell us some fake trivia about money or the financial system. 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. H
1467 The Year in Redo, Part 1 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1413 through 1439, except for Weeks 1414-1416. T M H H
1464 Picture this -- a caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. H H
1462 Time for a new career? Tell what would happen if any two people switched professions or other roles. M H
1461 It's the eponymy, stupid Create an eponym -- a word based on the name of a well-known person -- define it, and perhaps use it in a humorous sentence. T 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. T H
1456 The hunting of the snark Ask an insulting rhetorical question in the form (or a variation) of "Is that your _______ or _______? H
1454 Punku 3 -- haiku with a pun Create a haiku containing a pun or similar wordplay. H H
1453 Haven't read it -- mis-subtitle a book Choose any book title listed on Amazon and misinterpret it by adding a subtitle. M I H H H H
1452 As the Word Turns Discover" a word or multiword term that consists of adjacent letters -- in any direction or several directions, up, down, back, forth, diagonally -- in the provided grid, and provide a humorous definition. M
1450 Putting the 'anoid' in humanoid Humorously describe some aspect of our current society as a space alien and/or future anthropologist might interpret it. H H
1448 Hear, hear -- it's Limerixicon XVIII Supply a humerous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any word, name or term beginning with "he-". M
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
1445 Put it in bee-verse -- poems with spelling words Write a humorous poem of eight lines or fewer that includes at least one of the words used in Round 8 or later of this year's bee; OR: write a joke in Q&A form that uses at least one of the words. H
1444 It's a whole new all-game Slightly change the name of a sport, sports event or similar pastime to create a new one, and briefly describe it. H
1443 The letters of the laws Propose some law -- it doesn't have to be a serious issue -- and give it a name and an acronym, 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. 3
1441 \'Rick rolling: songs as limericks Sum up or otherwise reflect a well-known song as a limerick. 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 2
1434 Go ahead, mate my bay: Grandfoals Breed" any two of this week's inking foal names and name the "grandfoal. 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
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. H
1428 The Tile Invitational VIII Create a five-, six-, or seven-letter word (or phrase) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided sets and define it. L H
1427 Rocky of ages, or Badenov for you? State any historical event -- right up to 2021 -- in the provided "A, or B" format. 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
1423 Muddled heads: Headline anagrams Choose a headline (or part of a headline) in any print or online publication dated Feb. 11-22 and rearrange all its letters into an anagram. 4
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
1416 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1388 through 1412. H H H H
1415 The Year in Redo, Part 1 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1360 through 1387, except for Weeks 1361-1363. H
1413 We're finna give you some new words Write a poem of eight lines or fewer featuring one or more of the provided terms. The terms must be used as they're defined in the new m-w.com listing. H
1412 Jumble bells -- anagram a song line Rearrange all the letters in a song title, or a line (or more if you dare!) from a song. Optional: Offer a parody of the original tune (or a few lines of it) that refers to the new title. T
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
1408 Re-Organization Slightly change the name of a nonprofit organization and describe it. M H H H 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
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. T 4
1401 How hai? A joke-haiku contest Write a joke (roughly) in the "It's so xxx" genre as a haiku. H
1400 Back on track with our classic 'foal' contest Breed" any two of the provided names of the 100 horses nominated for the 2020 Triple Crown races and name the "foal" to humorously reflect the parents' names. M H
1398 This is the year that is Describe the year 2020 in a novel, colorful metaphor or simile. You may also offer an original graphic. 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-". T
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. T H
1393 Second chance (acned conches?) for anagrams Describe any of the provided anagram businesses, or offer its slogan. H H H
1391 No-covid zone -- a neologism contest Coin a new word or phrase that lacks C, O, V, I and D and describe it. H H
1390 'Same difference' for a new time Explain how any two of the items in the provided list are similar, different or otherwise linked. M 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. M
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
1384 Of course there are stupid questions! Give us stupid questions, especially ones reflecting Our Current Situation. H
1382 For us, it's still Post Time Breed" any two names from the provided list of 100 of the 145 previous Kentucky Derby winners, from 1875 to 2019, and name the foal to humorously reflect the parents' names. T 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. T
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. M
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
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. M H 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 H
1368 Picture This -- cartoon captions Supply a caption for one or more of the provided cartoons. T
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 H 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. I H H
1365 Dead Letters, our obit poem contest Write a poem of eight lines or fewer (plus an optional title) about someone who died in 2019. T
1363 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1334 through Week 1359. 3
1362 The Year in Redo, Part 1 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1307 through 1333, except for Weeks 1309-1311. T 2
1356 Ask Backwards 38 Sixteen "answers" are provided. Tell us the questions. H
1351 What concept will you be for Halloween? Give us a creative, clever idea for a timely Halloween costume (for one or more people) or an idea for a party or other activity. You may even send us a photo of an actual new costume you've created this year. H
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. M
1347 Reologisms Write a clever, funny definition for any of the provided Loser-concocted words and phrases, and/or show they'd be used. T
1345 The confaketionary -- food fictoids Tell us some comically false "fact" about food, drink or dining. T
1339 Songs for a modern error Write humorous lyrics about some modern woe, set to a familiar tune. T
1338 Picture This -- cartoon captions Supply a caption for one or more of the provided cartoons. M
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 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. I
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
1330 Spinoff x Time Is Now = Grandfoals Week! Breed" any two of the 65 foal names that got ink this week, and name the offspring to reflect both parents' names. T M 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
1323 Selected shortened subjects Delete one or more letters from the beginning or end (or both) of a movie title and describe the resulting movie. T
1320 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 Feb. 21-March 4, and pair it with a question it might answer. 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. 4
1318 Love the tiny tail stain! Create an anagram -- a phrase or sentence with the letters rearranged -- of any text (except merely someone's name), of any length. H
1312 Neologisms in TOUR de Fours XV Coin a word or multi-word term that contains the letter block T-O-U-R and describe it. The letters may be in any order. 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. T 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 2
1303 Neologisms to di- for Replace a digraph in an existing word or phrase with another digraph to make a new term. 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. I H H
1296 A, we're Adorbs: New-word poems Use one or more of these words new to M-W.com in a humorous poem of eight lines max. T H
1295 Really, now? A matter of degree. Tell us an indication to some problem, followed by an even more dire sign. T
1294 As the word turns “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. T H
1293 Constitutional unconvention Humorously translate or explain some part of the U.S. Constitution. W T
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-". H
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 H H
1290 Bobbing for Witte words Come up with both an object/situation and a neologism for it. H H
1288 Your results may vary Write a funny disclaimer or warning for some product or service. 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. T
1285 That is so wrong! Supply a trivia question along with both the correct answer and a cleverly "wrong" guess. 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 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 H
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 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. L
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. H H H
1272 The hex files: creative curses Come up with a creative curse. T 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. T H
1267 Jingle bungle Suggest an ill-advised spokesman (dead or alive, or fictional), along with a humorously noooo slogan or jingle. H
1266 The Tile Invitational V Create a five-, six-, or seven-letter word (or phrase) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided sets and define it. T 4
1265 Parody for the course Write a song relating to a class or course of instruction, or to school in general. 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
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
1260 What lies (are) ahead for 2018 Jokingly predict some news event to happen in 2018. M
1258 The year in redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1230 through Week 1254. 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
1256 Picture this -- a caption contest Provide a funny caption for any of the provided cartoons. 3
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. H H
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
1253 Fashion x fiction: More fake trivia Tell us some totally bogus trivia about clothing or fashion. M
1252 It's a med, med, med, med world Invent a clever name for a new medical product, and specify the condition it would treat. H
1250 Poems of the year(s) Write a humorous poem incorporating three or more terms from a particular year or era listed on Time Traveler. T H H 4
1249 Ask Backwards 36 Choose any of the 15 provided items and follow it with a question that it could humorously answer. H
1248 C'mon, fess up! Send us a brief "confession" -- there will be categories for true and just-kidding. 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. T
1244 Primed for product reviews Send us a creative "review" for any of the provided items that are listed on Amazon. 2
1243 We bid you: No T-R-U-M-P Coin a new term, or choose an existing one, whose letters do not include a T, R, U, M, or P, and write a humorous definition. T
1242 Generation Yux Give us a "then/now" joke. H 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
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-". H
1239 MASH 3 Combine two movie titles and  describe the result. W 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 H
1237 Our alliteracy campaign Rewrite an existing headline from any  publication, print or online — about something in the  news from July 20 to 31, by using alliteration. H
1235 The Sound of Science Write humorous lyrics on the subject of science or technology, set to a well-known tune. H
1233 Not The Loser Community  gets a week off (actually  two) from writing contest  entries and will have to  find something else to do  during staff meetings,  sermons, romantic  breakups, etc. H
1227 Celebrate ortho-diversity! Name and describe a new life form -- and no letter in the term may be used twice. H
1226 Colt following: The 'grandfoals' Breed" any two of the 61 foal names that got ink this week, and name the offspring to reflect both parents names. T
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.) T
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. W
1222 Foaling around Breed" any two of the provided racehorses nominated for this year's Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont; and name the foal to reflect both of them. W H
1221 Who's kidding whom? Take two people from history, past or present, and tell what their child would be like T
1220 O pedantry, O pedantry Give us some humorous pedantry. 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
1217 Mergers you wrote: Combine two businesses with puns Give a clever name for a combination of two or more businesses. H
1216 As the word turns 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
1212 The Tile Invitational IV  Give us a five-, six- or seven-letter word (or two words) by scrambling the letters of any of the provided sets and define it. H H 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. M
1206 Do-over the do-over -- enter any of the year's contests Enter (or re-enter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1149 to 1202, except for Week 1152, last year's do-over. 4
1205 Could we just have a do-over? Yes, we could. Enter (or re-enter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1149 to 1201, except for Week 1152, last year's do-over. H H H
1203 You've got the powers Tell us what you would do if you had one or more of the six magical powers provided. P H
1202 Don't be afraid of the dark Write lyrics to a song that, in some way, express hope. 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
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. M
1199 We want some bad choices Offer one or more funny Questions for Terrible People, as shown. M
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 H
1197 Picture This -- It's a Bob Staake caption contest Write a caption for any of the cartoons provided. H
1195 Don't change a letter! Alter a movie title only by changing word spacing, changing capitalization, and adding or deleting punctuation marks, accents, etc., then describe the result. 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
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 M
1190 You're workin' on a chain, gang Create a chain of no more than 15 proper nouns — names of people (real or fictional), products, places, etc. — including one title of a work — in which each name relates somehow to the previous one. M
1188 Just short words, one more time Explain some concept or philosophy entirely in words of one syllable. T H
1185 The Rorschach of the crowd Interpret one of more of the provided genuine inkblots. You may look at them upside down or sideways. 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
1183 C'mon, be honest with us Write something in roughly the form "If X were more honest, (then) Y. H H
1182 Where in the wor(l)d? (1) On What3words.com, find one or more humorously appropriate (or ironic) three-word codes at a particular place; or 2) find a three-word code, tell us where it is, and tell us what ought to be there. H H H 2
1181 Put it in Bee-verse Write a short, humorous poem using one of the 36 provided words, all from the 2016 National Spelling Bee. P
1180 Strip search! Find a line of text from any comic strip or panel that appears on the Post's comics pages or on washingtonpost.com/comics, dated anywhere between June 16 and June 27, and either (a) supply a question that the original line could answer, or (b) follow it with your own line of dialogue or reply. H
1179 Blasted alphabetical contests . . . Coin a three-word phrase whose words begin with A, B and C -- in any order -- and describe it. H 3
1177 The ballad box Write a song related to this year's elections, set to a familiar tune. H
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
1175 Good luck with 13 Make up a word whose Scrabble letter values add up to exactly 13, and define it. H 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 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. W M
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". T
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 4
1168 Asterisky business Tell us an original joke whose punchline can't be understood without knowledge -- not necessarily scientific -- that most of us don't have (which you'll supply with a concise explanation). T 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 H
1163 Put it in reverse Spell a word, name or phrase backward and define the result in a way that relates to the original. P
1160 A remeaning task Redefine an existing word or two-word term beginning with P through Z. H
1159 It's all in the game Come up with a funny/ridiculous board-type game and describe it. 4
1158 What have we here? Tell us what one or more of these objects really are. H H
1157 Clue us in -- a backward crossword Supply clever, funny clues to up to 25 of the words and multi-word terms in the provided grid. H H
1154 Tabby Road -- songs for cats Write a song for -- or about -- cats or other animals, set to a familiar tune. H
1153 Be three-paired Choose two or more entities represented by a single three-letter combination from IAA through LZZ, found at the provided link, and say how they are alike or different or have some connection. H 2
1152 Oops? You do it again. Enter any Style Invitational contest from Week 1098 through Week 1148, except for Week 1101, last year's do-over. H H
1150 A deviant character Change the name of person or animal -- real or fictional -- by adding or subtracting one letter; substituting one letter for another; or switching the positions of two nearby letters, and describing the results. H H
1149 Gestures of depreciation Suggest ways to celebrate National Love Your Lawyer Day -- or a made-up "holiday" celebrating some other profession. H H
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 H H
1144 Someone else's business Name a real brand, along with something else it would be a better name for. T
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
1139 A little sixty-four play Fashion an entry by selecting one element from each of the provided menu groups. Make sure you indicate the combination you chose (e.g., 2-C-iii). H
1138 Show us your touché Offer an elegantly snide (and original) insult of anyone living or dead. H
1137 Be a published author! Give us a spicy title for a boring book, real or imagined. H H
1136 Gaah! It's Limerixicon XII Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term beginning with "ga-". 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
1126 Picture this Provide a humorous caption for any of the cartoons provided. 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. M 2
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. M 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
1118 Breed 'em and weep Breed any two of the provided 100 racehorses nominated for this year's Triple Crown events and name the foal the reflect both names. 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
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. 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. H
1113 Our occasional parodies Write a song celebrating someone's birthday or other personal occasion (rather than, say, a holiday), set to a familiar tune. 2
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. H
1103 Themes good enough for us Suggest an existing song to be used as the theme for a TV series or program for comic effect. H
1102 Let's get Sirius Suggest a new radio channel and describe it. H
1101 The year in redo Enter any Style Invitational contest from Week 1047 through Week 1097, except for Week 1050. H
1099 Questionable journalism Take a sentence (or most of a sentence) that appears in an article in The Washington Post or on washingtonpost.com dated Nov. 20 through Dec. 1 (in print, any article from those days' papers), and make up a question that the sentence could answer. H 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
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
1090 Talk undirty to us Write a humorous poem in any form (no more than eight lines) that includes one or more of the provided words; the word must make sense in the poem in its TRUE meaning. H
1089 It's E-Z Find-a-Word -- your own! 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
1082 Band on the pun Alter the name of a music group or performer slightly -- not necessarily by just one letter, but enough so it's obvious what the original is -- and describe it in some way. H H
1079 Little piddle riddle Ask a question and answer it with a rhyme. H H
1078 Hyphen the Terrible Combine one side of any hyphenated word or compound term with one side of another word to make a new hyphenated term, and define it humorously. Both halves must appear in the same issue of The Post or another print newspaper, or in writing published the same day on washingtonpost.com or another online publication. H
1067 A(t)tribute to your wit Alter a well-known quote slightly and attribute it to someone else. H
1051 Love the tiny tail stain! Create an anagram -- a text with the letters rearranged -- of any text (except merely someone's name), of any length, referring to something or someone in the news. H