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PERMANENT INKSTAIN FOR JON KETZNER



WEEK TITLE SYNOPSIS INK Types
1620 Next Year in Review Give us some events for our 2025 timeline. H
1619 A So-So Contest Give us jokes that are so [something] that [something]. H
1618 Week 100! ...which we celebrate with a centennial contest H H
1617 Mess With Our Heads Look at a headline and see a funnier meaning. H
1613 What's the Worst That Could Happen? After the election, we mean. And be funny about it. H H
1609 Saved! Tell us funny ways to be thrifty in these parlous times H
1606 The Cold New Trend What would be an even sillier new fad than decorator refrigerator shelves? H 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 2
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 H
1598 Same Difference We give you a random list of things, and you tell us how any two are alike or different. H H
1597 The Farce of July Give us new ways to celebrate Independence Day. H H H
1596 History for the tl;dr Crowd Sum up an event for the 21st-century reader in a rhyming couplet. H
1590 All You Need Is Ink Take a line from a Beatles song and rhyme it with your own. 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
1582 You're Workin' on a Chain, Gang A classic connection game. H
1581 SOTU-Speak Use words from Biden's State of the Union speech to write some lines for another oration. H H
1580 Hi, Anxiety! Tell us some funny ways to stress yourself out. H H
1577 Why the #$%#$% Not? The Washington Post is looking for some bold ideas -- Let's show it some! H
1576 Praise the Lurid! Give us clickbait headlines for mundane stories. H
1575 The Ughscars and the Phewlitzers Give us an idea for a bad book or movie. H
1574 Oh, Grandpa, Stop! Turn a 'dad joke' into a less-tame 'grandpa joke' 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. H H
1570 The Invitational, Week 52: Replaying Around -- The 2023 retrospective, Part II Enter or reenter our Week 26-50. H
1569 Look Back in Inker -- Our 2023 retrospective, Part 1 Enter or reenter our Week 1-25 contests. T H
1568 Nextra! Nextra! Tell us the funny news events from 2024 H 4
1566 Well, the Good News Is ... Put a positive spin on a bad-news headline H
1563 The Perfect(ly Ridiculous) Gift Offer up some products for people-who-have-everything catalogs. H H H
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
1557 Tailgating On the Highway Pair a Dylan line with your own rhyming one I
1555 Do You Have to Spell It Out for Us? Give us "backronyms" H
1552 A Mirthday Party Link two people who share a birthday H H
1551 Ask Backwards XLII We give the answers. You give the questions. H
1548 Poll-ish Jokes Come up with a ridiculous reader poll. 4
1547 Alphabettering Write a funny sentence containing all 26 letters. H
1542 Your (B)ad Here Tweak an ad slogan to use it for another product 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 H
1530 Mess With Our Heads Reinterpret any headline by adding a 'bank head'. 2
1529 Hello, Dall-E! Our new contest partners you and a machine. H
1526 Poke Us Till We Giggle Write a "poke", or a joke recast as a rhyming poem 3
1525 Arty Har-har Give us an idea for a humorously audacious modern art work H H
1524 Picture This A caption contest 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 T
1520 Nextra! Nextra! Read All About it. Predict the big news events of 2023 L 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
1501 Try a little 'kindness' Tell about an “act of kindness” that you or someone else does that, well, won’t be appreciated. H
1500 These go to 15 Make up a word or phrase whose Scrabble letter values add up to exactly 15 (no blanks!) and define it. H
1497 The if-word Give us a "what if" scenario and its humorous result 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
1489 Let's movie things around Rearrange the words of a movie title to create a new movie, then describe it 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. H
1486 No can do: Signs of incompetence Give us a clue that someone was incompetent in a given field. T
1484 Two ways about it What's something (printable) you could say in two -- or more -- of the provided situations. H
1477 Thinking outside the big box Send us a humorous "review" for any of the provided items listed on walmart.com<\em>. H
1473 Sign right here Write a funny message for the overhead highway sign. H
1472 Phony money -- tell us fake financial trivia Tell us some fake trivia about money or the financial system. H H
1471 Tour de Fours XVIII: B-I-D-E with us Coin a word or phrase containing the letters B-I-D-E -- consecutively but in any order, and describe it. H
1468 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1440 through 1464. H
1465 Put your '22 cents in for our annual pre-timeline Name some humorous news event to happen in 2022. H
1464 Picture this -- a caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. H H
1463 Fork over some (new) Spoonerisms Write and original Q-A joke featuring a spoonerism. 4
1462 Time for a new career? Tell what would happen if any two people switched professions or other roles. 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. H
1453 Haven't read it -- mis-subtitle a book Choose any book title listed on Amazon and misinterpret it by adding a subtitle. 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. 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 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
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
1434 Go ahead, mate my bay: Grandfoals Breed" any two of this week's inking foal names and name the "grandfoal. 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. W T
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. 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
1425 Picture this -- a caption contest Write a caption, either descriptive or in dialogue, for any of the provided cartoons. 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 H
1416 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1388 through 1412. 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
1414 Divining comedy: 2021 predictions Name some humorous news event to happen in 2021. H
1411 Back end of a Bulwer Write a humorously awful final sentence or two to an imaginary novel. 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 H
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. 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. H
1393 Second chance (acned conches?) for anagrams Describe any of the provided anagram businesses, or offer its slogan. H 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
1373 Prime time for some Amazon reviews Send us a humorous "review" for any of the provided Amazon-listed items. 3
1369 Shoot us some oops Tell us a concise original joke that revolves around a typo or misheard word. 3
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. H
1363 The Year in Redo, Part 2 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1334 through Week 1359. H 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. M
1361 2020 vision -- the year in preview Name some humorous news event to happen in 2020. H H H H
1359 Back up in the air (quotes) Write a sentence or two and highlight an "air quote" that spans two or more words (and two sentences if you like). H
1356 Ask Backwards 38 Sixteen "answers" are provided. Tell us the questions. 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
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 3
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 H
1348 Same difference Explain humorously how any two or more of the provided items are alike, different or otherwise connected. W
1345 The confaketionary -- food fictoids Tell us some comically false "fact" about food, drink or dining. H
1336 Two ways about it What's something (printable) you could say in two -- or more -- of the provided situations. 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. H
1329 Shakespeare + Thee: Tailgaters Select any line from a work by Shakespeare (poetry or prose) and pair it with your own line to create a humorous rhyming couplet. H
1326 Foaling around Breed" any two names from the provided list of 100 horses and name the foal to reflect both names. H
1325 Stand up and jeer Give us some original standup jokes that would have been good at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner. 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. L
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
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. H
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
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 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
1311 Nextra! Nextra! The year in preview Name some humorous event to happen in 2019. H H
1309 The Year in Redo, Part 1 Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1255 through Week 1281. 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
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
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
1295 Really, now? A matter of degree. Tell us an indication to some problem, followed by an even more dire sign. H
1293 Constitutional unconvention Humorously translate or explain some part of the U.S. Constitution. H H 3
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
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
1253 Fashion x fiction: More fake trivia Tell us some totally bogus trivia about clothing or fashion. H