WK | TITLE | SYNOPSIS | INK TYPES |
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 |
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. |
4 H H H H I |
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 |
1379 |
Your wish: A pun -- a star |
Tell a joke, in your choice of form, whose punchline is a pun on a song title or lyric. |
4 |
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). |
2 |
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 |
1369 |
Shoot us some oops |
Tell us a concise original joke that revolves around a typo or misheard word. |
2 |
1368 |
Picture This -- cartoon captions |
Supply a caption for one or more of the provided cartoons. |
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 |
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 |
1363 |
The Year in Redo, Part 2 |
Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1334 through Week 1359. |
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 |
1357 |
It's parody time! |
Write a satirical song about anything in the news right now, set to a familiar tune. |
W |
1356 |
Ask Backwards 38 |
Sixteen "answers" are provided. Tell us the questions. |
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. |
W |
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 |
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 H W |
1348 |
Same difference |
Explain humorously how any two or more of the provided items are alike, different or otherwise connected. |
H |
1347 |
Reologisms |
Write a clever, funny definition for any of the provided Loser-concocted words and phrases, and/or show they'd be used. |
H |
1345 |
The confaketionary -- food fictoids |
Tell us some comically false "fact" about food, drink or dining. |
H 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. |
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 |
1339 |
Songs for a modern error |
Write humorous lyrics about some modern woe, set to a familiar tune. |
H |
1336 |
Two ways about it |
What's something (printable) you could say in two -- or more -- of the provided situations. |
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 |
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. |
L W |
1326 |
Foaling around |
"Breed" any two names from the provided list of 100 horses and name the foal to reflect both names. |
H H |
1317 |
Punku 2: Haiku with puns |
Create a haiku containing a pun or similar wordplay. |
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 H 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. |
W |
1309 |
The Year in Redo, Part 1 |
Enter (or reenter) any Style Invitational contest from Week 1255 through Week 1281. |
H H H 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 |
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 |
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 |
1301 |
Tell us a Fib(onacci) |
Write a humorous poem of 20 syllables divided among six lines like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. And a least two -- any two -- of the lines must rhyme. |
H |
1299 |
OK, hivemind! A contest with new Scrabble words |
Choose any two of the words in the provided list as the beginning and end of a humorous word chain of 6 to 14 words or phrases. |
H H I |
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. |
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-". |
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 |
1282 |
Picture This |
Write a caption for one or more of the provided pictures. |
H |
1281 |
We only have (googly) eyes for you |
Send us a photo of something that you have made funny by pasting googly eyes on it; funny titles and captions are optional. |
W |
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 |
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. |
3 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. |
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. |
H |
1273 |
Restocking the Cabinet |
Explain why a particular person -- or thing -- ought to fill a Cabinet post or other U.S. government position. |
H H |
1268 |
Playing pinocchio |
Tell us some humorously bogus trivia about the news media or the publishing or broadcasting industries. |
H |
1265 |
Parody for the course |
Write a song relating to a class or course of instruction, or to school in general. |
H |
1264 |
A cry for Yelp: 'Review' any place |
Write a humorous review, positive or negative, of anyplace (real of fictional) one might visit. |
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 |
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 H |
1256 |
Picture this -- a caption contest |
Provide a funny caption for any of the provided cartoons. |
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 |
1251 |
Thanking outside the box |
Tell us something to be thankful for. |
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. |
3 |
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. |
2 |
1245 |
Call us reprehensible … |
Complain in a humorously missing-the-point way about something that has appeared in The Washington Post (in print or online) recently, or in another publication. |
H H |
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. |
H |
1242 |
Generation Yux |
Give us a "then/now" joke. |
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 |
1239 |
MASH 3 |
Combine two movie titles and describe the result. |
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 W |
1230 |
What in creation . . . ? |
Supply a brief monologue or dialogue about a Creator's specifications or planning for some living being. |
H H |
1229 |
Gorey bits from A to Z |
Send us one of more edgy rhyming alphabet-primer couplets. |
H |
1228 |
That movie is SO about you |
Name someone who was the "secret inspiration" for a certain movie. |
H |
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 |
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. |
H |
1220 |
O pedantry, O pedantry |
Give us some humorous pedantry. |
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. |
3 |
1217 |
Mergers you wrote: Combine two businesses with puns |
Give a clever name for a combination of two or more businesses. |
H 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 H |
1215 |
A so-so contest (How so-so is it?) |
Write a humorous exaggeration in the form "x is so y that …" |
H H 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 |
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 |
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 W |
1204 |
Well, at least … |
Note some good news for the coming year to comfort -- or "comfort" -- those who are depressed about the change of presidential administration. |
H H |
1200 |
The definitive dozen |
Supply a word, name or multi-word term along with a wry definition or description; together, the term and description must total exactly 12 words. |
H H H W |
1199 |
We want some bad choices |
Offer one or more funny Questions for Terrible People, as shown. |
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 H H |
1197 |
Picture This -- It's a Bob Staake caption contest |
Write a caption for any of the cartoons provided. |
3 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 |
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. |
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 |
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. |
3 H |
1189 |
Gee, it's Limerixicon XIII! |
Supply a humorous, previously unpublished limerick significantly featuring any English word, name or term beginning with "ge". |
H |
1188 |
Just short words, one more time |
Explain some concept or philosophy entirely in words of one syllable. |
W |
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 W |
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 H |
1183 |
C'mon, be honest with us |
Write something in roughly the form "If X were more honest, (then) Y." |
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 |
1179 |
Blasted alphabetical contests . . . |
Coin a three-word phrase whose words begin with A, B and C -- in any order -- and describe it. |
H 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 H |
1175 |
Good luck with 13 |
Make up a word whose Scrabble letter values add up to exactly 13, and define it. |
H 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. |
3 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 |
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 |