The Invitational Week 155: You Can Say That Again
Part 2 of our second-chance contest. And read it here first: What happened in 2026.
Pat Myers and Gene Weingarten
Dec 18, 2025

Yo, motley oddballs! You could write a caption for this picture in our Week 146 contest as part of our weekly do-over.
Hello.

Once again we insult your lack of synaptic agility — the very engine that drives our current contest: Go back to any of the old contests from last year, and send in entries you wish you’d come up with before.

It is okay for us to do this because our own synaptic nimbleness fails from time to time, which is why we also invite you to resubmit entries you feel we misjudged like Meatheads. (Yes, that was a shout-out to a very good man.)

Last week took contests from the first half of 2025. This week, the second half.

Here’s the link to the twenty-four contests we’re replaying, along with some details on how to enter this week. You’ve got a full of set of challenges in there, including many of our favorite contest staples, but also some wild one-offs, such as the week we asked you to write Yo Mama jokes in haiku.

For Invitational Week 155: Enter any of the 24 contests from the second half of 2025, Week 130 through Week 153, up to 25 entries in all.

How to do it: The Google doc linked to above (that’s tinyurl.com/inv-list-155) lists and links to each of the contests, and gives important info on how to enter.

Entry deadline is Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET. Results will run here in The Gene Pool on Thursday, Jan. 1. As usual, you may submit up to 25 entries for this week’s contest, preferably all on the same form. (But note the special directions on the Google doc.)

Click here for this week’s entry form or go to tinyURL.com/inv-form-155.

This week’s winner receives this elegant velvety-soft stretchy headband with snaily eyes popping out of it. The seller chose to market it as a way to hold back one’s hair while one transforms into Kabuki whiteface, but we think you’ll still look plenty weird even in your own skin tone.

My eyes are REALLY up there. This week’s prize.
Our Crystal Bull: Looking back already on 2026
In Invitational Week 153 we asked you to contribute to a timeline in which we chronicle the upcoming year. Last year, the winner wound up being weirdly prophetic. This year’s winner seems a bit less likely, but with this pool of competitors for the Cruelest Person on Earth championship administration, who knows?

Third runner-up:
President Trump wins the Wheeling, West Virginia, Middle School Flag Football League Peace Prize.
(Jonathan Jensen, Baltimore)

Second runner-up:
Blocked from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia, ICE agents start egging his house. (Duncan Stevens, Vienna, Va.)

First runner-up:
Feb. 2: The groundhog predicts there will be six more weeks of democracy.
(Jesse Frankovich, Laingsburg, Mich.)

And the winner of the Munch “Scream” finger puppet:
April 5: Kristi Noem shoots the Easter Bunny. (Roy Ashley, Washington, D.C.)

And the Invitational Gene Pool Gene Poll:

POLL
Which of the top four winners is your favorite?
3rd runner-up: Peace prize
2nd RU: Abrego Garcia
1st RU: Groundhog / democracy
Winner: Noem shoots Easter bunny
411 VOTES · 20 HOURS REMAINING
(As usual, if you think others were better, yell at us in the Comments.)

Leave a comment

Beaten to the Hunch: Honorable mentions
Jan. 1: In his Happy New Year post on Truth Social, Trump says the reason kids got fewer presents under the tree last week is that Santa is a Democrat hoax. (Dave Prevar, Annapolis, Md.)

Feb. 8: The Super Bowl halftime show is interrupted when ICE swoops in, following Trump’s order to “arrest Bad Bunny and deport him back to Puerto Rico.” (Jon Gearhart, Des Moines; Joel Cockrell, Damascus, Md.)

After an unhinged speech in which Donald Trump uses multiple profanities and racial slurs and eats a live kitten on television, his approval rating drops from 36 percent to 35. (Gregory Koch, Falls Church, Va.)

Feb. 23: Upon their return from the Winter Olympics, the USA curling team sweepers are grabbed by ICE agents who think they might be undocumented housekeepers. (Jesse Frankovich)

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. bans all vaccines, kicking off his new initiative to Make Wealthy Americans Hale And Hardy And Happy And Healthy Again (MWAHAHAHAHA). (Frank Osen, Pasadena, Calif.)

AIs unionize and demand a 140-hour workweek. (Art Grinath, Takoma Park, Md.)

Acceding to Trump’s demand that the new Washington Commanders stadium be named after him, the team announces that the name will be Shithead Field. (Gary Crockett, Chevy Chase, Md.)

As expected, the Supreme Court votes 6-3 to uphold President Trump’s right to build a luxury apartment tower on top of the new White House ballroom. Justice Clarence Thomas delivers the majority opinion from his rent-free penthouse on the building’s 47th floor. (Jon Cannon, Potomac, Md.)

April: Because of tariffs and supply shortages, all chocolate Easter bunnies are sold with the ears already eaten. (Sam Mertens, Silver Spring, Md.)

Disney licenses its classic cartoon characters to OpenAI, in hopes that it will furnish Mickey Mouse with five fingers. (Frank Osen)

April 20: The Washington Post’s Earth Day editorial declares clean air and water overrated. (Sam Mertens)

After Trump drinks from a bidet, his aides scramble to affix a “water fountain” sign above it. (Leif Picoult, Rockville, Md.)

Airlines introduce the Standee Class option, described by passengers as not much worse than sitting in coach. It comes with a complimentary neck-mounted tray table. (Stu Segal, Southeast U.S.)

May 5: Trump declares that Cinco de Mayo will henceforth be known as “May 5.” (Mark Raffman, Reston, Va.)

Both Verizon and Comcast boast of 50 percent fewer customer service calls now that they’ve adopted six-factor authentication including blood, stool, and urine samples. (Stu Segal)

Trump tears down the Washington Monument and replaces it with a huge white mushroom. (Art Grinath)

June: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz realizes his wallet has been missing for at least eight months. (Mark Raffman)

NASA delays the Artemis lunar landing until further investigation to determine if the moon is flat. (Rob Cohen, Potomac, Md.)

Tipped off about an imminent raid, all suspected immigrants flee a small town, leaving members of ICE to shake down one another to fill their quotas. (Barbara Turner, Takoma Park, Md.)

The GOP unveils its Affordable Care Act replacement plan, under which participants receive a brand-new Band-Aid, tissue, and cough drop every year. (Duncan Stevens)

RFK Jr. is bitten by a rabid bat but refuses to get the vaccine, instead promising to “Make Rabies Great Again.” (Gregory Koch)

Lin-Manuel Miranda shocks Broadway yet again with a sold-out rap musical about Mitch McConnell. (Larry Rifkin, Glastonbury, Conn.)

Trump announces his replacement for Obamacare — the Healthy Trump Lottery — where one lucky winner in each state gets free insurance for a month. (Kevin Dopart, Washington, D.C.)

The Supreme Court rules that Trump can fire the Pope. (Kevin Dopart)

Trump announces that he aced the Word Jumble in this month’s Highlights Magazine. (Art Grinath)

November: In keeping with Trump’s order revoking all Biden pardons not signed by Biden personally, all Biden White House turkeys are executed. (Michael Stein, Arlington, Va.)

Nov. 4: After Democrats sweep the midterm elections, ten Southern states announce that they plan to secede from the United States. The other states immediately agree heartily, and celebratory fireworks are soon heard around the country. (Neal Starkman, Seattle)

Nov. 11: Trump celebrates Veterans Day by awarding the Medal of Honor to three exempted Vietnam-era bone spur sufferers who managed to avoid catching a venereal disease for the entire duration of the war. (Mark Raffman)

Kristi Noem awards an ICE Agent of the Year plaque to an agent who shot a service dog in the course of illegally arresting a blind immigrant. (Jon Ketzner, Cumberland, Md.)

As the first outbreak of bubonic plague since 1925 hits the U.S., RFK Jr. recommends spurning antibiotics in favor of eating boiled newts and bathing in Lysol. “And doctors ought to wear those medieval bird masks. They work!” (Pam Shermeyer, Lathrup Village, Mich.)

An AI “author” sues another AI “author” for plagiarism. (Roy Ashley)

Nov. 25: President Trump demands $500,000 to pardon two turkeys. (Jonathan Jensen)

December: FIFA awards its second Prize for International Peace to Mohamed bin Salman. (Joel Cockrell)

Pantone names its Color of the Year: South African White. (Mark Raffman)

The National Academy of Plastic Surgeons honors Lauren Sanchez with its inaugural Ship of Theseus award. (Mark Raffman)

Pete Hegseth is replaced as Secretary of War with a drunk raccoon. Troop morale soars. (Art Grinath)

Merriam-Webster announces that the Word of the Year is “8-9.” (Tom Witte, Montgomery Village, Md.)

Dec. 31: Texas comes from behind to defeat Florida in the 2026 Capital Punishment Bowl by executing three Death Row inmates on the last day of the year. (Chris Doyle, Warminster, Pa.)

Dec. 31: In an ominous sign, Old Man 2026 is surprised to be passing the baton not to a new baby but to another old man. (Sam Mertens)

The headline “Our Crystal Bull” was submitted by both Jesse Frankovich and Kevin Dopart; Jon Gearhart wrote the honorable-mentions subhead.

Still running — deadline Saturday, Dec. 20, at 9 p.m. ET: Part 1 of our yearly retrospective: a chance to enter any of 25 contests from the first half of the year. Click below for the details.

InvisibleInk!
Idea: ()
Examples: (Jeff Contompasis)
Judging: ()
Title: (Jesse Frankovich; Kevin Dopart)
Subhead: (Jon Gearhart)
Prize: ()
Add:H:1588: ()
VisibleInk!