Robert Leighton’s cartoon is set in an office, where all but one of the employees is carrying his or her own ventriloquist’s dummy. One of these employees is saying something to a co-worker who does not have a dummy. I first thought about ventriloquists who use their dummies to make insulting or vulgar comments, a…
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Caption Contest Commentary
“Pilloried Octopus” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Brooke Bourgeois’s cartoon is set under the sea, where a disgruntled octopus has been put in a pillory with nine holes, one for each of his eight tentacles and one for his head. Swimming around the octopus are several fish, one of whom, in the lower-left corner of the drawing, is speaking. Here’s a pun…
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“Lyft Stork” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
In Evan Lian’s cartoon, two storks are making their deliveries. One is carrying a baby. The other has a pink mustache—a reference to the ride-sharing service Lyft—and carries a young man with a backpack on his lap. The stork with the mustache is speaking. This cartoon has three frames of reference: baby-delivering storks, the young…
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“Terrifying Election” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Bob Eckstein’s cartoon has three distinct frames of reference — Halloween, the election, and the pandemic. Addressing all three is a challenge. The woman who’s next in line for the voting booth is speaking. She’s also pointing with her left index finger, but at what? The skeleton? The man in the voting booth? Or is…
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