In Carolita Johnson’s cartoon, two women are sitting on a couch and having tea. Behind the woman who’s speaking is a barefoot man squatting on the back of the couch as if he were a frog.
The drawing immediately calls to mind the Brothers Grimm’s “The Frog Prince,” or later versions like Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog,” so my first two captions contain references to that story.
- “Oh, he’s a prince.”
- “It was a fairy tale romance.”
- “I was hoping for a prince but got an accountant.”
I next had the woman explaining why her prince still sits like a frog: “Maybe it should have been a longer kiss.”
I then focused on the man’s bare feet: “No shoes on the furniture.”
Now let’s see how you did:
As expected, there were a lot of “Frog Prince” entries:
- “Our first kiss was disgusting, but then he was charming.”
- “It’s a fairy tale romance.”
Like I did, several of you tried to explain why the prince still sits like a frog:
- “It’s taking a while to fully transform into a prince.”
- “You can take the prince out of the frog…”
- “The kiss didn’t fully work.”
The next two captions focus on the man’s frog-like characteristics but play down any allusions to the fairy tale:
- “Found him near the pond.”
- “Hold still — there’s a fly on your cheek.”
Some of you assumed the man was acting not like a frog but like a primate:
- “It’s a mixed marriage. I was raised catholic and he was raised by apes.”
- “He loves to nit pick.”
That last caption is a decent pun. Speaking of which, the next two entries play on the double-meaning of the same word:
- “What did you think I meant when I said my husband croaked?”
- “I should have clarified when I told you my husband croaked.”
There were a surprising number of decent sex jokes:
- “He does interesting things with his tongue.”
- “He loves to try different positions.”
- “I know he’s got it out. Just keep ignoring him and maybe he’ll get bored and go away.”
- “Did I just hear a zipper?”
Those last two captions rely, in a way that’s both clever and juvenile, on the fact that the woman’s head obscures the view.
Like I did, several of you focused on the man’s bare feet:
- “And he’s stopped putting his shoes on the furniture.”
- “The house rule is no shoes on the furniture.”
- “At least he never puts his shoes on the couch.”
- “I don’t allow shoes on the couch.”
- “I’m not too worried about shoes…I just got him to wear clothes.”
Here’s the best topical joke: “Looks like a man, acts like a child. He should run for President.”
And here are five strong entries that don’t fit neatly into any category:
- “Ever since I asked him to see my point of view he’s been totally obnoxious.”
- “I made the mistake of saying I felt ignored.”
- “It was a mistake to have ‘protect’ as one of his vows.”
- “I something wrong with the coffee?”
- “Thanks for introducing me to your brother, gotta run.”
That last caption would be better if the comma were a period, but I still like it.
This week’s winner is, “Hold still — there’s a fly on your cheek.”