Evan Lian’s drawing is set at a cocktail party, where a woman is talking to a man. Behind her, and engaged in another conversation, is Waldo from the “Where’s Waldo” puzzle books. The challenge in every such puzzle is locating the eponymous character in a crowd.
I first imagined the woman explaining why she’s not interested in Waldo:
- “I don’t want someone who just fades into the background.”
- “I’m looking for someone who stands out in a crowd.”
- “He’s not the kind of guy I’m looking for.”
- “I don’t know what I’m looking for, but it’s not him.”
In the typical “Where’s Waldo” puzzle, Waldo’s hard to find. In Lian’s cartoon, however, he sticks out like a sore thumb, so I imagined the woman saying, “Why can’t he just blend in?”
Finally, I had the woman explaining why she’s still with Waldo: “I would leave him, but what if I can’t find someone else?”
Now let’s see how you did:
“Where’s Waldo?” asks just one of the five W questions. Here are a couple more:
- “Lately, I’ve been asking why Waldo?”
- “Now I just ask why.”
- “Who’s Waldo?”
Many of you acknowledged that finding Waldo can be challenging:
- “It’s hard to find a man like that.”
- “I looked long and hard for a man like that.”
- “I wish someone would look for me that hard.”
- “Where has he been all my life?”
- “I just can’t see him right now.”
- “It’s just that I could never find him when I really needed him.”
- “Men like him are so hard to find.”
- “I wish I could find a guy like that.”
- “I lost him in the crowd.”
- “I just can’t seem to find the right guy.”
- “I’m here with someone, but I can’t seem to find him.”
- “I’m just worried about losing him.”
A few of you, however, suggested that he’s too easy to find:
- “Where isn’t he?”
- “Where isn’t Waldo?”
- “I never need to ask. He’s always there.”
- “Unfortunately, I never need to ask.”
These next three captions take a common expression and give it a new meaning within the context of the cartoon:
- “Yeah, there’s one in every crowd.”
- “I’ve found someone else.”
- “I was hoping he would blend in.”
These entries suggest that the woman’s in search of something, but it’s not Waldo:
- “I’m more interested in finding myself right now.”
- “My therapist says I need to find myself.”
- “I think I need to find myself first.”
Whereas the next three captions suggest that Waldo is, or should be, the one who’s searching:
- “I told him that he needed to take time and find himself first.”
- “He’s still trying to find himself.”
- “He’s still finding himself.”
A few of you focused on Waldo’s ridiculous outfit:
- “The bigger question is, why is he dressed like that?”
- “Where’s Waldo’s fashion sense?”
- “He’s not even trying anymore.”
Many of you suggested that the woman’s trying to get away from the man she spent so much time and energy finding:
- “Now that I’ve found him, I can’t get rid of him.”
- “I understand you disappear people.”
- “I wish he was out of the picture.”
- “Ever since I found him, I can’t get rid of him.”
- “The thrill was in the hunt.”
- “He’s hard to find but harder to lose.”
- “He’s even harder to lose.”
- “This is why I avoid crowds.”
- “Finding him was easier than getting rid of him.”
- “Don’t tell me–I don’t care where he is.”
These three captions explain exactly why the woman’s had enough of Waldo:
- “It’s always, where’s Waldo? And never, how’s Karen?”
- “Just once, couldn’t it be where’s Wanda?”
- “Just once I’d like somebody to say, Where’s Susan?”
I’d like that last caption even more if the word “say” were “ask.”
In the next set of entries, the woman’s not looking for Waldo. He’s looking for her:
- “How does he always find me?”
- “He always seems to know where I am.”
- “The last time I found him, he was hiding under my bed.”
- “Damn. He found me.”
Brevity being the soul of wit, these next two entries get points for being concise:
- “There’s Waldo.”
- “Where?”
Finally, one of you noted that Waldo is actually the North American version of a character who’s originally from England: “Wally, his name is actually Wally and he is British.”
I don’t think I have ever before highlighted so many captions. Fifty-one is a record. Still, it’s only about 5% of the more than 1,000 entries received, so congratulations to those of you whose captions appear above. This week’s winner is, “Men like him are so hard to find.”
ENTER THIS WEEK’S CAPTION CONTEST
Lawrence Wood has won The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest a record-setting seven times and been a finalist four other times. He has collaborated with New Yorker cartoonists Peter Kuper, Lila Ash, Felipe Galindo Gomez, and Harry Bliss (until Bliss tossed him aside, as anyone would, to collaborate with Steve Martin). Nine of his collaborations have appeared in The New Yorker, and one is included in the New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons.