Style Invitational Week 1494: Put it in bee-verse
Write a short, funny poem using a spelling bee word. And we have 21 winning parodies!
(Cartoon by by Bob Staake for The Washington Post)
—If you’re not yet getting this free newsletter by email (or if you got dropped because you didn’t expressly opt in since we moved over to Substack): By all means …
It’s Loserbard time coming and going in this week’s Style Invitational: twenty-one zingy song parodies — including half a dozen videos — about the news, and now, in Week 1494, a contest to write a short (8 lines or fewer) poem using one or more of the words from this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. Deadline is Tuesday, July 5.
In my supplementary column The Style Conversational, I share some previous spelling bee poetry — and show two excellent parodies of the same song, about the same news event. You be the judge of which one should have gotten the ink.
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LINKS TO …
This week's Invitational column, Week 1494, and results of Week 1490
The same column for non-subscribers (but do sign up — there are always great promotions going on!)
No-paywall entry form for Week 1494
This week’s Style Conversational column
Still running -- deadline Monday night, June 27: For Week 1493, send us a feghoot — a ridiculous mini-story (75 words would be long) that sets up the punchline of a groaner pun. See the paywall-free entry form here.
More ways to enjoy The Style Invitational and be part of the Loser Community:
Join the Style Invitational Devotees group on Facebook and the Devs will anagram your name every which way.
Also on Facebook, the Style Invitational Ink of the Day page presents one classic entry as a colorful graphic that's easy to share. "Like" the page to get it regularly on your news feed, or to scroll through the archives. bit.ly/inkofday.
And we have two seasons’ worth of the You're Invited podcast, half-hour episodes with host Mike Gips and various Invite luminaries. Catch all 18 episodes at bit.ly/invite-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
— Pat Myers, Empress of The Style Invitational, pat.myers@washpost.com (or just reply to this email)
*That's Loser with a capital L; named for the runner-up prizes emblazoned "LOSER," the community of regular Style Invitational entrants now proudly calls itself the Losers. If you enter the Invite, you're a Genuine Loser. But not (necessarily) a loser.