Style Invitational Week 1507: All over the map!
Write a state slogan with this U.S. map game. Plus winning parodies & videos about food.
Cartoon by Bob Staake for The Washington Post
MINNESOTA: We Must Insist On Politeness! (Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania)
IDAHO: We Now Make KETO-Organic Potatoes! (Wyo., Neb., Mo., Ky., Ohio, Pa.)
CALIFORNIA: A Noxious, Overbearing World Infested With Narcissists (Ariz., Nev., Ore., Wash., Idaho, Wyo., Neb.)
—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 …
This week’s contest, Style Invitational Week 1507, came to cartoonist Bob Staake fully formed in a dream. And so we’re following his dreams. This week: Choose a state, then “drive” a route through nearby states in any direction, doubling back if you like. String together their first letters to make a slogan about the first state, as in Bob’s examples above. Complete directions in the column, but the examples are the easiest way to understand it.
Meanwhile, we have — as always with our song contest — a fabulous set of song parodies and videos, this time on the subject of food. We have “Eye of the Tiger” as a song about battling constipation, a ballad of the Great White House Ketchup Splat, and “YMCA” turned into “Chinese Buffet.”
In my supplementary column, The Style Conversational, I talk about this week’s new contest and results, and show three more clever songs about Ketchupgate.
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LINKS TO …
This week’s Invitational column, Week 1507, with the results of Week 1503
The same column for non-subscribers (but do sign up — there are always great promotions going on!)
This week’s Style Conversational column
The Convo for non-subscribers
Paywall-free entry form for Week 1507
Still running -- deadline TUESDAY night, Sept. 27:
Week 1506, our contest to write a short, funny poem using any of 32 terms newly added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. (Paywall-free entry form for Week 1506)
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. Follow 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.