Style Invitational Week 1508: A Laughtime Achievement Award that's a new-word contest
Plus what happens when you ask the Losers to write something using all 100 Scrabble tiles.
Cartoon 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 …
Wordle nerds: The ones who post their scores every day at 12:01 a.m. “I’ve conducted a heuristic analysis of whether I should have started with ‘adieu’ or ‘horse’ ...”
Lendacity: “Our financial services company just wants to help you get back on your feet with our short-term loans and our convenient payment system of Vinny here.”
It’s the 18th incarnation of our Tour de Fours neologism contest, in which you coin a new word or phrase including a particular four-letter block. This week, in honor of his retirement after 29 years as the entirely voluntary Keeper of the Stats, we salute Loser Elden Carnahan: Coin a word or phrase containing the letters E-L-D-N — consecutively but in any order — and describe it, as in the examples above. Deadline for Week 1508: Monday night, Oct. 10.
And we have the results for our Week 1504 contest to write something with all 100 tiles in a Scrabble set (the two blanks were the writers’ choice). The results — phenomenal. And funnee. Just one of the 27 inking entries, by Kevin Dopart:
Arizona: Cyber Ninja quacks update voting audit. (We’re fine.)
Texas: Violate women’s rights. (Boo!)
Epilogue — Florida: Hold my beer.
In my supplementary column, The Style Conversational, I talk about the new contest and results, and present this week’s winning entry — about a tour of Mar-a-Lago culminating in the “grift shop” — as a letter-twirling GIF.
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LINKS TO …
This week’s Invitational column, Week 1508, with the results of Week 1504
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 1508
Still running -- deadline Monday night, Oct. 3:
Week 1507, our contest combining wordplay and maps into a state-slogan contest. (Paywall-free entry form for Week 1507)
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.