A Gallery of Runners-Up.
Compiled by Dan Nosowitz
FRAYED CONVEYANCES.
By Eric Meltzer
Wires and roots. Transportation at its base.
GLORIOUS INFAMY.
By Rusty Lee
Bonds and Nixon. Raise your arms for controversy.
THE END OF THE LINE.
By Gregg Van Laningham
Bridge and school hallway. Enjoy the view.
AMERICAN FIGHTIN’ FISH.
By Matthew Gruenburg
Religion and war. Statements affixed to bumpers.
HOLD YOUR HAND HIGH.
By Aryeh Cohen-Wade
Iraqi ruins and American honor. Our nation is safer.
LENO’S GASTROPOD PUNCHLINE.
By Michael Rose
Props and slugs. Beware the redhead.
GERMS AND GALAXIES.
By Julian Gallo
Microscopes and telescopes. Thirty-two-thousand-year-old bacteria and the farthest known galaxy.
RED MEANS STOP.
By David Ng
Carbon dioxide and eyes of a fly. Which have you killed lately, and which should you have?
PERPETUAL PINBALL.
By Adam Cloe
Flippers and physics. Villard de Honnecourt’s perpetual-motion device is not nearly as much fun as even a pinball machine without a licensed cartoon theme.
FAKE AND BLACK.
By John Raub
Jewelry and oil. A change in the gold standard.
PLEASURE AND TERROR.
By Alan Prather
Baseball and riddles. The basic smile with undertones of horror flicks.
STROKING THE CURVES.
By Jake Landis
Roller coasters and hourglass figures. Hold on.