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The Invitational

@InviteEmpress

Formerly the WaPo weekly humor/wordplay contest, now on Substack by at https://teapawt.net/t.co/qoV5IJgseX and headed by @PatMyersEmpress and @geneweingarten

 Washington, DC
geneweingarten.substack.com
Joined October 2015
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Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)Photo by The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)
Plus the winners of the contest for What Would Be Even Worse Than the Return of T.
Pat Myers (@PatMyersEmpress) profile picturePat Myers@PatMyersEmpress14 Apr 2023
#nytspellingbee fans, looking for another outlet while the page is down? Deadline 4-15 for The Invitational's contest for made-up words from any of 20 old SB hives -- up to 25 entries in all. At The Gene Pool, judged by me and @geneweingarten . geneweingarten.substack.com/…
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I think I commented about yesterday's Jeopardy show? Not a clue. I'm thinking: Algorithms aren't being tended these days.
Image from The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)
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Our first caption contest in the New Era.
Pat Myers (@PatMyersEmpress) profile picturePat Myers@PatMyersEmpress24 Feb 2023
More captions, plus a new contest by @geneweingarten in this week's Gene Pool. bit.ly/inv-week-8
Image from Pat Myers (@PatMyersEmpress)
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And it's our beloved (and occasionally behated) biennial Joint Legislation wordplay contest! Deadline Friday, Jan. 27.
Melissa Balmain (#SatanTalksToHisTherapist Sept23) (@MelissaBalmain) profile pictureMelissa Balmain (#SatanTalksToHisTherapist Sept23)@MelissaBalmain20 Jan 2023
Foolish Young Mountain Climber in AZ Standing on a rocky shelf, he Slipped and took his final selfie. ~ Chris Doyle Yes, the Invitational's verse #obits for '22 are here! Click link & go to "Letter RIP" geneweingarten.substack.com/… #humor #satire @paul_lander @PatMyersEmpress
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That's 1 p.m. Eastern but you can send Q's now. (@geneweingarten is the only person I know who'd spell out "one pm" except as an answer in a crossword.) Weigh in about sensitivity-or-overreaction. And Pat the Perfect will take grammar questions.
Gene Weingarten (@geneweingarten) profile pictureGene Weingarten@geneweingarten10 Jan 2023
The Gene Pool intro is out! The live chat starts at one pm. The intro is .... here! geneweingarten.substack.com/…
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Note the handle change from @styleinvite. As if we ever had style. @PatMyersEmpress and @geneweingarten are now carrying on (shhh!) with The Invitational at geneweingarten.substack.com. Week 1: Obit poems --plus "sister cities" pun results.
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Week 1 of The Invitational -- obit poems. Plus we already have a set of pun-filled contest results. Read it for free!
Gene Weingarten (@geneweingarten) profile pictureGene Weingarten@geneweingarten5 Jan 2023
Here is Day Two of the Gene Pool. It will go marginally better than Day One, and feature The Invitational, so should be okay. Funny. Next week will be better. geneweingarten.substack.com/…
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Sign up at GeneWeingarten.substack.com
Melissa Balmain (#SatanTalksToHisTherapist Sept23) (@MelissaBalmain) profile pictureMelissa Balmain (#SatanTalksToHisTherapist Sept23)@MelissaBalmain16 Dec 2022
Great news, funny people! The resurrection of the Style Invitational (or something a lot like it) begins! Plus more fun w Gene Weingarten!
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We’re coming back — not with a newspaper this time.
Gene Weingarten (@geneweingarten) profile pictureGene Weingarten@geneweingarten16 Dec 2022
(Part 1 0f 4) Starting about the first of the year, I begin The Gene Pool, a substack version of my chat, including a rebranded continuation of the unwisely assassinated Style Invitational humor contest. That will be run by the Empress, Pat Myers, and me. (more)
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It's our last laugh: The Style Invitational says goodbye in its 1,518th column with 39 greatest hits -- and adieux (or adieux-deux) from Empress @patmyersTWP and Czar @geneweingarten. With a portrait by @bobstaake, with us for 29 of our 30 years. wapo.st/3FkcTPk
Style Invitational Week 1518: The Style Expirational

Style Invitational Week 1518: The Style Expirational

The Czar and Empress bid farewell to the weekly humor/wordplay contest with a fan-nominated "greatest hits" selection from the past 29 years.

washingtonpost.com
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Best headline about The Style Invitational's demise -- of course, it's by a Loser, Rob Cohen: Washington Post Fires 5,000 Writers wapo.st/invite1517

Style Invitational Week 1517: See you next week . . .

No new contest in The Style Invitational's penultimate week. Plus winning greeting-card rhymes for non-greeting-card occasions.

washingtonpost.com
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The Invitational retweeted
Pat Myers (@PatMyersEmpress) profile picture
Pat Myers@PatMyersEmpress4 Dec 2022
Not sure what to change my handle to. wapo.st/conv1517
Style Conversational Week 1517: Hasn’t it been Loserly?

Style Conversational Week 1517: Hasn’t it been Loserly?

The Empress of The Style Invitational says a few words in the Invite's penultimate week.

washingtonpost.com
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... And we're (just about) out of here! 29 3/4 years of haughty/potty humor. Next week, a greatest-hits page. Suggest your faves! wapo.st/invite1517

Style Invitational Week 1517: See you next week . . .

No new contest in The Style Invitational's penultimate week. Plus winning greeting-card rhymes for non-greeting-card occasions.

washingtonpost.com
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A fabulous tribute to @randyrainbow by Style Invitational mainstay Jonathan Jensen. youtube.com/watch?v=_clMFe7G…
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Deadline tonight! Write a greeting-card rhyme for a non-greeting-card occasion (part of the fun is coming up with a novel one). No paywall with this link! (This one is dear to the heart of longtime H'mark freelancer @bobstaake.) wapo.st/3Ad5rni

Style Invitational Week 1513: You’re such a card

This week's contest: Write a greeting card rhyme for an un-greeting-card occasion. And the winning combinations of two one-word movie titles to make a new movie.

washingtonpost.com
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Deadline midnight -- write a short poem using only one of the vowels A, E, I, O or U. (So you can use as many Y's as you like!) No paywall with this link. wapo.st/3F5IyW5

Style Invitational Week 1510: Only U (or A, E, I or O)

The contest: Write a humorous poem that uses only one of the vowels A, E, I, O and U throughout. Plus winning poems using new dictionary terms.

washingtonpost.com
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BLESS YOUR HEART, person who's joining the @washingtonpost Style Invitational Devotees group on FB. And they tell me that there's some other interesting stuff to read as well.
Image from The Invitational (@InviteEmpress)
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SATIS“FACT"ION: When Google proves you are right and your spouse is wrong. h“USB”and: Consider yourself lucky if you get it right on the first try. It's another Style Invitational "air quotes" contest; d'line Oct. 31. No paywall with this link! wapo.st/3Sp1MZR

Style Invitational Week 1511: The inside word—our ‘air quote’ contest

Find a word inside another word or name — no, not T"rump" — then redefine the original word. Plus winners of our special contest for state slogans.

washingtonpost.com
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The winner of this year's @washingtonpost contest for poems with @MerriamWebster's new words, by @MelissaBalmain . Full results, no paywall: wapo.st/3RZgN48 Daily Style Invitational graphic at bit.ly/inkofday on FB.
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"Yeet" meets Ketchupgate: Contest-winning funny poems featuring new words in @MerriamWebster, plus a new contest for poems using only one vowel. No paywall with this link! wapo.st/3g5TPeo
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