Another cartoon that The Wall Street Journal bought and paid for . . . but apparently never published. This goes back to 1981. All I can figure is that someone had second thoughts about it and was worried that it might be offensive to Bulgarians. Or possibly to Turks?

           "The gentlemen are here to fit you for your concrete shoes."

                                           (by Kelasher)

My original caption: "Sir, are you in to a couple of hired guns?"

Congratulations again, Kelasher! This is the eighth time you've won the Cartoon Caption Contest, so you are truly entitled to be called one of the funniest people around!

And this was one of those times when it was really agonizing to be a judge. That's because I honestly felt that my original caption, conceived so many, many years ago, was funnier than any of the captions submitted. That's only my humble opinion, of course, and I will defend to the death your right to disagree with me.

Here are two captions that were in the running for top prize:

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Abernathy can't see you now. He just climbed out his window and entered the witness protection program." (by Levi)

"Hello, security . . . you're fired." (by Cary Antebi)

And . . . I'm still trying to figure out Dale Stout's entries involving "5 o'clock shadows" and "the Wetness Protection Program". They both sound like the germs of funny gags, but I feel that neither of them was thought out enough to make them work.

A new contest will be coming up pretty soon, so get ready to sharpen your gag-writing skills and think funny!

Contest No. 51 starts right now.

Briefly, here are the details: I'll supply a drawing of one of my old cartoons that has never been published, leaving off my caption. You are invited to supply your funniest captions. Simply (1) click on "Add New Comment". Then (2) scroll down past any other submitted captions and type in your name and your caption in the spaces provided. Then (3) click "Save".

There is no limit on the number of captions you can enter for each drawing. Entries will be accepted and posted for one week, after which a winner will be announced and the winning caption will be printed. Below that I will also print my original caption.

The cut-off time and date for you to send in your captions for this contest is midnight Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

I will be the sole judge. The winning caption will be the one I judge to be the funniest one submitted (not necessarily the one that matches or comes closest to my original caption). Additional rules and regulations, for those of you who need such things, can be found here.

This is the drawing that needs your caption:

                   "It's a great place to store buoys and pool floats!"

                                               (by Melissa)

My original caption: "Just as we said in our ad -- it's a lovely home, overlooking the water."

Nice work, Melissa. This is your fourth win, so you can shout it from the rooftops: you're definitely one of the funniest people around! Congratulations.

Other entries I was considering for top honors:

"You did request a lake-front property. How much closer could you get?" (by Jonathan Stein)

"Maybe you would prefer to come back and inspect the house at low tide?" (by Cary Antebi)

And of course I greatly appreciated Dale Stout's caption: "I told you the owners were underwater." Very timely and appropriate!

Contest No. 51 will be coming up before you know it.

Contest No. 50 starts right now.

Briefly, here are the details: I'll supply a drawing of one of my old cartoons that has never been published, leaving off my caption. You are invited to supply your funniest captions. Simply (1) click on "Add New Comment". Then (2) scroll down past any other submitted captions and type in your name and your caption in the spaces provided. Then (3) click "Save".

There is no limit on the number of captions you can enter for each drawing. Entries will be accepted and posted for one week, after which a winner will be announced and the winning caption will be printed. Below that I will also print my original caption.

The cut-off time and date for you to send in your captions for this contest is midnight Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

I will be the sole judge. The winning caption will be the one I judge to be the funniest one submitted (not necessarily the one that matches or comes closest to my original caption). Additional rules and regulations, for those of you who need such things, can be found here.

This is the drawing that needs your caption: