Bob Ball sends this in: “Don’t those small bubbles rising from near the stern mean that whoever’s behind the wheel is drunk?”
The bubbles seem like a odd addition to an otherwise clever double pun. There’s the obvious pun around the sailors being on the mast, and the alternative definition of mast: “fruits, seeds, or nuts (such as berries, pine seeds, or acorns) of trees or shrubs that serve as food for wild or domestic animals and typically accumulate on the ground”
That’s a hint at the joke: Epslo would ordinarily be assessed at the end of a program, but here they are being asked for it in order to enter the program.
Can the joke really be this convoluted and obscure?
Update, courtesy of commenter Tstyle7B on GoComics: “The Tyrell Corporation is a famous fictional high-tech firm from the Blade Runner universe, founded by Eldon Tyrell and based in Los Angeles. It is known for designing and manufacturing humanoid, genetically engineered androids called “replicants” for use as slaves and soldiers in Off-world colonies.”
So, after all this, it’s not a CIDU for me anymore. But maybe it will be for others, or maybe having spent this much time on this post, I’m going to post it, regardless. [not “irregardless”]
That still leaves us with the unanswered question: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Kedamono sends this in: “Just a funny thought, though the title implies that the writer owned those Hobbits. Merry and Pippin would like a word with them behind the shed about that.”
Mitch4 sends this in, with a brief comment: “The signs about briefs probably mean legal briefs rather than underwear briefs, since the tables seat these professionals with briefcases. But either way, what does it have to do with “firmers”, whatever those are? I mean, you don’t need to write a brief to establish a business firm.”