Thanks to jmcandrew, who wonders, “Why canoes? Is it unusual that someone who did this sort of activity would own 4 canoes? Is this a reference to something else?“
Indeed. It appears Hat Guy has a canoe detector, and…what?
(For extra credit, explain what canoes have to do with oceans)
JMcAndrew sends this one in: “This one has me completely baffled. I guess this clown is filling up a plate with food before he intentionally slips on the banana peel and falls into the open grave? But Why?”
This is part of a set of cartoons by Edward Steed, with the title of Philosophy Illustrated: A Picture Book of Philosophical Terms. So, it’s intended as a humorous take on the philosophical concept of free will.
I must admit that I (ZBicyclist) find more than this one confusing.
On a lighter philosophical note: (these are not CIDUs)
Boise Ed suggested this venerable “For Better or for Worse” strip (from 1993), commenting: “This one really warmed the cockles of my heart (and I have no idea where that idiom came from).“
…
P.S. Ed didn’t give it a category, he called it “just sweet“, so I’ve added an “Awww” tag.
The New York Times has a Flashback quiz, which asks you to place 8 historical events in chronological order. The New Yorker has now started Laugh Lines, in which you are asked to put some New Yorker cartoons in chronological order. Here’s one:
https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/laugh-lines/no-2
I haven’t tested to what extent these are available to non-subscribers. The cartoon version would seem impossible, but there’s usually a clue to some event (e.g. the word “Obama”).
This one popped up at the end when I finished:
And now a few more Christmas LOL’s / Awws:
Danny Boy send this cutie in: “The pets’ fondness for a “little pink sock” is a running trope. But then the pairing of sock/stocking is I guess “the joke””
And a few holiday entries:
Dirk The Daring found this in The New Yorker. Of course a statistically significant percentage of New Yorker cartoons are CIDUs, but this one seems close to making sense. Something about her big ears and the ENT in the window?! Anyone? Bueller??
From Bob Quixote, puzzled by a cartoon in the New Yorker — as so many of us so often are!
The quixotic one says: I hope you can help me with this cartoon from the latest New Yorker. I’ve been studying it for way too long but cannot figure it out. Why are the cows cops? Is there a hole under the torn-down fence? Why didn’t the robber just hop the fence instead of taking time to take down a section of the fence? Thanks
Phil of the editorial team adds: That’s a cattle guard, common in the West: you can drive over ‘em, but they stop cattle.
From Stan, who says I’m ‘Racking my Brain’ to work it out.
If he throws people into the bog for asking questions, I’m going to be very disappointed.
Comics I Don't Understand 