Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 07, 2023

Wow! And I didn’t bother looking for any of them.

Me needer. I noted the Cheyenne and Boise, and thought it was something about the high mountain West ;) But now that I know… was stumped on the last one.. then.. Salem? Clever ;)

Juneau them all?

I was expecting a bad pun and what do we get? Education. I want my money back.

This might help:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-state-capitals-in-the-United-States-2119210

Sometimes I think Pastis has way too much time on his hands.

BRAVO!!!

Pastis, we need to sack your mentos.

This strip is a capital offense.

Found them. Listing only by state abbreviation with no spaces to limit spoilers.

AKAZCTHIIDKYMAMDMIMSNCNDNJNYORPASDWIWY

Juneau, Albany, Jackson, Pierre, Boise, Annapolis, Cheyenne, Trenton, Madison, Lansing, Boston, Bismarck, Harrisburg, Phoenix, Raleigh, Harford, Frankfort, Honolulu….. and Salem.

I am missing 2. Here is what I found: Albany, Jackson, Pierre, Boise, Annapolis, Cheyenne, Trenton, Madison, Lansing, Boston, Bismark, Frankfort, Phoenix, Hartford, Honolulu, Salem

lots here today!

You have way too much time on your hands.

Too much work.

You’d have a hard time doing that with Canadian capitals. Other than Victoria and Regina.

19 is a pretty good puzzle for a Sunday. I found two, so far ;-)

You outdid yourself this time Pastis!

Lancing a boil? Ewe! I know Michigan’s Capitol!

Stephan does have too much time on his hands, folks… he’s a CARTOONIST already!!

C’mon!!

This strip is going to Helena handbasket.

Clever! As any punster knows one has to stretch the pronunciation a bit, sometime a lot. The nineteenth was a bit too much. Got eighteen but apparently NC was a smaller stretch than TX.01 d’you know Juneau, AK02 al benny Albany, NY03 jack’s son Jackson, MS04 pierre Pierre, SD05 boys see Boise, ID06 anna poulos Annapolis, MD07 shy ann Cheyenne, WY08 trent? on Trenton, NJ09 mad a son Madison, WI10 lancing Lansing, MI11 boss ton Boston, MA12 biz mark Bismarck, ND13 hair is burg Harrisburg, PA14 fee nix Phoenix, AZ15 heartford Heartford, CT16 frankford Frankfort, KY17 hon a lulu Honolulu, HI18 costs ten Austin, TX ???19 say lum Salem, OR

Like I don’t have enough to do today!

Any passing American want to spell them out for all of us foreigners? :-)

Too much reading…boring.

Anna Poulos… that’s not a US Capital. She’s the daughter of Mary Land :D

I think I just got a splitting headache.

I’m stuck at 16. And I can’t figure out the last one. By the way, splitting them between dialogs is cheating. Good work! I wasn’t expecting less from you :D

Long way to go. Will there be a sack o mentos?

The RAT was the only good part in this whole cartoon : (

Harry, Juneau Megan wasn’t invited?

I feel like I just drove 3 states over in the rain on a toll road to get a tic-tac and the store was closed. There must some law where we can make Pastis pay a fine or do some time.

Pastis worked hard on that one.

LOL!

Slow life day,Pastis?

I skip these wordy ones.

Too early in the morning to find them.

Unhappy no Lincolns with the Fords and over no little rock in the den. Very nice otherwise.

I was wondering what lancing a boil had to do with anything.

Pastis, you’re giving me a headache. LOL

Ah, “humour” that ranks lower than a pun! “Humour” that only the USA folk can have a hope of understanding (and by all comments, aren’t finding too funny)

Sorry…to much work for a Sunday morning.

My U.S. Geography isn’t up to par, so I’m not even going to try to play this game.

Nope. Nope. Way too much mental work, esp. this early in the morning. Give me a good old well executed Sunday pun strip. And a question – why to folks tend to call them “bad puns”, but rarely, if ever, “good puns”?

He was really stretching it with Frank Ford as the capital of Kentucky.

quite a fun 15 minutes, well worth it and better than a bad pun … it’s sunday morning and my coffee is hot

Don’t get Austin-tatious on us, Stephan!

Annapolis Juneau Albany Boise Jackson Pierre Cheyenne Trenton Madison Lansing Boston Harrisburg Bismarck Phoenix Raleigh Hartford Honolulu Frankfort Salem.

Albany NY, Jackson MS, Pierre SD, Boise ID, Annapolis MD, Cheyanne WY, Trenton NJ, Lansing MI, Bismarck, ND, Harrisburg PA, Phoenix AZ, Raleigh NC, Hartford CT, Frankford KT, Honolulu HI, Salem, OR.

That’s all I could find without reading the comments. 16/19

This guy is a genius! Who wants to grow up and be like him! Oh, come on, admit it, you know its better than your real job!!!

This is Rich. Monday I’m going to pick a fight with all steiner brothers I encounter unless a gust of wind comes up.

I had no clue what he was going for!

Pearls has been my favorite for quite some time. I came to this site today for the first time, simply in hopes of finding capitals I missed. I was disapointed with some of the negativity posted. Seems maybe some of you may be missing the point about the comics… as it’s not like comics need critics. I like to enjoy comics for what they are: amusing, sometimes fun, sometimes thought provoking but whatever, something to enjoy. I always save Pearls for last, always a good part of beginning my day!

Like to see that done with our provincial capitals in Canada.

I had gotten 17 of the 19 before I checked the comments. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me that “rally” was Raleigh. And I live in North Carolina!

I wondered why this had such an odd guest list and methodology therein.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Lighten up, Rat, everybody deserves to learn their geography.

It wasn’t easy, but I found all 18!

For those who can’t figure it out, where do you find the answers?

Capital idea.

As a Swedish person, I’m more lost than a dog in a perfume shop…

well, that was boring…

“The one that walks with a limp?” “Ya.”

Ack! Found all but one! I’ve been punished!

If trying to find more, I’ll spring. Field another one? Aw, stink at this? Helen, a con, cored a column, bussed a sacrament, O. K. Lahoma, sitty… (that last one is pretty bad, I know ☺)

We’ve gotten 20.

The states I found:

Anxiety

Apathy (unsure what this means, but I don’t give a darn)

Arousal

Bipolar

Boredom

Cognition

Confusion

Control

Curiosity

Depression

Fight

Flight

Flow

Lost

Moody

Nonfunctioning reticular activation system

OCD

Relaxation

Resistance

SAD

Schizophrenia

Suizidal

Worry

Anxiety

Apathy (unsure what this means, but I don’t give a darn)

Arousal

Bipolar

Boredom

Cognition

Confusion

Control

Curiosity

Depression

Fight

Flight

Flow

Lost

Moody

Nonfunctioning reticular activation system

OCD

Relaxation

Resistance

SAD

Schizophrenia

Suizidal

Worry

This ranks on the top of the list of the stupidest, inane, ridiculous, non-funny comic’s ever. Give it up Stephan, comics are supposed to be funny, not stupid, funny, got it, funny…

Oh to be standing on Stephan’s desk with a baseball bat!

The states I found:

Anxiety

Apathy (unsure what this means, but I don’t give a darn)

Arousal

Bipolar

Boredom

Cognition

Confusion

Control

Curiosity

Depression

Fight

Flight

Flow

Lost

Moody

Nonfunctioning reticular activation system

OCD

Relaxation

Resistance

SAD

Schizophrenia

Suizidal

Worry

The states I found:

Anxiety

Apathy (unsure what this means, but I don’t give a darn)

Arousal

Bipolar

Boredom

Cognition

Confusion

Control

Curiosity

Depression

Fight

Flight

Flow

Lost

Moody

Nonfunctioning reticular activation system

OCD

Relaxation

Resistance

SAD

Schizophrenia

Suizidal

Worry

Oh, that’s clever! See if you can get the rest next week!

Actually 20 if you count both “D’you know” and “Do you know.” (I spotted the 2d before the 1st, but before I spotted either of them, I thought he’d missed that one, and that he should have put “Don’t you know” in there somewhere. )

I must be getting old and forgetful. 19 capitals, I only find 5.Can one of you brainy folks name all of them?

No.

Steven. This is NOT NICE!

Panel: 1 AK-Juneau NY-Albany MS-Jackson SD-Pierre 2 ID-Boise MD-Annapolis 3 WY-Cheyenne 4 NJ-Trenton 5 MS-Jackson MI-Lansing WI-Madison 6 7 ND-Bismarck 8 PA-Harrisburg 9 AZ-Phoenix NC-Raleigh 10 CT-Hartford KY-Frankfort HI-Honolulu 12 OR-Salem I have no life.

I’ll take your word on it.

Hilarious!

I leave my last comic of the day DISAPPOINTED that it was not a wonderfully mastered pun. :(

Is a sense of humor that only you get, a sign of schizophrenia?

Rat conquered the theme

Pastis must be slipping. I caught on to what he was doing in the very first panel, although I missed Juneau and Boston at first.

If you had TO PICK A winner from all the puns, which would it be?

Couldn’t fit in “Harris will be bringing food”, “His famous Harris burg-ers”?

No, I won’t spend any time figuring them out.

Thanks. I didn’t catch Raleigh. Found the rest.

Santa Fe and Phoenix are both listed as the capital of New Mexico on Wikipedia. I’m confused.

I picked up on the theme in the first panel. That was fun.

I did not see that coming. very clever.

That was SO much fun!!!!!

ook a while, with all the split words and it being based on spoken speech (Rally was a stretch!) PANEL 1: Juneau (“D’you know”), Albany (“Al, Benny”),Jackson (“Jack’s son”), Pierre (“Pierre”). PANEL 2: Boise (“Boys, see?”), Annapolis (“Anna Poulos”). PANEL 3: Cheyanne (“Shy Ann”). PANEL 4:Trenton (“Trent? On”). PANEL 5: Madison (“Mad. A son”), Lansing (“lancing”). PANEL 6: Boston(“Boss? Ton”). PANEL 7: Bismarck (“Biz? Mark”). PANEL 8: Harrisburg (“Hair is Burg…”). PANEL 9: Phoenix (“fee? Nix”), Raleigh(“Rally”). PANEL 10: Hartford (“heart. Ford”), Frankfurt (“Frank, Ford”), Honolulu (“Hon’, a Lulu…”). PANEL 12: Salem (“Say… Lum…”).

I’m just gonna take your word for it…

I’m not very good with capitals. This strip is to blame for that.

This reminds me of the 21 NFL Teams one Stephan did

Too subtle, Cartoon-Boy? (Besides, someone over on Arcamax gave them all away in the very first comment.)

Where’s Rat with a Bat when you need him?

1. JACK’S SON → Jackson, Mississippi2. SHY ANN → Chyenne, Wyoming3. TRENT? ON → Trenton, New Jersey4. BIZ? MARK → Bismark, North Dakota5. FEE NIX → Phoenix, Arizona6. HEART. FORD → Hartford, Connecticut7. FRANK, FORD → Frankfort, Kentucky8. HON’, A LULULLEMON → Honolulu, Hawaii

Can anyone help me finish?

One of these days we’re going to go through a bunch of strange statements and names only to find a note at the end about how there’s no pun or anything.

Austin was the really hard one as it came from the sound buried in Costs Ten or Ost Ten.

The list has probably been posted ten times already (like a Lululemon dress), but here it is again:

Juneau, Alaska

Albany, New York

Jackson, Mississippi

Pierre, South Dakota

Boise, Idaho

Annapolis, Maryland

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Trenton, New Jersey

Madison, Wisconsin

Lansing, Michigan

Boston, Massachusetts

Bismarck, North Dakota

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Phoenix, Arizona

Raleigh, North Carolina

Hartford, Connecticut

Frankfort, Kentucky

Honolulu, Hawai’i

Salem, Oregon

I will now return to my regularly scheduled life.

Thanks. I saw some cities right away, but didn’t get the big picture until I got to the end. I made my list and counted, 16. I went back & found Juneau and Bismarck, 18. I did not realize the car rally was Raleigh until going to GoComics for the answers. But wait, if we include Austin (commented above), there are 20!

My dog can keep a secret,so I always Tell-A-Lassie

Love this! My 12 year old and I enjoyed doing this brain teaser together! He said to do the states next!

LOVE This! Thank you, Stephan!!!

GoComics… it would be awesome if you have a PearlsPun filter that lets us scroll from comic to comic featuring Stephan’s puns… same UI just showing only comics!

Loved this! Fun finding the 19.

One of the best from Pattis. His humor and creativity are incredible.

I could not find all 19 ;-(

I figured it was State Capitals by the first panel, with Pierre and Jackson. I found 18 of the 19 by myself.

I got 18. What’s the 19th? Can we not trust you?

I FINALLY gave up – it was Raleigh that I just couldn’t find, but I am a northerner, if that can be a bit of an excuse.