Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for June 02, 2024

He forgot to ask Pig if he wanted another cup of Joe…

I was trying to guess the pun.

I found 39;

Mark, Will, Sue, Dean, Rob, Bill, Eve, Sly, Rick, Jimmy, Olive, Violet, Chase, Skip, Hope, Dusty, Peter, Drew, Rose, Cliff, John, Art, Buck, Frank, Norm, Penny, Peg, Patty, Bob, Tad, Ward, Jack, May, Wade, Lance, Pierce, Nick, Rod, Pat.

A whole lot of nothing going on here!

Dick move Pastis.

Ymmij, a first name spelled backwards.

Missed my name: el Rog-o.

Not so hidden, but good job making me try to figure out how that could all be leading up to a pun or song title.

I’m not even messing with this one. States was a definitive category. But names can be anything these days. Any of those words could be a name.

Have any of those names been used in the last decade?

Got ’em all!

Missed Will, Sly, Hope, and Tad on my first pass. Not enough coffee.

Looks like Stephan has handed over the Sunday strip to an AI bot.

My name is there “what” and I’m on second!

My buddy “who” is there but he’s on first!

The man needs some excitement in his life.

I can only find 37.

Mark, Will, Sue, Dean, Rob, Bill, Eve, Sly, Rich, Guy, Jimmy, Olive, Violet, Chase, Skip, Hope, Dusty, Peter, Drew, Rose, Cliff, John, Art, Buck, Frank, Norm, Penny, Peg, Patty, Bob, Tad, Ward, Jack, May, Wade, Lance, Pierce, Nick, Rod and Pat. I’m seeing 40.

He should just Chuck the guy out.

When I saw “Dean” and “Jimmy”, I was expecting a sausage joke.

He has my first name and my last name…top that!!!

Nicknames…

Shirley you jest.

Using facebook as a reference, I think all of the words in todays comic will qualify as a name. At least in the usa :’(

I had a middle school teacher that read us a story she had written using all the student’s names in the class. Clever.

You’re stretching it today, Stephan! (Don’t see that name there either!)

I was counting, when I realized that’s as stupid as the premis.

Disturbingly impressive

“Where is he?” ________ “He’s filling up his car with Ethyl.”

Where’s mine? Okay, I’ll be Pat today.

Panel 1 – Mark, Will, Sue (3/3)

Panel 2 – Dean, Rob, Bill, Eve (4/7)

Panel 3 – Sly, Rich, Guy, Jimmy, Olive, Violet, Chase, Skip (8/15)

Panel 4 – Hope, Dusty, Peter, Drew, Rose, Cliff, John, Art (8/23)

Panel 5 – Buck, Frank, Norm, Penny, Peg, Patty, Bob (7/30)

Panel 6 – Tad, Ward, Jack, May (4/34)

Panel 7 – Wade, Lance, Pierce, Nick, Rod (5/39)

Panel 8 – Pat (1/40)

Pastis is brilliant. Reminds me of the BBC show, My Word.

Oh, Thank God!!! I thought he was working his way up to a pun.

Oh, my aching head!! Hahahaha!!

I don’t see MY name (Laurie). Just like I never did on Romper Room.

It’s good of Pastis to put himself in the last panel, that lets me know some stupid pun is being set up and I can skip the comic.

I had to do it twice to get them all. If you want more hidden stuff, try Gil today.

And despite the obvious guilt, Pastis is gonna get off scot-free.

Pastis should drink more…

Third attempt got it. Another good Sunday challenge, Stephan.

I was expecting a pun. What a disappointment.

I got them all. Some are tough because you aren’t sure what constitutes a name, like “Dusty” and “Wade.”

But boy, Stephan, that was too much work for Sunday Morning. I had to type them into a spreadsheet to be sure I got them all.

Good job. Have yourself a cup of joe on a sandy beach.

We’re all so proud!

I didn’t pick up on the first names. I’m reading this thinking “oh, we’re building up to a PUNch line”. then it seems like the setup is getting awfully busy….

Darn—Pastis missed the “Kris” or “Criss” dagger from Java or Indonesia.

Too bad my name isn’t in any of this dialogue. Then again, it’s not a very common name.

I’m only getting 35…

Better than a Charles on the back.

I don’t even try to figure out the pun as we move through the panels. I just float along, like a leaf in a stream on the way to a waterfall.

There’s 41. You guys all missed Yep.

Did Rat try to “Bern” Pastis?

All that build-up and NO PUN?

Its less funny when I have to use math…

1) Mark 2) Will 3) Sue 4) Dean 5) Rob 6) Bill 7) Eve 8) Sly 9) Rich 10) Guy 11) Jimmy 12) Olive 13) Violet 14) Chase 15) Skip 16) Hope 17) Dusty 18) Peter 19) Drew 20) Rose 21) Cliff 22) John 23) Art 24) Buck 25) Frank 26) Norm 27) Penny 28) Peg 29) Patty 30) Bob 31) Tad 32) Ward 33) Jack 34) May 35) Wade 36) Lance 37) Pierce 38) Nick 39) Rod 40) Pat

Saying they are hidden might be a bit extreme…

I was trying to figure out the pun that might be forthcoming so it wasn’t until panel 5 that I figured out it was a list of mens’ names.

My name isn’t there, either, but it’s never on mugs or anything else but my BC anyway.

Being Joshless, this comic is humorless and witless

This man is a genius :)

Hid????

Here is my list: 1) Mark, 2) My, 3) Will, 4) Sue, 5) Dean, 6) Rob, 7) Me a (Mia), 8) Bill, 9) Eve, 10) Sly, 11) Rich, 12) Guy, 13) Jimmy, 14) Olive, 15) Violet, 16) Chase, 17) Skip, 18) Hope, 19) Dusty, 20) Peter, 21) Drew, 22) Rose, 23) Cliff, 24) John, 25) Art, 26) Buck, 27) Be (Bea), 28) Frank, 29) Norm, 30) Penny, 31) Peg, 32) Patty, 33) Bob, 34) Saw (or Saul), 35) Tad, 36) Ward, 37) Jack, 38) May, 39) Wade, 40) Lance, 41) Pierce, 42) Nick, 43) Rod, 44) Pat.

Total 44 First Names (I verified that questionable names, were in fact, valid first names in Google and on baby name websites).

I didn’t bother counting.

BOY George!

I am NOT spending the rest of Sunday doing this…

Pastis, you’re not right in the head. Like that in a person.

I don’t get it.

you can’t put those names in comics. sorry

1 ~ Words

2 ~ You

3 ~ Going

4 ~ College

5 ~ Tried

6 ~ Giving

7 ~ Fake

8 ~ New

9 ~ Where

10 ~ That

11 ~ Trying

12 ~ Way

13 ~ Interior

14 ~ Should

15 ~ Give

16 ~ Gonna

17 ~ Town

18 ~ Not

19 ~ Would

20 ~ Probably

21 ~ Person

22 ~ Who

23 ~ Said

24 ~ Yep

25 ~ Charge

26 ~ Be

27 ~ Give

28 ~ When

29 ~ Hamburger

30 ~ Saw

31 ~ Way

32 ~ Missed

33 ~ Off

34 ~ Hit

35 ~ Help

36 ~ Might

37 ~ Fork

38 ~ Knife

39 ~ Or

40 ~ Deserve

I love it. Best strip ever!

…and a comic strip name.

I was thinking – “Man, this is gonna be one heck of a pun.” Good one.

Anyone expect a better payoff for this strip?

I’d like to see Pastis try one with names of different types of rocks. Make it harder

Surely, I hate it when Rat is right, don’t you?

Loved this. It’s something more than just putting out the comic. I loved looking for the names, but frustrated that one eludes me.

Random Musings:

Is today National Celebrate Your First Name Day?

At first, I thought Pastis was leading up to one of his wonderful puns. (They are so!) Glad I gave up on that line of analysis around the middle of panel 3.

I’m a Fred that he missed a few.

Mark, Will, Sue,Dean, Rob, Bill, Eve, Sly, Rich, Guy, Jimmy, Olive, Violet, Chase, Skip,Hope, Dusty, Peter, Drew, Rose, Cliff, John, Art,Buck, Frank, Norm, Penny, Peg, Patty, Bob,Tad, Ward, Jack, May,Wade, Lance, Pierce, Nick, Rod,Boy, PatSo, 41 names… :D

And here I was wondering what insanely complicated pun would show up in the penultimate panel… :-)

I only counted 34

Nowadays anything can be used as a first name, so it’s probably way more than 40.

I only see 27, but I suspect a lot of them are things not used as names here in the UK.

I stopped reading at panel 2.

I got it by printing it out and circling the names. Even then it took a few times. Hey my name is John and I’m either a bathroom or a hooker’s client. Rodney thought he had it bad. I tell ya I get no respect.

What about boy, as in tarzan, jane, boy?

LOLOL — Well done, Stephan ♥♥

Dagnabbit! I counted 38. Now I’ve got to go through the whole thing a second time.

Boy, they sure used their words.

For a moment I thought I saw a pattern in “Pete” and “Rose,” but then it degenerated into obviously just names. I found it hilarious because it was so overt.

I was expecting a pun. They always have a lot of text, and Pig is always involved.

Expectations are the pits.

I am so proud of myself for counting all of them before look at the last frame and thus immediately “getting” Pig’s remark!

I knew it was names by the time I got to EVE.

mark will sue dean rob bill eve sly rich guy jimmy olive violet chase skip hope dusty peter drew rose cliff john art buck frank norm penny peg patty bob tad ward jack may wade lance pierce nick rod boy (george) pat. took a while for it to dawn (don) on me.

I don’t see Ozzy anwhere.