May/June 2025 Limerick Laughs Winner and Runners-up

Some friends! Not a wave or a call.
It’s like they can’t see me at all.
I’m down in the dumps
Because I’ve got the mumps,
And what’s worse is they’re using my ball!

Congratulations to Barbara Hosbach of Pennington, New Jersey, who won $25 for this limerick based on Mumps, Stan Ekman’s Post cover from May 29, 1944.

If you’d like to enter the Limerick Laughs Contest for our upcoming issue, submit your limerick via our online entry form.

Here are some of our other favorite limericks from this contest, in no particular order:

Not sure how these mumps came about.
But of one thing I haven’t a doubt:
I’ll be here till I’m clear.
It could take all year!
This is one time I’d rather be “out.”
—Skip Russell, Venice, Florida

By saying his poor tooth was aching,
He missed out on school and test-taking.
Now he’s missing out
n some fun and, no doubt,
Rethinking the pain he’s been faking.
—Justin O’Connor, Leeds, Massachusetts

With a swollen lump on his cheek,
The outlook in Mudville seemed bleak.
His doctor proclaimed,
“Your parotid’s inflamed
So you’re quarantined here for a week.”
—Paxton Grant, Hightown, Virginia

Though gloomy, he learned to embrace
Life’s hardships with balance and grace.
But what’s more, he was taught
That balls are best caught
With the palm of a glove — not your face.
—Gennadiy Gurariy, Athens, Ohio

These words are not bragging, forsooth.
My friends know the absolute truth.
I would hit a home run
And add to their fun
Were it not for this ache in my tooth.
—Virginia M. Butler, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

I’ve got a big pain in my tooth,
So I can’t play today, that’s the truth.
But you just wait and see;
I swear someday I’ll be
A big star, or my name’s not Babe Ruth.
—Rudy Landesman, New York City, New York

The mumps got the jump on the day.
So now in his bed he must stay,
But his team won and shouted.
They shouldn’t have doubted:
He told them his sister could play!
—Jan Doyle, Colorado Springs, Colorado

He’s on bed rest and forced to obey it.
“But tomorrow’s big game — I must play it!”
His mind on a mission,
He drafts a petition
For the Little League just to delay it.
—Madeline Male, Fairway, Kansas

Swollen cheeks and aches with a fever.
He thinks he looks like a beaver.
Can’t play ball with the guys,
Which is probably wise
As they don’t want to get the mumps either.
—Dolores M. Sahelian, Mission Viejo, California