In 1986, Michael Kinsley, editor of The New Republic, spotted the headline “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” in the New York Times and challenged his readers to come up with a more boring one. This was a tall order: The Times head, someone said, manages to be “not only boring as a whole, but boring word by word.” Submissions included:

• “U.S. Leadership Needed” (New York Times)
• “Trade, A Two-Way Street” (New York Times)
• “Beyond the News, Larger Issues” (New York Times)
• “Thoughts at Graduation Time” (New York Times)
• “Continue Manned Flight in Space” (New York Times)
• “Chill Falls on Warming Relations Between Australia and Indonesia” (New York Times)
• “University of Rochester Decides to Keep Name” (New York Times)
• “Dramatic Changes Fail to Materialize on Hill” (Washington Post)
• “Surprises Unlikely in Indiana” (Chicago Tribune)
• “CIA Analysis Sees Soviet Economy in Need of Changes” (San Diego Union)
• “Prevent Burglary by Locking House, Detectives Urge” (Boston Globe)
• “Methodists Oppose Use of Nuclear Arms” (New York Times)
• “Economist Dies” (Wisconsin State Journal)
• “Turbulent Days for Donald D. Engen” (New York Times)

The winner was found in the New York Times science section: “Debate Goes on Over the Nature of Reality.”