# Accidentally hilarious NY Times Illustration **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424 "2020-03-27T14:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/21 "2020-03-28T13:07:36Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > …The protrusion is the head. The middle band is the shaft… Oh, okay, now I see the penis. I saw a globe wearing a mask. I still mostly see a globe wearing a mask. You have to ignore the globe entirely to see the penis. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/22 "2020-03-28T13:12:02Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I don’t see a penis at all, just the globe with a mask. And I’m one who can’t anything but a penis in the Amazon logo. > > Weird I also can see nothing but a penis in the Amazon logo. My husband thinks I’m nuts. When I first looked at the NYT illustration it looked like a breast. Then I saw was it’s supposed to be-a globe with a mask. THEN I saw the penis, and now all I can see is a penis. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/23 "2020-03-28T13:12:43Z")
Some masks are cup-shaped. Some are on [this page.](https://www.google.com/search?q=surgical+mask&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS780US780&sxsrf=ALeKk03xB3Nqw5Nv5N97OnSxYsGQ6oSbIg:1585401002705&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj6zd78nr3oAhUhhOAKHRCTAxIQ_AUoAnoECA0QBA&biw=1440&bih=818&dpr=1.5) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/24 "2020-03-28T13:14:54Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > The protrusion is the head. The middle band is the shaft. Goes off to look. Follows MEm’s instructions Oh, OH! Yup, I see it now. Oh, my! ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/25 "2020-03-28T14:27:38Z")
Some things cannot be unseen… ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/26 "2020-03-28T15:13:56Z")
I saw a bald guy riding a bike today, and he had a mask pushed up on his forehead. It looked just like the illustration. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/27 "2020-03-28T17:37:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I saw a bald guy riding a bike today, and he had a mask pushed up on his forehead. It looked just like the illustration. This is why I had such a hard time seeing the mask after my sister told me that’s what she sees – first of all, I was expecting the flat kind and, second, it doesn’t make sense that it’s pointing up like that. If they had angled it down like you would expect, flattened it out like you would expect, and colored it blue, it would have worked much better IMO. As it is, it’s just a way to whoosh the NY Times editors. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/28 "2020-03-28T18:03:35Z")
Now that you sickos mention it, I looked up R. O. Blechman and he clearly [snuck the word “dicks” into an illustration](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/01/05/magazine/05mag-poem-1/05mag-poem-1-jumbo.png?quality=90&auto=webp) back in January. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/29 "2020-03-28T18:16:02Z")
As Tom Lehrer famously sang: [“When correctly viewed, _Everything_ is lewd.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G33fniLwro) ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/30 "2020-03-28T19:26:57Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Goes off to look. > > Follows MEm’s instructions > > Oh, OH! Yup, I see it now. > > Oh, my! You went from seeing dick all to seeing dick. Also, thanks/damn you for bringing the Amazon logo’s likeness to my attention. Apt since Amazon’s slogan is: “work hard. Have fun. Make history.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/31 "2020-03-28T21:15:41Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > This is why I had such a hard time seeing the mask after my sister told me that’s what she sees – first of all, I was expecting the flat kind and, second, it doesn’t make sense that it’s pointing up like that. > > If they had angled it down like you would expect, flattened it out like you would expect, and colored it blue, it would have worked much better IMO. As it is, it’s just a way to whoosh the NY Times editors. It’s kinda a normal N95 mask. The surgical masks are blue and flat, the N95 masks are white and stick out. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2020, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/32 "2020-03-28T23:38:41Z")
I dunno. You have to pretend not to see the entire southern hemisphere, and everything north of the United States. You have to hide most of the drawing. Most of our home planet. I don’t think this counts. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/33 "2020-03-30T22:20:22Z")
Since I knew beforehand that it was supposed to be a mask, I thought that just looks like a giant boil. It wasn’t until I got farther away from the screen that I noticed it also looked like a penis. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/34 "2020-03-31T01:57:37Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I dunno. You have to pretend not to see the entire southern hemisphere, and everything north of the United States. You have to hide most of the drawing. > > Most of our home planet. > > I don’t think this counts. Nah, you just have to ignore the green blobs — the continents. All the ink lines work together, with the global outline functioning as a glory hole (altho, I’ve never actually seen a glory hole, or even a photo of one). As you implicitly suggest, the equatorial section of the continents can be viewed as anatomical discolorations, but I don’t think that enhances the hidden drawing. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/35 "2020-03-31T05:47:41Z")
Saw the penis right away. Had no idea what it was SUPPOSED to be until I started reading the posts. I guess I see the mask. I think it’s poorly drawn. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/36 "2020-03-31T12:44:07Z")
To me it’s a boil. Hardly a … cigar-like object. This appeared on Fark yesterday with a header that indicated the submitter thought it was a … cigar-like object. This is not really enough of anything to call it “hilarious” or some such. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/37 "2020-03-31T16:25:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > To me it’s a boil. Hardly a … cigar-like object. > > This appeared on Fark yesterday with a header that indicated the submitter thought it was a … cigar-like object. > > This is not really enough of anything to call it “hilarious” or some such. What you should be seeing is cigar-like object sticking through a circle (the circle is the outline of the globe). The green blobs (the continents) should be ignored. Just look at the ink lines. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/38 "2020-03-31T16:33:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > … > This is not really enough of anything to call it “hilarious” or some such. Sorry. ☹ I’ll ask the mods to change the title. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424/39 "2020-03-31T16:51:20Z")
OK, I’ll spoiler it just not to run afoul of rules, but DON’T CLICK ON THIS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THE PENIS: [http://www.pawinskiphotography.com/earthpenis.jpg](http://www.pawinskiphotography.com/earthpenis.jpg) Come on. How the hell do you people not see the penis there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/accidentally-hilarious-ny-times-illustration/850424.md?page=1)