The Winners

We had a huge response to our contest for describing the aroma of your favorite fried potatoes, and it has been difficult and time consuming to pore over the entries and arrive at a decision. The Board met several times in order to decide this, and sadly the decision of whether or not to release to the public the Reason that brads have tines of different lengths has had to be delayed. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the entries (except for a few of them which have been reproduced in the footnote), and so without further ado, here are the top three:

3rd Place:

"Silky and orange with an exquisite furriness." Janet Gonzalez of El Paso, TX, describing her own recipe that she likes to serve at family gatherings.

2nd Place:

"Smooth and heady, with a twist of turpentine." Seth Franklin of Peoria, IL, describing the aroma of his favorite Burger King fries after they have sat out in the sun in his car all afternoon.

1st Place (our illustrious winner!):

"Complex and intense, with supple spiciness." Henrietta Smith of Lubbock, TX, speaking of the fries at Jumbo Joe's Burgers, aged four hours then reheated in a frying pan and served with chili.

The following entries were just awful, and we include them here for your enjoyment:

• "french fry-y" Kirby Wooton of [Location withheld for his protection]
• "salty and oily" Hannah Tremonte of [Location withheld for her protection]
• "yummy" Leah Patterson of [Location withheld for her protection]