The name Doyle didn't start appearing regularly in the Invitational until the abbreviated final year of the old contest when he managed about one hit a month. With the restoration, he shot into the ranks of the leaders with, by the Post's count, 83 points for year. As of week LV his score had reached 92, putting him in third-place in terms of total restoration points. Doyle is, however, no rookie. Long before the Style Invitational was even a gleam in the eyes of our beloved Czar, Chris Doyle was racking up ink in the New York Magazine competitions. Indeed a look back at some of his early Invitational efforts shows a distinct NYM influence; his first Style ink, for example, came for writing a double dactyl!

Chris shared with us his thoughts on the old NYM competition, his rise to prominence in the Invitational, his day job as an actuary, and all other manner of trivia TWW could toss his way. The highlights of TWW exclusive interview follow.

CD: In SI's early days I entered only every now and then. Mostly contests that were different from the New York Magazine Competitions I had been doing all along (starting with #303 in 1978). I was notably unsuccessful in the SI, getting very little ink. Typical was a contest asking for new Crayola colors. I submitted 40 entries under 40 different aliases, but none was printed. Maybe the Czar saw through my scheme. Maybe because I used the same fax machine for all of them.

I used aliases in deference to Mary Ann Madden, the New York Competition editor. Somewhere along the way I got the idea that she didn't take kindly to the Style Invitational and other contests like it (the Chicago Tribune's National Challenge, the OMNI Magazine Competition, among others). I think she viewed them -- unfairly or not -- as ripping off her oeuvre. And we know how hard it is to surgically repair an oeuvre. Being one of her regular contributors, I felt compelled to stay under cover in the SI.

Eventually my paranoia subsided and in 1999 I switched to my own name. I entered every month or so -- sometimes with dozens of entries - and got 7 inks. As you can imagine, I wasn't exactly impressing the Czar. In the meantime, some Losers began showing up regularly in NYM.

Last year I hit SI whole hog while still doing NYM comps. Then -- as we know from the Czar's gracious tribute to Mary Ann last August -- the NYM competition folded at #973. I was left, on the one hand, with an enormous hole in my life -- and, on the other hand, with a plug.

TWW: How often were you printed in the New York Magazine contest? What were your phony names?

CD: Since The Weak Week and gopherdrool.com are in the public domain, this is tough to answer. Friends and family know the full extent of my obsess--, er, participation over the years. I've even let a Loser in on it - Jennifer, but only because she threatened me. Unfortunately, I still feel an allegiance to Mary Ann because she treated me so generously. And therefore I cannot reveal the fact that, other than the aforementioned Losers, I was the ONLY entrant to NYM competitions #303 through #973.

OK, so I had hundreds of aliases. Who didn't? What I can reveal is that there were 95 winners and 400 or so honorable mentions in my own, Karen's, and our kids' names.

TWW: You obviously had a lot of success with the New York Magazine contest. What are (were) the big differences between the two?

CD: To compare the two, I randomly picked contests from last year and words appearing in the results:

• NYM #966: Stravinsky, genuflect, laureate, minimalist, parfumeuse, Homer, couture, Innisfree
• SI XXIII: contraceptive, hormonal, vomiting, post-vasectomy, hemorrhoids, corpses, fetishism, ear wax

• NYM #956: Elizabethan, horticultural, Hezekiah, jousting, Gutenberg, odsbodkins, literary, Beethoven
• SI XLVIII: mucus, toupees, spit, disgusting, drunk, underpants, sex, cocaine

TWW: One of the curious things about the Style Invitational is the tight association of the regular Losers with one another, the brunches, the web site, all of that. Was there anything comparable for the New York Magazine regulars? Did you regulars even know each other?

CD: In 22 years I spoke to only one NY competitor - Alan Levine of Massapequa, N.Y. He called me twice, the last time to commiserate over the comp's demise. Now that I think of it, I wish to amend my earlier statement and say that, other than those Losers and Alan Levine, I was the ONLY entrant to NYM competitions #303 to #973.

TWW: The Post listed you as finishing fourth in the Invitational for 2000 and has you in second place so far for 2001. You seem, however, to hit hot and cold streaks more than the other top scoring Losers. What do you think accounts for the big swings in the amount of ink you get?

CD: How can I put this? I suck at a lot of contests. As for being streaky, my boyhood hero, Ted Williams, batted .406 in 1941, the same year Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games while batting a measly .357 for the season. Which is considered the greater feat: Ted's season at .406 -- or THE STREAK?

TWW: Is there a type of contest you like? A type you hate?

CD: I like the ones I get ink in. And the ones that are suitable for puns - or, better yet, that ask for puns. I hate the explain-the-Staake-cartoon contests. Maybe I hate Staake. If you check out your other Loser interview, you'll see I'm the AntiChuck.

TWW: If you got to change one thing about the way the Czar operates the contest, what would it be?

CD: I find everything the Czar does to be perfect in every conceivable way. All my printed entries deserved exactly what the Czar awarded them. All my unprinted entries were clearly unworthy. (Has he left the room yet?)

TWW: Can anyone catch Jennifer in 2001?

CD: It's Hart to say. I mean, it's Hart's to say. She's in the zone, isn't she? More than two inks a week for a whole year. Hell, she's the Air Jordan and the Tiger Woods of the SI. (Has she left the room yet?)

TWW: Everybody's got an entry they can't believe the Czar didn't print. What's yours?

CD: Chuck brought the Sonny out of retirement for my unlikely-to-be-heard future line: From a state-of-the-union address: "He's the Jim Brady, he's the real Jim Brady / Woncha please stand up, please stand up?" As Losers know, there is no higher honor than a Sonny. Except maybe a Sonny AND a freakin' t-shirt? OK, I can see why the Czar might not have seen fit to print that one.

Here's a better one. A new medicine: BanGay: The Official Topical Pain Reliever of the Boy Scouts of America. A neat pun and so very, um, topical - but no ink. Why? I'm figuring dozens of clever Losers submitted the very same entry.

TWW: We know you're an actuary. What are the good actuary jokes? You know, how many actuaries does it take to make popcorn, or whatever.

CD: There are no good actuary jokes. Accountants stole them all. Oh, wait! Your example just reminded me of one: Q. How does an actuary hold her corn liquor? A. By the ears.

TWW: Do you, might you, put your humor talent to any practical use? Do you have a sitcom pilot in the desk drawer or anything like that?

CD: Are you telling me that winning bumper stickers, t-shirts, pens, and all the other crap isn't putting humor to a practical use? Jeez! And let's stay out of my drawers.

This is probably understandable only to Elden, but I may -- after retiring from DoD in 2002 - go through my back NYM results (all 671 week) and compile STANDINGS for the years 1978-2000. Then again, I may ask my shrink for more lithium.

TWW: Do you wear your shirts in public, keep your prizes in your office?