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I reproduce the following e-mail and attached photos from faithful reader Jonathan Ahl, because they are hilarious enough that I feel no need to add to them.

Mr. Curmudgeon:

Thought you might like to know four of your fans decided to use Finger Quotin’ Margo as the inspiration and a team name during a competitive Scrabble tournament.

We attended a National Scrabble Association tournament in Indianapolis this past weekend, and decided to enter the team portion of the competition fueled by our love for making fun of Apartment 3-G and other funnies.

Attached are two pictures. From left to right in each photo, Dave Dahl of Peoria, IL; Jonathan Ahl of Dunlap, IL; and Wendy and Matthew Ridout of Lexington, KY.

I am proud to report the “Finger Quotin’ Margos” won the team competition, and all four of its members placed very well in the individual contests. The prize money for the team competition was almost enough to cover the cost of the shirts.

As for why we did so well, some say it was the “Motivation” of the team members while others credited the “Dedication” of the players. I think it was the “Pillow Case Full of Doorknobs” I as team captain kept in my trunk, just in case any of the team members “lost focus” on the goal of winning. I figured that would work better than an “intervention.”

If you want to blow the minds of squares at the Scrabble tourneys in your neck of the woods, then you’re going to need to buy some of these.

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Mary Worth, 9/12/06

Oh, Mary, Mary, Mary — it looks like you’ve figured out that the only way to drag this storyline out further is to, um, drag it out further. It becomes obvious that she’s going off-script when she fails to join into the barbershop quartet number that the Charterstone Mafia had planned for the triumphal climax of the intervention.

For Better Or For Worse, 9/12/06

You know, if Liz has to worry about her bosses at the public school board being mad at her because she needs to take time off to obey a subpoena and testify in court against the guy who tried to rape her, then Canada may not be the workers’ paradise that I had imagined it to be.

You know what I hate more than the idea that Liz and Anthony are going to fall into each others’ arms over the course of this rape trial? The fact that we’re treated to “Anthony-Cam” in panel four, seeing just how sexily tarted up Lizardbreath looks to her wimpy paramour. Ick.

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Apartment 3-G, 9/11/06

Now, we all know that nothing good, and probably several things bad, will come of this, but, after all the time we’ve spent mocking Tommie for being boring and sexless and having no life and never ever getting any fun or attention from the Apartment 3-G creative team, let’s take a moment to stop making fun of her and savor the fact she’s at last having a good time.

OK, moment’s over. Say, where have we seen a picture like panel three recently?

Aagggh! Watch out for the tongue, Tommie, watch out for the tongue!

The Phantom, 9/11/06

Say what you will about the recently concluded Phantom tale of Chatu the shirtless terrorist, but at least it was reasonably easy to follow and involved the Phantom fighting bad guys. Last week’s Phantom strips featured an incomprehensible set up involving sinister businessmen and government corruption that would have been easier to follow had there been any indication as to what their business was or which government they were corrupting. Today, the Phantom proves his softness on white-collar crime by ignoring this backstory and deciding to work with Devil as some sort of human-canine tugboat replacement team. Apparently, when he’s bored, Mr. Walker becomes the Ghost-Who-Assists-With-Nautical-Safety-And-Maritime-Commerce. At least he’s not taking his cue from Spider-Man, because if he were, he’d be the Ghost-Who-Whines-At-The-TV.