According to the dictionary, “conflate” is defined as “to fuse into one entity; merge.” We know that because we had to look it up when we read Marty Pernick’s edifying entry identifying the Fake Ad for Bijar Borweb puppies for sale on page 39 of the August issue. “A lhasa apso is a dog that looks like a rug,” Pernick wrote. “A bijar is a rug. A lhasa apso is a guard dog and would not be ‘wonderful with children’ even if crossed with a rug. Your spelling of ‘Llhasa’ with two L’s conflates Tibetan lamas who created the lhasa breed with Andean llamas, which are camels with pretensions.”
Several other entries pointed out that the ad offered puppies available next spring while most dogs have a gestational period of only about nine weeks. To which we say that it’s possible we made a mistake, but it’s also possible our fictitious breeders had merely noticed a certain look in their stud dog’s eye.
In any case, we received 217 correct entries, and several of them didn’t point out a single mistake we’d made. Linda Herrst of Manchester was chosen as our winner. She’s taking her prize to Grizzly Peak.
To enter this month’s contest, find the Fake Ad in the October issue and follow the instructions in the box on the Back Page. Hint: the ad always includes the name of the Observer’s website, arborweb.com –this month in “Bijar Borweb.”
