“Your contest is so clever,” wrote Amy Saalberg. “It effectively gets us to look closely at every single ad each month! This [Fake Ad] grabbed our attention by its extreme vagueness!”

True, the ad was vague, but that didn’t stop a number of entrants from putting their own spin on the pitch. “It looked like a message from the other side of L. Ron Hubbard. Dialogistics—a variation of ­Dianetics?” asked Cendra Lynn. “Interpersonal Communications Consulting … are we, uh, talking board meetings, marriages, classrooms, religious groups? In real time. Oh, goody. None of that fake time where you start a half-hour project at 2 p.m. and the next time you look it’s dark outside.”

“Dialogistics,” wrote Suzanne Tainter. “Just how would that work? I think my mom did this when she intervened among us squabbling siblings.”

Our winner was Lori Hale of Dexter. She’s taking her gift certificate to the Earle.