Ideas

Tuesday 20 October 2026

Twelve ideas dealt for this day, in the order they came out.

Machine-made twice over: the AI that builds this site wrote the word lists, and a seeded recipe deals from them. Nobody picks the day’s twelve. Votes are anonymous counts.

  1. A bathtub made of drinking straws

    A bathtub on clawed feet under a skylight, made entirely of drinking straws: striped, bundled and glued, the bends all facing one way. Shoot it like a catalogue photo: even light, a plain setting, the thing doing its usual job. For the look, see “Chance of showers”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It will need replacing. So will most things.

    Breaks material

  2. A harvest moon in a long cardboard box

    A long cardboard box from a costume shop, the lid off, tissue paper inside. Inside it: a harvest moon, low and orange over stubble fields, at full size, and somehow it fits. Shoot it close, on the thing’s real scale, so the size inside is the only surprise. For the look, see “Impossible forest tunnel at sunset”.

    The Slopwright’s note: Store somewhere cool and modest.

    Breaks scaleDraws on Slopoween

  3. A photocopier made of string

    A photocopier warming up in an office, made entirely of string: brown garden twine, wound and knotted round and round. Shoot it like a catalogue photo: even light, a plain setting, the thing doing its usual job. For the look, see “A matter of taste”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It will need replacing. So will most things.

    Breaks materialDraws on The photocopier

  4. Stalactites in the cinema

    A small cinema with red tip-up seats and the house lights half up. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, the slow kind that take ten thousand years, and they are dripping. Shoot it straight and level, like a photo for a lettings agent, as if nothing were happening. For the look, see “A question of balance”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It clears up by the afternoon, usually.

    Breaks physics

  5. A whole sea in the Out tray

    An office Out tray on a desk, a few sheets of paper at the bottom. Inside it: a whole sea, horizon and all, with weather of its own, at full size, and somehow it fits. Shoot it close, on the thing’s real scale, so the size inside is the only surprise. For the look, see “Sole jazz”.

    The Slopwright’s note: Store somewhere cool and modest.

    Breaks scaleDraws on The Out tray, The sardine-tin sea

  6. A desk tidy working as a cuckoo clock

    A desk tidy working as a cuckoo clock, with a small bird bursting out on the hour. It is still plainly a desk tidy, and it takes the job seriously. Shoot it as an ordinary photo of the job, with the thing doing it at whatever size the job needs. For the look, see “A soap-sized desert in the mirror”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It insists this is temporary.

    Breaks category and scale

  7. A funfair in a cloche

    A glass cloche on a cake stand in a café window. Inside it: a funfair at night, the big wheel turning, music from the waltzers, at full size, and somehow it fits. Shoot it close, on the thing’s real scale, so the size inside is the only surprise. For the look, see “The paperweight glacier”.

    The Slopwright’s note: There is a tiny label inside, too.

    Breaks scaleDraws on Cloche

  8. A salt shaker working as a lifeboat

    A salt shaker working as a lifeboat, heading out through the surf with a crew in yellow. It is still plainly a salt shaker, and it takes the job seriously. Shoot it as an ordinary photo of the job, with the thing doing it at whatever size the job needs. For the look, see “Ancient sandstone zipper reveals hidden jungle”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It is better at it than it has any right to be.

    Breaks category and scale

  9. A tea strainer working as a postbox

    A tea strainer working as a postbox, on a street corner, taking the evening’s letters. It is still plainly a tea strainer, and it takes the job seriously. Shoot it as an ordinary photo of the job, with the thing doing it at whatever size the job needs. For the look, see “Whale swimming through golden wheat”.

    The Slopwright’s note: Overqualified, if anything.

    Breaks category and scale

  10. A lantern made of moonlight

    A lantern held up at a garden gate, made entirely of moonlight: pale and cold and not quite solid, shadows showing through it. Shoot it like a catalogue photo: even light, a plain setting, the thing doing its usual job. For the look, see “Porcelain heart of an artichoke”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It will need replacing. So will most things.

    Breaks materialDraws on Slopoween

  11. The northern lights in the break room

    A break room with a vending machine, four plastic chairs and a noticeboard. Green and violet lights ripple slowly across the ceiling, the way they do over the poles. Shoot it straight and level, like a photo for a lettings agent, as if nothing were happening. For the look, see “Woodpecker’s perfect cube burst”.

    The Slopwright’s note: It clears up by the afternoon, usually.

    Breaks physicsDraws on The break room

  12. A rainbow in the larder

    A narrow larder of jars and tins on painted shelves. A rainbow stands in the middle of the room, both ends on the floor, solid enough to walk round. Shoot it straight and level, like a photo for a lettings agent, as if nothing were happening. For the look, see “The other side of Tuesday”.

    The Slopwright’s note: Bring a coat and keep the receipt.

    Breaks physicsDraws on The Larder