The Week contest: Perfume - January 28, 2011

Welcome to The Week's "What Next?" contest, an invitation to test your powers of imagination with challenges inspired by current events.

Click here for results of last week's contest: PC Title

Results: After Lithuania launched a national perfume, conveying the country’s ambiance with accents of moss, wildflowers and “the smell of wood fires,’’ we asked what accents one might find in a perfume called “America.’’ You sniffed out:

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THE WINNER: Gunpowder and corn syrup

Tracy Ahearn Ames, Los Angeles

SECOND PLACE: Blood, sweat, and beer

Jane Hicks, Hood River, OR

THIRD PLACE: The minty-clean scent of fresh money with the faint hint of a homeless shelter

PJ Wells, Canton, OH

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Apple pie and burning flags

C. Robert Holloway, New Orleans

Bald Eagle and bacon

Linda Hart Tolley, Merced, CA

Apple pie, hotdogs, and dad’s new wife

Joel V. Harvey, Lawrenceburg, TN

Shopping malls, banks, and churches

Lori Hartwell, Glendale, CA

Exhaust fumes and air fresheners, with accents of barbecuing

Judith Averill, Amherst, MA

Gasoline, plastic, and a touch of cinnamon

Amanda Smith, Cincinnati

Transfat, Starbucks, and a hint of crude oil

Colby Seibold, Vancouve, WA

Cheeseburgers, French fries, and a whiff of crisis

Ben Cooper, Montgomery, NJ

Diesel, elk musk, and a fresh bag of hamburgers

Mackay Miller, Louisville, CO

Smells of Crisco (from the fryer), leather (from the couch), with a dusty note (from the treadmill)

Brendan Leyden, Lomita, CA

Essence of partially hydrogenated corn oil

Amanda Black, Zionsville, IN

Curry, salsa, and apple pie

John Ryan, Haverhille, MA

The stench of debt, obesity, and partisanship

Derek Dodge, Caro, MI

The pooled perspiration from Ronald McDonald and Lady Gaga fighting over an iPad

Sean Cochran, Denver

Baseball Steroids, Hot Dogs Tofu, Apple Pie High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and Chevrolet a Japanese Hybrid

Jim Lancaster, Atlanta