It's the register, it's their habits of using tabloid-style headlines with those kind of jokes and puns, even if the content is not (always) outrageous. Persona

It's the register, it's their habits of using tabloid-style headlines with those kind of jokes and puns, even if the content is not (always) outrageous. Personally when I submit a story from there, I'll transform the title to a "normal" headline, which is more readable and in-line with the expectation here; also many titles are too long for the HN title limit, so I have to do it anyway.