The race for the Republican nomination is over, with one winner - Donald Trump - and 16 losers.
But there are many different shades of losing. There's the silver-lining, get 'em next time variety. Then there's the sitting-in-the-middle-of-the-pitch surrender cobra, contemplating-the-bitter-end-of-a-promising-career kind of losing.
The 2016 Republican presidential campaign brought us plenty of both.
So, from almost-first to worst, here's how the men (and woman) who came up short rank in terms of the relative catastrophic nature of their defeats.
GETTY IMAGES16. Ted Cruz
The Texan entered the race roundly disliked by his Washington colleagues. He exited it … still largely disliked, but with the support of more than seven million primary voters.
There's little doubt that the Texas senator is going to run for president again in 2020, and while he was considered a long-shot this year, he likely will be a front-runner next time around. Although this year was a glaring exception, second-place finishers usually become the "next in line" for the Republican nomination.
Mr Cruz now has a national fundraising network, solid name recognition and, thanks to his position as the last non-Trump candidate standing, endorsements from Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, among many others. While they won't necessarily back him next time around, it'll be a lot harder for them to paint him as a dangerous extremist.
Advantage Cruz.
GETTY IMAGES15. Ben Carson
A man with the energy levels of a eucalyptus-addled koala managed to hang near the top of Republican presidential preference polls for several months last year. He was a fund-raising powerhouse and now has a small-donor list that will be coveted by other candidates and conservative causes.
Carson has cast his lot with Trump and is serving as the New Yorker's ambassador to fellow Republicans and involved in the search for a vice-presidential nominee.
Not too bad for a retired neurosurgeon with no previous political experience.
GETTY IMAGES14. Carly Fiorina
A year ago Fiorina was only known (if at all) for a spectacularly unsuccessful Senate bid, a classic demon-sheep political attack advert and her stormy tenure as head of computing giant Hewlett-Packard.
Since then she was the star of the first undercard debate, the only match for Trump in the second big-stage debate and generally well-received at countless Republican presidential cattle calls during the primary pre-season. Although her campaign fizzled when it turned out she was a popular candidate no-one actually wanted to vote for, she did become an effective Cruz surrogate and was even selected to be his vice-presidential running mate. Sort of. For one week.
Still, that's a big step in the right direction for Fiorina.