In 1921, another memorable story was published under the title “Some Like Them Cold” to depict Lardner’s cynicism at its best. Written in an epistolary form, it follows the songwriter Charles Lewis and Mabelle Gillespie who meet at a train station and pretend to be attracted to each other while they are only motivated by self-interest and self-aggrandizement. While he is simply looking for an obedient housewife, she is interested in his career, believing that he will become a shining star one day. When Charles becomes interested in another woman and simply ignores Mabelle, the opportunism of the two comes to the surface and is finally cried out loud. Though the story’s summary may appear serious, the narrative is like all Lardner’s narratives that are adorned with witty jokes and derisive remarks. This can be seen, for instance, in the following song that Charles once sends to Mabelle:

Some like them hot, some like them cold.
Some like them when they're not too darn old
Some like them fat, some like them lean.
Some like them only at sweet sixteen.
Some like them dark, some like them light.
Some like them in the park, late at night.
Some like them fickle, some like them true,
But the time I like them is when they're like you

Lardner carried on writing and publishing other stories as he was urged to do so by publishing houses and magazines. These later works were then collected in other volumes, namely in Treat’Em Rough: Letters from Jack the Kaiser Killer and in The Real Dope. The popularity of Lardner’s fiction is mainly explained by the weird ideas and situations that he creates. His narration is also marked by the use of slang language, by disrespect for grammatical rules and by numerous hilarious neologisms that express his derision and cynicism. All this can be found in collections like Immigrunts (1920), The Story of a Wonder Man (1926), Round Up (1929) and Lose with a Smile (1933). The latter represents his last contribution to the world of humorous sports commentary since he died only a few months after its accomplishment.

Ring Lardner died at the age of 48 after a long battle with alcoholism and tuberculosis according to records. On September 27th, 1933, he suffered from a heart attack in East Hampton, New York to be ultimately taken to the Fresh Pond Crematory in Middle Village, New York.