One day I will make the HN front page with a repo containing a todolist with one unchecked item. "TODO: Write a todo list cool enough to make the frontpage of HN."
But then you will have achieved the TODO, ruining the joke.
That is the joke...
The joke was that a TODO list with an unchecked item is on the front page of HN. In the grandparent's scenario, the item is checked.