Summer 2012 Tournament

Who's the fastest draw in town? For a few weeks, you'll be pitted against other players one-on-one, until you solve goos faster than everyone else or run out of chances. Develop a quick trigger finger or your name will be etched on a tombstone.

Carol Moseley Braun

publication date: Tuesday, August 28, 2012

category: Government

clue: As far as corruption goes, Nigeria has nothing on Chicago.

explanation: Moseley Braun was a senator from Illinois who was criticized for her ties to a Nigerian dictator while in office. She later ran for mayor of Chicago. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, and Mike Rothstein

Diablo Cody

publication date: Monday, August 27, 2012

category: Movies

clue: America's teenagers are going straight to Hell.

explanation: Cody was the celebrated screenwriter behind Juno, Jennifer's Body, and Young Adult. The word "Hell" was a play on her first name. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Mike Rothstein, and Aaron Shurtleff

David Tutera

publication date: Friday, August 24, 2012

category: Fads

clue: How ironic that he had to travel all the way to Vermont for his own wedding.

explanation: Tutera was a wedding planner who married his longtime partner in Vermont in 2003. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, and Aaron Shurtleff

Gillian Flynn

publication date: Thursday, August 23, 2012

category: Literature

clue: Her novels about shadowy locations are hits, so she's not going away soon.

explanation: Flynn wrote Dark Places and Gone Girl. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, and Aaron Shurtleff

Randy Couture

publication date: Wednesday, August 22, 2012

category: Sports

clue: I don't know what French fashion has to do with beating somebody up.

explanation: Couture was a mixed martial artist. The phrase "French fashion" is a play on his last name. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Chris Lemler, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, and Aaron Shurtleff

Reggie Watts

publication date: Tuesday, August 21, 2012

category: Comedy

clue: This comedy is known for staying up until insane hours and for his violent talk show.

explanation: Watts starred in Why Shit So Crazy? and Comedy Bang Bang, as well as frequent appearances on late-night talk shows. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, Mike Rothstein, and Aaron Shurtleff

trivia: When Scott makes a typo in the text of a goo, such as writing "this comedy" when he means "this comedian," he normally corrects it when he sees it live on the site. In this case, several tournament players had already guessed and may have had their solve times affected by the strange wording of the clue by the time he saw it, so he left it the same for all players.

Sarah Burton

publication date: Monday, August 20, 2012

category: Fashion

clue: When Britain's newest fashion icon needed something to wear on the most publicized day of her life, she chose this designer.

explanation: Burton designed Kate Middleton's wedding dress. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Denise Sawicki, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, Erik Bates, Mike Rothstein, Steve Dunn, and Aaron Shurtleff

Theresa Caputo

publication date: Friday, August 17, 2012

category: Paranormal

clue: Neither her island nor her job title are short.

explanation: Caputo, a professional psychic, starred in the reality series Long Island Medium. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Erik Bates, and Aaron Shurtleff

Dan T. Cathy

publication date: Thursday, August 16, 2012

category: Controversy

clue: He got some very angry people to eat and kiss.

explanation: In July 2012, Cathy made controversial statements against same-sex marriage that led to a variety of "eat-in" and "kiss-in" protests and shows of support at his Chick-fil-A restaurants. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, LaVonne Lemler, Chris Lemler, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, Erik Bates, Mike Rothstein, Steve Dunn, Mike Eberhart, Aaron Shurtleff, Tony Peters, and Elaine Beckland

Anthony Bourdain

publication date: Wednesday, August 15, 2012

category: Cuisine

clue: He has no qualms about sharing exotic dishes from far afield.

explanation: Bourdain wrote Kitchen Confidential and starred in No Reservations, about foods from distant corners of the world. more…

solved by: Russ Wilhelm, Steve West, Samir Mehta, Chris Lemler, Richard Slominsky, Justin Woods, Matthew Preston, Joanna Woods, Erik Bates, Mike Rothstein, Steve Dunn, Mike Eberhart, Aaron Shurtleff, and Tony Peters

trivia: Elaine Beckland was designated as the "zombie" player of the day, given a chance to try again on this goo after being eliminated from the tournament. Code problems prevented her from guessing after activating the goo. To make up it, Scott programmed the site to give her one more chance to be the zombie the next time one was needed, overruling the normally random selection for a day.

Sara Gilbert

publication date: Tuesday, August 14, 2012

category: Television

clue: She learned about the birds and the bees with Johnny Galecki (twice) long before she had The Talk with parents.

explanation: Gilbert played Galecki's love interest in both Roseanne and The Big Bang Theory, and co-hosted daytime show The Talk about parenting. more…

Clarence Thomas

publication date: Monday, August 13, 2012

category: Justice

clue: Once in trouble for talking about sex, he's now mostly silent.

explanation: Thomas was a Supreme Court justice known for going years at a time between asking questions from the bench. His confirmation hearings in 1991 focused on his alleged sexual harassment of a subordinate. more…

Other Themes in Summer 2012

Avenge This

The Marvel superheroes might be Earth's mightiest box-office hit, but they don't have a monopoly on their character concepts. These five celebrities are strongly associated with one Avenger each. Go »

In the Doghouse

The dog days of summer are here: This week, Celebrity Goo Game goes to the dogs, nominally speaking. Fetch the right answers and try not to waste time barking up the wrong tree. Go »

Dragons of Skyrim

The best-selling video game Skyrim puts players in a fantasy realm where they must learn the ancient language of dragons to save the world. In the spirit of the game, these five celebrities have all spoken "Dragonese" at some point in their acting careers. Go »

Up and Down the Dial

Even in today's digital age, radio remains a vital source of entertainment and information for millions of Americans. These five people work in different genres but have all gained fame on the radio. Go »

Roman Holiday

Rome may once have been the capital of the world's largest empire, but that's ancient history. Today it's a thriving modern metropolis, with major contributions to sport and the arts. Go »

C is for Cookie

Oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, macaroon... Everybody has a favorite kind of cookie. You might see your favorite this week, which features five celebrities who share their names with kinds of cookies. Treat yourself to a plate if you get all five right. Go »

Arkham Asylum

Riddle me this: You are Batman, the caped crusader. Five of your most dangerous enemies have broken out of prison, and are masquerading around Gotham City as celebrities. Can you catch them and return them all to Arkham Asylum before the week is up? Go »

Senseless

We use vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste to understand the world around us. But not everybody is fortunate enough to have all five senses. Each of these five celebrities is missing a single sense, some defined by the loss and others triumphant over it. Go »

Carrying the Torch

Do you have Olympic fever? This two-week theme will challenge your knowledge of the 2012 Olympic athletes, first with five from Team USA, and then with five from foreign countries. Solve them all and you'll get even closer to taking home the gold in the tournament to follow. Go »

Summer 2012 Bonus Goos

You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go »