1970: Name Dominoes

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Name Dominoes

Title text: In competition, you can only play a name if you know who the person is. No fair saying "Frank ... Johnson. That sounds like a real person! Let me just Google him real quick."

• A large version of the comic picture can be found here.
• A numbered version can be found here.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Some of the names at the bottom need to be explained, connections need to be finished, and some links are wrong (Maybe typo by an editor or a mistake on Randall's part? Needs to be sorted out). Good luck to the brave soul who manages to complete the table, and thanks in advance. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Dominoes is a family of boardgames played with rectangular "domino" tiles. A domino tile is divided into two squares, each displaying a number. Under most rules, a domino tile is placed on the table adjacent to another tile, and the adjacent ends must match in some way (usually by the number displayed on the touching ends). Randall's "name dominoes" shows a set of domino tiles with people's names instead of numbers, and adjacent tiles are matched by whether the closest name is the same (such as how Chris Evans' family name matches Evan Taylor Jones' given name).

The title text spells out a rule that a player may only place a tile if they know who that person is. This is a variation of a rule in Scrabble, where a player loses a turn if their chosen word don't survive a dictionary challenge over the validity of the word. This rule implies that players are allowed to create new name dominoes tiles and that it is not a fixed set. In this case the player that is challenged has used the name Frank Johnson of which there are 12 exact matches on Wikipedia along with six with a middle name and more. (The player was likely trying to place a tile in the upper-right area of the board, in an attempt to connect the "Frank Vincent" and "Lyndon Johnson" dominoes. The move was subsequently made impossible when the "Francis Drake" domino was played.) In a google search as of the day the comic came out the first hit was Frank Johnson who is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. Randall has made several references to basketball in his comics.

A large board is covered in rectangular "dominoes" (271 pieces), with each domino bearing the name of a "well-known" person or character (fictional). The dominoes are arranged as if a game of dominoes were being played, but instead of the game requiring the number of spots of adjacent dominoes to match up, this game requires adjacent names to match up. Because most people have two or more names, different matches are made at each end of a domino. Fun fact is that two of the people are "named after" the game: Fats Domino and Domino Harvey.

The match can be exact (e.g., "Kevin" on one domino adjacent to "Kevin" on another), homonymic (e.g., "Klein" adjacent to "Kline"), nickname-based (e.g., "James" adjacent to "Jimmy", which in turn is adjacent to "Jim"), or gender different versions of a name (e.g., "Olivia" adjacent to "Oliver"). Sometimes last names are matched up with first names (e.g., "Elizabeth Warren" adjacent to "Warren Beatty"), and in some cases only a single name is used (e.g., "Columbo", "Drake", "Garfield", "Prince"). Singular names are represented by a half-size square "domino" (or "monomino"), with a few exceptions: "Garnet" has a full-size tile (a complex reference explained below), and "Batman" and "Superman" have full-size tiles and are placed as though they were two-part names: the first square of "Superman" is matched with "Super", and the second square is matched with the second square of "Batman" (as though both characters had the last name "Man"). Some people have three or more names (e.g., "Frank Lloyd Wright") and have a 3-square domino tile (or "straight tromino", 50% longer than normal) which permits matching to a middle name (e.g. "Frank Lloyd Wright" is matched to "Lloyd Alexander" and "Harold Lloyd").

The names come from a wide variety of fields: scientists (e.g., Isaac Newton), historical figures (George Washington), musicians (Drake), politicians (John Kerry), actors (Kevin Costner), writers (Washington Irving), fashion designers (Oscar de la Renta), and so on. Most of the names are real people but a few are fictional characters, including some non-human characters like Garfield and Super Grover. In one case the nick name for a company is used: Ma Bell aka Bell System.

One notable reference beyond just the use of a name is in the bottom left, there is the connection [ William Safire ][ Garnet ][ Ruby, Jack ]. The connection seems to be based on the fact that Sapphire, Garnet and Ruby are all gemstones, which does not match the implied rules of the game. This tile is a reference to the character Garnet in the cartoon Steven Universe, who is a "fusion" formed by two Gems: Ruby and Sapphire. Thus, the name "Garnet" is treated as though it was two names "Ruby" and "Sapphire", requiring a two-square tile despite having a one-word name. Randall has previously made references to this universe in 1608: Hoverboard. (See this and this image from that comic).

Additionally, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan and Rand Paul have been mentioned before, in the title text of 1277: Ayn Random. That idea may have been the prototype for this.

In at least one case it is not entirely clear who is being referred to: "John Kelly" most likely refers to Gen. John F. Kelly, Donald Trump's chief of staff, but the name is extremely common and could equally refer to any number of people.

Table of names

• The number # refers to the numbers on this numbered picture.
  • Read more on this page:
    • 1970: Name Dominoes/Numbered images
• Wiki links not tested as they were set in only from the name in the comic.
  • Spell checking...

Domino	Notability and notes	Connections	Mode	#
Christian Campbell	Canadian American stage and screen actor, writer, and photographer. Most likely refers to the actor, but there are also a Trinidadian-Bahamian poet called Christian Campbell.	Neve Campbell Naomi Campbell	Last-Last Last-Last	1
Neve Campbell	Canadian actress, known for starring in the movie series Scream.	Christian Campbell Joseph Campbell	Last-Last Last-Last	2
Joe McCarthy	Joseph McCarthy, (also called Joe McCarthy), served as U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. McCarthyism is named after him. It was the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, especially caused by fear of Communist influence during the beginning of the cold war. McCarthyism has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1956.	Eugene McCarthy Joseph Smith	Last-Last First-First (approximate)	3
Eugene McCarthy	Eugene Joseph McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time Congressman from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. (He is not to be confused with the other Senator McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, see #3)	Joe McCarthy Gene Vincent	Last-Last First-First (approximate)	4
Gene Vincent	American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly.	Eugene McCarthy Gene Kelly Frank Vincent	First-First (approximate) First-First Last-Last	5
Gene Kelly	American actor and dancer known primarily for musicals such as 'Singing in the rain'	Gene Vincent John Kelly	First-First Last-Last	6
Kate Hudson	Golden Globe-winning American actress. Won for playing Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous in 2000.	Rock Hudson Katherine Johnson	Last-Last First-First (approximate)	7
Rock Hudson	American actor who was viewed as a prominent 'heartthrob' of the Hollywood Golden Age, staring as the lead man in many movies during the 1950s and 60s, among other Giant, James Deans last film, for which both where nominated for an Oscar in the best actor category. He later became known for his secret homosexual life. Hudson died from AIDS-related complications in 1985, becoming the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness.	Katie Hudson The Rock	Last-Last First-Last	8
Gordon Brown	British Prime Minister from 2007-2010.	James Brown	Last-Last	9
James Brown	American singer, known as the Godfather of Soul	Gordon Brown John Brown James Newton Howard	Last-Last Last-Last First-First	10
John Brown	American abolitionist who led an attack on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry. There are several other John Browns.	James Brown John Howard John Wayne	Last-Last First-First First-First	11
John Howard	Australian politician. Served as 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 1996-2007. There are several other John Howards but this Prime Minister is by far the best known among them.	John Brown Howard Stern	First-First Last-First	12
Columbo	Fictional character. Homicide detective from American TV show "Columbo"; portrayed by actor Peter Falk.	Chris Columbus	Only-Last (approximate)	13
Chris Columbus	Film director and screenwriter.	Columbo Christopher Columbus Chris Hughes	Last-Only (approximate) First-First (approximate) and Last-Last First-First	14
Christopher Columbus	Italian explorer. Credited with "discovering" the Americas in 1492 by leading voyages and establishing continued ties between Europe and the Americas.	Chris Columbus	First-First (approximate) and Last-Last	15
Naomi Campbell	British model and actress.	Christian Campbell Joseph Campbell Naomi Klein	Last-Last Last-Last First-First	16
Joseph Campbell	American author. Most known for his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces about the hero type found throughout world mythologies.	Neve Campbell Naomi Campbell Joseph Smith	Last-Last Last-Last First-First	17
Joseph Smith	American religious leader; founder of Mormonism. Publisher of The Book of Mormon.	Joe McCarthy Joseph Campbell	First-First (approximate) First-First	18
Frank Vincent	American actor.	Gene Vincent Francis Drake	Last-Last First-First (approximate)	19
John Kelly	White House Chief of Staff under President Donald Trump. Retired US Marine Corps general.	Gene Kelly Katherine Johnson	Last-Last First-Last (approximate)	20
Katherine Johnson	African-American mathematician at NASA. Calculated trajectories, launch windows, and flight paths for NASA moon missions and the Space Shuttle.	Kate Hudson John Kelly Lyndon Johnson	First-First (approximate) Last-First (approximate) Last-Last	21
The Rock	Nickname for Dwayne Johnson, a pro wrestler, and actor.	Rock Hudson Chris Rock Oscar the Grouch	Last-First Last-Last First-Middle	22
Chris Rock	American comedian.	The Rock Chris Isaac	Last-Last First-First	23
Chris Isaac	Former quarterback in the Canadian Football League. Probable misspelling of Chris Isaak, American musician.	Chris Rock Isaac Newton	First-First Last-First	24
James Newton Howard	American composer, conductor, music producer and musician.	James Brown Isaac Newton Wayne Newton Wayne Howard	First-First Middle-Last Middle-Last Last-Last	25
John Wayne	American actor, known primarily for roles in Westerns	John Brown Wayne Newton	First-First Last-First	26
Howard Stern	Radio talk show host. Known for The Howard Stern Show.	John Howard Howard Hunt	First-Last First-First	27
Howard Hunt	Former CIA operative, convicted for Watergate burglary.	Howard Stern Helen Hunt	First-First Last-Last	28
Chris Hughes	American entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg.	Chris Columbus Helen Hughes	First-First Last-Last	29
Naomi Watts	Australian actress, born in Britain	Naomi Klein James Watt (steam)	First-First Last-Last (approximate)	30
Naomi Klein	Best known for the book "No Logo"	Naomi Campbell Naomi Watts Kevin Kline	First-First First-First Last-Last (approximate)	31
Kevin Kline	American actor	Naomi Klein Kevin Bacon	Last-Last (approximate) First-First	32
Francis Bacon	16th century English philosopher. Commonly credited with the phrase "knowledge is power".	Francis Drake Kevin Bacon	First-First Last-Last	33
Francis Drake	English privateer	Frank Vincent Francis Bacon Frank Drake	First-First (approximate) First-First First-First (approximate)	34
Lyndon Johnson	Former American president (1963-1969)	Katherine Johnson	Last-Last	35
Oscar the Grouch	A muppet who lives in a trash can from the children's TV show Sesame Street.	The Rock Oscar Isaac	Middle-Last First-First	36
Oscar Isaac	Actor.	Oscar the Grouch Isaac Hayes Oscar de la Hoya	First-First Last-First First-First	37
Isaac Hayes	American singer-songwriter	Oscar Isaac Isaac Newton Sean Hayes	First-Last First-First Last-Last	38
Isaac Newton	Well-known 15th century physicist who created the three laws of motion.	Chris Isaac James Newton Howard Isaac Hayes	First-Last Last-Middle First-First	39
Wayne Newton	Musician.	James Newton Howard John Wayne Wayne Knight	Last-Middle First-Last First-First	40
Wayne Knight	American actor best known for playing Newman in the TV show Seinfeld.	Wayne Newton Wayne Brady	First-First First-First	41
Helen Hunt	American actress	Howard Hunt Helen Hughes Helen Thomas	Last-Last First-First First-First	42
Helen Hughes	Australian economist	Chris Hughes Helen Hunt	Last-Last First-First	43
James Watt (Steam)	Scottish inventor who perfected on the earlier Newcomen steam engine with a design that made it practical for widespread use and is credited with helping to usher in the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. His name became the SI unit for power.	Naomi Watts James Watt (Interior) Stephen James	Last-Last (approximate) First-First and Last-Last First-Last	44
James Watt (Interior)	U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 1981-1983	James Watt (Steam)	First-First and Last-Last	45
Kevin Costner	Academy Award-winning American actor.	Kevin Bacon Kevin Love	First-First First-First	46
Kevin Bacon	American actor. Known for Footloose, and for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.	Kevin Kline Francis Bacon Kevin Costner	First-First Last-Last First-First	47
Kevin Love	Relatively famous and accomplished professional basketball player who won an NBA championship with the much more famous and accomplished LeBron James in Cleveland.	Kevin Costner Kevin Smith	First-First First-First	48
Lisa Frank	American businesswoman who founded Lisa Frank Incorporated.	Frank Drake	Last-First	49
Frank Drake	American astronomer and astrophysicist.	Francis Drake Lisa Frank Drake	Last-Last First-Last Last-Only	50
Drake	Grammy Award-winning Canadian rapper.	Frank Drake	Only-Last	51
Oscar de la Renta	Fashion designer.	Oscar de la Hoya	First-First	52
Oscar de la Hoya	Professional boxer who won multiple titles in different weight classes as well as an Olympic gold medal before his retirement in 2009.	Oscar Isaac Oscar de la Renta	First-First First-First	53
Sean Hayes	Sean Hayes is an American actor, singer, comedian, and producer. He is best known for his role as Jack McFarland on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.	Isaac Hayes Wallace Shawn	Last-Last First-Last (approximate)	54
Wallace Shawn	American actor. Vizzini in The Princess Bride	George Wallace Charles Wallace Sean Hayes	First-Last First-Last Last-First (approximate)	55
Wayne Howard		James Newton Howard Wayne Brady	Last-Last First-First	56
Wayne Brady	American comedian, known for Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Wayne Howard Wayne Knight James Brady Tom Brady	First-First First-First Last-Last Last-Last	57
James Brady	White House Press Secretary for US President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) who was shot during an assassination attempt against Reagan in 1981. Subsequent gun control legislation known as the "Brady Bill" was named for him.	Wayne Brady James Monroe	Last-Last First-First	58
Tom Brady	Quarterback for the New England Patriots. Notable for winning 5 Super Bowls.	James Brady Helen Thomas	Last-Last First-Last (approximate)	59
Helen Thomas		Helen Hunt Tom Brady Tom Hanks	First-First Last-Last (approximate) Last-Last (approximate)	60
Tom Hanks	Academy award winning actor. Known for Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and several other famous films.	Helen Thomas Hank Aaron Hank Williams	First-Last (approximate) Last-First (approximate) Last-First (approximate)	61
Hank Aaron	Former Major League Baseball player. Hit 755 career home runs, a record at the time.	Tom Hanks Aaron Carter	First-Last (approximate) Last-First	62
Aaron Carter	American singer.	Hank Aaron	First-Last	63
Stephen James		James Watt (Steam) Steve Harvey	Last-First First-First (approximate)	64
Will Smith	American actor. Known for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Kevin Smith	Last-Last	65
Kevin Smith	American writer and director of Clerks and other films who often also plays the character Silent Bob in his films.	Will Smith Kevin Love Kevin James	Last-Last First-First First-First	66
Kevin James	American actor. Known for Paul Blart: Mall Cop	Kevin Smith James Saint James	First-First Last-Last	67
Garfield	A fictional cat and the star of the eponymous Garfield comic by Jim Davis. Previously appeared in 78: Garfield.	James Garfield	Only-Last	68
James Garfield	20th President of the United States. Notably, he was assassinated after only 6 months.	Garfield Etta James James Saint James	Last-Only First-Last First-Last	69
Warren Buffett	Billionaire and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.	Jimmy Buffett Warren Beatty	Last-Last First-First	70
Jimmy Buffett	American country musician.	Etta James Warren Buffett Jim Jones	First-Last (approximate) Last-Last First-First (approximate)	71
Warren Beatty	Actor.	Warren Buffett Elizabeth Warren	FIrst-First First-Last	72
Elizabeth Warren	Massachusetts Senator since 2013. Known for her work as a consumer rights activist.	Warren Beatty Earl Warren Elizabeth Kolbert	Last-First Last-Last First-First	73
Earl Warren	Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969. Presided over several landmark cases including Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (ruled segregation of public schools unconstitutional), Reynolds v. Sims (electoral districts for state legislature must be equal in population), and Miranda v. Arizona (suspects detained by police must be informed of their rights as an accused).	Elizabeth Warren James Earl Jones	Last-Last First-Middle	74
Elizabeth Kolbert		Elizabeth Warren Stephen Colbert	First-First Last-Last (approximate)	75
Stephen Colbert	American talk show host. Known for The Colbert Report and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert	Elizabeth Kolbert	Last-Last (approximate)	76
George Wallace	American politician, who initially supported, but later renounced racial segregation.	Wallace Shawn	Last-First	77
Charles Wallace		Wallace Shawn Charles Manson	Last-First First-First	78
James Monroe	Founding father and Fifth president of the USA	James Brady Marilyn Monroe	First-First Last-Last	79
Marilyn Monroe	American actress and pin-up model from the 50s. She was immensely famous during her time, and unexpectedly committed suicide at age 36.	James Monroe Marilyn Manson	Last-Last First-First	80
Hank Williams	Country singer	Tom Hanks William C. Williams Robin Williams	First-Last (approximate) Last-Last Last-Last	81
William C. Williams	American poet closely associated with modernism and imagism.	Hank Williams Billy D. Williams	Last-Last First-First (approximate) and Last-Last	82
Steve Harvey	Host of Family Feud.	Stephen James Domino Harvey	First-First (approximate) Last-Last	83
Domino Harvey		Steve Harvey Harvey Milk Fats Domino	Last-Last Last-First First-Last	84
Harvey Milk	American politician and gay rights activist.	Domino Harvey	First-Last	85
James Saint James		Kevin James James Garfield Jimmy John	Last-Last Last-First First-First (approximate)	86
Etta James (1)	Used again in 266	James Garfield Jimmy Buffett	Last-First Last-First (approximate)	87
Jim Jones	Cult leader behind the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana.	Jimmy Buffett James Earl Jones Tom Jones	First-First (approximate) Last-Last Last-Last	88
James Earl Jones	American actor. Voiced Darth Vader in the original Star Wars.	Earl Warren Jim Jones Quincy Jones James Earl Ray	Middle-First Last-Last Last-Last First-First	89
Charlie Parker	Jazz musician.	Ray Parker Jr. Charles Manson	Last-Last First-First (approximate)	90
Ray Parker Jr.	Singer and songwriter who wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film Ghostbusters.	Charlie Parker Man Ray Rachael Ray	Last-Last First-Last First-Last	91
Ray Charles	American blues musician. Blind from the age of 7.	Charles Manson Rachael Ray Ray Allen	Last-First First-Last First-First	92
Charles Manson	Cult leader of the Manson Family. Convicted of 7 murders; used Beatles songs as bases.	Charles Wallace Charlie Parker Ray Charles Marilyn Manson	First-First First-First (approximate) First-Last Last-Last	93
Marilyn Manson	American musician. Known for esoteric performances.	Marilyn Monroe Charles Manson	First-First Last-Last	94
Robin Williams	American stand up comedian. Voiced the Genie in Aladdin.	Hank Williams Billy D. Williams Robin Wright	Last-Last Last-Last First-First	95
Billy D. Williams	American actor best known for playing Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.	William C. Williams Robin Williams Will Wright	First-First (approximate) and Last-Last Last-Last First-First (approximate)	96
Will Wright		Billy D. Williams Robin Wright Wilber Wright	First-First (approxiate) Last-Last Last-Last	97
Fats Domino	Jazz musician.	Domino Harvey Fatty Arbuckle	Last-First First-First (approximate)	98
Bill Clinton	42nd president of the United States. His wife, Hillary Clinton, ran against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and was Secretary of State.	George Clinton	Last-Last	99
Jimmy John	Founder of the sandwich shop chain Jimmy John's.	James Earl Jones John Kerry	First-First (approximate) Last-First	100
Tom Jones	Can refer to the Welsh Singer or to the fictional character from the book of the same name by Henry Fielding			101
Tommy John	Former baseball pitcher who had a surgical graft done to replace a blown ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974; the procedure is now called Tommy John surgery.			102
Quincy Jones	American Jazz musician			103
James Earl Ray	Killer of Martin Luther King Jr.			104
Man Ray	Photographer (Dada, Surrealism).			105
Rachel Ray	Celebrity chef.			106
Ray Allen	Professional basketball player who retired in 2013. Won two NBA championships with the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, making him the second teammate of LeBron James to appear on this list.			107
Tim Allen	American comedic actor. Created and starred in the long running sitcom "Home Improvement". Voiced Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.			108
Tim Cook	Current (as of the time of this comic) Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Inc.			109
Tim Howard	Former goalkeeper for the United States men's national soccer team. Holds the record for most saves made in a World Cup match (15 against Belgium in 2010).			110
Robin Wright	American actress, aka Robin Wright-Penn			111
Wilbur Wright	One of the two Wright Brothers (the other was Orville) who made the world's first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903.			112
Fatty Arbuckle	Comedian.			113
Fat Joe	Real name Joseph Antonio Cartagena, rapper.			114
George Clinton	Could be either the 19th Century politician who served as Governor of New York and later as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, or the musician who rose to fame in the 1970's as one of the biggest acts in funk music and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.			115
John Kerry	Secretary of State under Barrack Obama. Ran against George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.			116
Kerry Washington	Actress in the TV show Scandal.			117
John Irving	Author.			118
John Quincy Adams	Sixth president of the United States and son of John Adams.			119
John Adams	Second president of the United States and father of John Quincy Adams.			120
Amy Adams				121
Aimee Mann	Singer/Songwriter.			122
Superman	Superhero owned by DC comics who can fly and have super strength/invincibility.			123
Batman	Superhero owned by DC comics.			124
Ayn Rand	Russian political author, known for Atlas Shrugged. XKCD frequently makes fun of Rand's philosophy.			125
Lily Allen	British singer-songwriter, sometime actress.			126
Paul Allen	Co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates and current owner of several professional sports teams in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers, part of Seattle Sounders FC).			127
Ron Howard	Actor and director. Most famously acted in Happy Days; later directed Apollo 13.			128
Howard Hughes	American business tycoon			129
Joe Kennedy	US ambassador to the United Kingdom and father of John F. Kennedy.			130
George Bush	George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush (father and son, respectively), were both presidents of the United States.			131
George Washington	First president of the United States, and general during the Revolutionary War.			132
Washington Irving	Short story author who wrote "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"			133
Martha Wasington	Wife of George Washington.			134
Ma Rainey				135
Jack Ma				136
Super Grover				137
Jack Black	Singer and actor.			138
Rand Paul	Republican senator from Kentucky; member of the Tea Party movement. Ran in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.			139
Paul Ryan	Republican representative from Wisconsin. Served as Speaker of the House at the time this comic was published.			140
Paul Simon	Singer.			141
Ron Paul	Libertarian politician. Known for running for president in many elections and mentioned often in xkcd.			142
John Hughes	Director famed for a series of 1980s coming of age movies including "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club", and "Pretty in Pink"			143
Langston Hughes	Writer.			144
John F. Kennedy	35th president of the United States. Known for his public assassination during a parade; subject to many conspiracy theories.			145
Little Richard	Early rock and roll singer known for his energetic and flamboyant style on songs such as "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally"			146
Rich Little	American comedian known for his impressions of numerous celebrities and public figures			147
Martha Stewart	American TV personality. Convicted of insider trading in 2004.			148
Yo Yo Ma	Chinese cellist. Known for winning 18 Grammys; considered a child prodigy.			149
Ma Bell	Aka Bell System, the system of companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by AT&T, which provided telephone services to much of the United States and Canada from 1877 to 1984.			150
Grover Cleveland Alexander	Pitcher named after the president; co-holds record for most wins by a pitcher in the National League (374).			151
Grover Cleveland	22nd and 24th president of the United States. Notably the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.			152
Jack White	American musician. Part of The White Stripes.			153
Jack Ryan	Fictional character in the novels by Tom Clancy. Portrayed in Movies by Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, and Ben Affleck			154
Debby Ryan				155
Carly Simon	Singer. "You're so vain" referenced on xkcd in <insert here>			156
Carly Hughes				157
Charles Evans Hughes				158
John Williams	American composer. Known for many famous movie soundtracks, including Star Wars and Harry Potter.			159
Little John	Fictional character in the Robin Hood Legend. Known for great stature and strength.			160
Stuart Little	Fictional character by E. B. White, an intelligent mouse.			161
Potter Stewart				162
Kristen Stewart	American actress. Known for Twilight.			163
Kristen Bell	American actress, known for various romantic comedies.			164
Kristen Hooks				165
Alexander Graham Bell	Scottish inventor, credited with inventing the telephone.			166
Franklin Graham				167
Lloyd Alexander				168
Meg White	Drummer. The other half of The White Stripes.			169
Meg Ryan	American actress. Known for 'WHen Harry met Sally'			170
Debbie Reynolds	American singer and actress.			171
John Reynolds				172
Carly Fiorina	Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Ran for president in the 2016 Republican primaries.			173
Grace Lee Boggs				174
Wade Boggs	American baseball player. Played with the Boston Red Sox.			175
William Safire	Writer and publicist.			176
Prince William	Member of the British Royal Family. Second in line for succession to the throne.			177
Little Prince	One of the main characters of The Little Prince, a novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Little Prince has previously appeared in 618: Asteroid, as well as article 68 of what if?.			178
Harry Potter	Fictional main character in the Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling			179
James Potter	Fictional character, father of Harry Potter.			180
James Hook	Fictional character from 'Peter Pan'			181
James Dean	American actor and teen icon. Starred in the films "Rebel Without a Cause", "East of Eden" and "Giant" before his sudden death in a car accident			182
Aretha Franklin	Soul singer, first woman to be inducted into the hall of fame and performer of Respect.			183
Frank Lloyd Wright	American architect, known for his unconventional buildings such as Fallingwater and the Guggenheim.			184
Barry White	American soul singer known for his deep, rich voice on songs such as "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"			185
Walter White	Main character from the TV show Breaking Bad.			186
Walt Whitman	American poet. A bridge in Philadelphia was named after him.			187
John Kelly				188
Grace Lee				189
Nancy Grace				190
Garnet	A garnet is a gem stone and the two names around here are William Safire (almost Sapphire) and Jack Ruby as in Ruby. But it is not just used because they are all gemstones. It is instead a reference to the character Garnet in the cartoon Steven Universe. She is a "fusion" formed by two gems: Ruby and Sapphire, hence the legal connection in the Name Dominoes... Randall has previously made references to this universe in 1608: Hoverboard. (See this and this image from that comic).	William Safire Jack Ruby	Last-Only (as a Sapphire gem stone) Last-Only (as a Ruby gem stone) Both used to fuse together to Garnet.	191
Prince	American musician, part of the Rock and Roll hall of fame. He died two years prior to the release of this comic.			192
Prince Fielder	Professional baseball player who retired in 2016 after playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers.			193
Prince Harry	Member of the British royal family. Fifth in line for succession to the throne.			194
Harry Styles	Singer from One Direction.			195
John Dean				196
Benjamin Franklin	One of the founding fathers of the United States. Credited with "discovering" electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm.			197
Harrold Lloyd				198
Harrold Ford				199
Betty White	American comedian. Known as the only surviving member of the The Golden Girls.			200
Meg Whitman	American business executive, former CEO of eBay and Hewlett Packard, unsuccessful candidate for California governor in 2010			201
Christine Todd Whitman	Governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, then served as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003.			202
Megyn Kelly	American TV news anchor. Worked for Fox news until 2017, then switched to NBC.			203
Grace Kelly	American actress and Princess of Monaco			204
Grace Jones	Singer and actress.			205
Jack Nicholson	Actor who has appeared in many films from The Shining (film) (as Jack Torrance) to Batman (1989 film) (as the Joker) to A Few Good Men (as Colonel Jessup).			206
Jack Ruby	Jack Ruby is known for shooting and killing Lee Harvey Oswald on national television. Oswald was the prime suspect in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Ruby's involvement is the subject of many conspiracy theories.			207
Jack Russel				208
Harry Fielder				209
Harry Truman	33rd president of the United States. Known for authorizing the use of atomic weapons against Japan at the end of World War 2.			210
Harry Jon Benjamin				211
John Edward				212
Benjamin Harrison	23rd president of the United States			213
Harrison Ford	American actor. Known for playing Han Solo in the Star Wars films and the titular character in the Indiana Jones films.			214
Henry Ford	Founder of the Ford Motor Company. Credited with inventing the assembly line.			215
Betty Ford	Wife of Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States.			216
Betty Friedan				217
Chris Christie	Governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Ran for president in the Republican primaries in 2016.			218
Chris Pratt	American actor. Known for Parks and Recreation			219
Maggie Grace				220
Grace Hopper	American computer scientist. Helped develop the COBOL programming language.			221
Russel Crowe	Australian actor. (s/be Russell?)			222
Russ Smith				223
John Smith	John Smith is the most common name in the United States. See Wikipedia for a list of people this may refer to.			224
Justin Long				225
John Bel Edwards				226
John Candy	Canadian comedian and actor. Known for Spaceballs.			227
John Henry	American folk hero			228
Henry James	American author known for works including "The Turn of the Screw" and "The Portrait of a Lady"			229
Bill James				230
Chris Cooper				231
Chris Hemsworth	Actor.			232
Chris Evans				233
Topher Grace				234
Van Morrison	Irish singer best known for the song "Brown Eyed Girl"			235
Sheryl Crow	American singer and session musician			236
Sheryl Sandberg				237
Cameron Crow				238
Long John Silver	Fictional antagonist from Treasure Island.			239
Olivia Newton John	American actress. Known for Grease			240
Huey Long	Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932, and US Senator from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. Known for his "Share Our Wealth" proposal to address the hard economic conditions of the Great Depression.			241
John Edwards	American politician. Democratic candidate for presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.			242
Candy Crowley				243
Alestier Crowley	English occultist and author			244
James Fenimore Cooper	Author of The Last of the Mohicans.			245
James Cook	18th century British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy.	Alistair Cooke Cokie Roberts Alistair Cookie James Fenimore Cooper	Last-Last (approximate) Last-First (approximate) Last-Last (approximate) First-First	246
Robert Frost	19th century American poet, named Poet Laureate of Vermont in 1922 by the Vermont State League of Women's Clubs, and in 1961 by the Vermont State legislature			247
Bob Evans				248
Evan Tayler Jones				249
Van Jones				250
James Cameron	American director. Known for Terminator and Titanic.			251
Cam Newton	Quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.			252
Cameron Diaz	American actress. Voiced Fiona in Shrek.			253
Huey Newton	Co-founder of the Black Panthers.			254
Huey Lewis	Lead singer for the band Huey Lewis and the News.			255
John Lewis				256
Jenny Lewis				257
Ryan Lewis				258
Burt Reynolds	American actor. Known for a wide variety of western and/or action films.			259
Alistair Cooke	Name misspelled Alistiar Cooke in the comic.			260
Alistair Cookie	A parody of Alistair Cooke "played" by Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street sketch "Monsterpiece Theatre" in the 1980s, a parody of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".	James Cook Alastair Reynolds	Last-Last (approximate) First-First (approximate)	261
Cokie Roberts	National Public Radio (NPR) political correspondent known for her recurring segment "Ask Cokie" in which she answers listener submitted questions.			262
John Roberts	Current Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court at the time of the comic's publication.			263
Robert Johnson	Delta blues guitar legend.			264
Robert E. Lee	Confederate general during the American Civil War.			265
Tommy Lee	Drummer for the rock band Mötley Crüe			266
Tommy Lee Jones	American actor known for 'The Fugitive'			267
Etta James (2)	Used first time in 86			268
John Oliver	American talk show host. Known for Last Week Tonight.			269
Ryan Reynolds	Canadian actor. Known for several romantic comedies, and Deadpool.			270
Alastair Reynolds	SF writer.			271

Transcript

[This comic a large grid, 27 units wide and 35 units high, with 271 black "domino" tiles. On each tile there is a name written with white text. The grid is arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person (or at least there are some kind of relation between the names on the end of connecting tiles). Some of the domino tiles are rotated 90, 180 or 270 degrees so the text is either to be read down, up-side down or up. The names on the tiles are listed here below in approximate reading order, thus staring top left and moving over the grid from left to right and down. Each swipe left to right covers approximately tiles that are within a span of one standard tile in height. To be exact it lists the names in the order they were numbered in this image. One name is used twice, Etta James.]

Christian Campbell

Neve Campbell

Joe McCarthy

Eugene McCarthy

Gene Vincent

Gene Kelly

Kate Hudson

Rock Hudson

Gordon Brown

James Brown

Jon Brown

John Howard

Columbo

Chris Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Naomi Campbell

Joseph Campbell

Joseph Smith

Frank Vincent

John Kelly

Katherine Johnson

The Rock

Chris Rock

Chris Isaac

James Newton Howard

John Wayne

Howard Stern

Howard Hunt

Chris Hughes

Naomi Watts

Naomi Klein

Kevin Kline

Francis Bacon

Francis Drake

Lyndon Johnson

Oscar the Grouch

Oscar Isaac

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Newton

Wayne Newton

Wayne Knight

Helen Hunt

Helen Hughes

James Watt (Steam)

James Watt (Interior)

Kevin Costner

Kevin Bacon

Kevin Love

Lisa Frank

Frank Drake

Drake

Oscar de la Renta

Oscar de la Hoya

Sean Hayes

Wallace Shawn

Wayne Howard

Wayne Brady

James Brady

Tom Brady

Helen Thomas

Tom Hanks

Hank Aaron

Aaron Carter

Stephen James

Will Smith

Kevin Smith

Kein James

Garfield

James Garfield

Warren Buffett

Jimmy Buffett

Warren Beatty

Elizabeth Warren

Earl Warren

Eliabeth Kolbert

Stephen Colbert

George Wallace

Charles Wallace

James Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Hank Williams

William C. Williams

Steve Harvey

Domino Harvey

Harvey Milk

James Saint James

Etta James

Jim Jones

James Earl Jones

Charlie Parker

Ray Parker Jr.

Ray Charles

Charles Manson

Marilyn Manson

Robin Williams

Billy D. Williams

Will Wright

Fats Domino

Bill Clinton

Jimmy John

Tom Jones

Tommy John

Quincy Jones

James Earl Ray

Man Ray

Rachel Ray

Ray Allen

Tim Allen

Tim Cook

Tim Howard

Robin Wright

Wilbur Wright

Fatty Arbuckle

Fat Joe

George Clinton

John Kerry

Kerry Washington

John Irving

John Quincy Adams

John Adams

Amy Adams

Aimee Mann

Superman

Batman

Ayn Rand

Lily Allen

Paul Allen

Ron Howard

Howard Hughes

Joe Kennedy

George Bush

George Wasington

Wasington Irving

Martha Wasington

Ma Rainey

Jack Ma

Super Grover

Jack Black

Rand Paul

Paul Ryan

Paul Simon

Ron Paul

John Hughes

Langston Hughes

John F. Kennedy

Little Richard

Rich Little

Martha Stewart

Yo Yo Ma

Ma Bell

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Grover Cleveland

Jack White

Jack Ryan

Debby Ryan

Carly Simon

Carly Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

John Williams

Little John

Stuart Little

Potter Stewart

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Bell

Kristen Hooks

Alexander Graham Bell

Franklin Graham

Lloyd Alexander

Meg White

Meg ryan

Debbie Reynolds

John Reynolds

Carly Fiorina

Grace Lee Boggs

Wade Boggs

William Safire

Prince William

Little Prince

Harry Potter

James Potter

James Hook

James Dean

Aretha Franklin

Frank Lloyd Wright

Barry White

Walter White

Walt Whitman

John Kelly

Grace Lee

Nancy Grace

Garnet

Prince

Prince Fielder

Prince Harry

Harry Styles

John Dean

Benjamin Franklin

Harrold Lloyd

Harrold Ford

Betty White

Meg Whitman

Christine Todd Whitman

Megyn Kelly

Grace Kelly

Grace Jones

Jack Nicholson

Jack Ruby

Jack Russel

Harry Fielder

Harry Trueman

Harry Jon Benjamin

John Edward

Benjamin Harrison

Harrison Ford

Henry Ford

Betty Ford

Betty Friedan

Chris Christie

Chris Pratt

Maggie Grace

Grace Hopper

Russel Crowe

Russ Smith

John Smith

Justin Long

John Bel Edwards

John Candy

John Henry

Henry James

Bill James

Chirs Cooper

Chirs Hemsworth

Chirs Evans

Topher Grace

Van Morrison

Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Sandberg

Cameron Crow

Long John Silver

Olivia Newton John

Huey long

John Edwards

Candy Crowley

Alestier Crowley

James Fenimore Cooper

James Cook

Robert Frost

Bob Evans

Evan Tayler Jones

Van Jones

James Cameron

Cam Newton

Cameron Diaz

Huey Newton

Huey Lewis

John Lewis

Jenny Lewis

Ryan Lewis

Burt Reynolds

Alistiar Cooke

Alistair Cookie

Cokie Roberts

John Roberts

Robert Johnson

Robert E. Lee

Tommy Lee

Tommy Lee Jones

Etta James

John Oliver

Ryan Reynolds

Alastair Reynolds

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Discussion

This comic is a long list of names overlayed onto black domino tiles, arranged so that each touching side corresponds with the first or last name of another person. This will be difficult to transcribe. 108.162.221.53 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Would it be possible to use a fixed width format and try and transcribe like an actual scrabble board? I think there are unicode characters for upside-down and rotated text that we could use for the flipped names. But yes, definitely will be difficult.172.68.211.244 18:21, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

The transcript doesn't need upside-down and rotated text. It should be enough to mention that some tiles are. A first draft with all names would be good, but even mentioning all the connections would be to complex to read. Think about the reader... --Dgbrt (talk) 18:39, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

How about using a fixed-width font and then representing each domino with an alphanumeric character, and then put a list below of what each character corresponds to? Even though there are more dominoes than characters, duplicate uses of a character (but referring to different names) can be easily disambiguated if we assign each character in order, left to right and top to bottom. 172.69.70.71 20:04, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I have made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this picture and Explanation here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --Kynde (talk) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Do you think that maybe Randall created this comic just to screw with this wiki? 108.162.221.53 14:51, 22 March 2018 (UTC)Martin

Certainly, a real explanation to Randall's Name Dominoes doesn't need a numbered list or one of these overwhelming tables. A short overview (a small bullet list would be the best) to the rules implied by the image and shown in the title text would be a proper explanation. Everything else is trivia at maximum. And I can't resist: This table, whenever it will be completely filled, tops them all...--Dgbrt (talk) 21:30, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

The purpose of the transcript is so someone can search the site for a phrase (or in this case, a name) used in a strip, and find the page for it. Encode the words using upside-down UNICODE letters would defeat that purpose. JamesCurran (talk) 22:12, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I see alternative names or nicknames sometimes matches together. But is the Chris Pratt/Chris Evans match with Topher Grace a bit of a stretch? I see that Topher is a variation of Christopher and Chis is a shortening of the same. But I guess it must be an acceptable move if Randle put it in the comic. Maybe it’s worth special points or something. 162.158.38.70 18:14, 21 March 2018 (UTC)TheStewart

Walter White/Walt Whitman is a reference to Breaking Bad. 172.68.58.101 18:20, 21 March 2018 (UTC)Pat

And Garnet being used to join Ruby and Saffire is clever... 141.101.98.64 18:23, 21 March 2018 (UTC) This is a reference to Steven Universe where there is a character, Garnet, who is a fusion of Ruby and Sapphire.

"The title text spells out a rule that a player may only place a tile if they know who that person is" is mention as a reason for it not to be a fixed set of dominos, But I took it to mean you can't use "Jim Jones" unless you know of Jim Jones; as in, I could challenge your use of it by asking "okay who is he?". Maybe saying "oh, he went to school with me" or something wouldn't count, anymore than "crft is too a word!" works in Scrabble Afbach (talk) 19:36, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Harrison Ford is from Blade Runner I believe. 162.158.2.124 23:07, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Ma Bell is interesting... is it the only one that not an actual person? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_System

Alistair Cooke's name is misspelt "Alistiar"; it'll be interesting to see if this gets corrected (as errors sometimes do). Not to be confused with Alistair Cookie, a short distance away! -- Peregrine (talk) 08:45, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I think maybe Chris Isaac (Canadian football quarterback) was intended to be Chris Isaak (American rock musician, singer, and actor). Can we just assume that was a mistake? Imperpay (talk) 14:29, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Maybe a table?

I think a table would be a useful and user-friendly way of capturing everything that's going on here. Forgive this feeble attempt. I am not an html coder. I know enough to go steal something somewhere and see if it works:

Domino	Notability	Connections	Mode
Alistair Cookie	A parody of Alistair Cooke "played" by Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street sketch "Monsterpiece Theatre" in the 1980s, a parody of the PBS series "Masterpiece Theatre".	James Cook Alastair Reynolds	Last-Last (approximate) First-First (approximate)
James Cook	18th century British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy.	Alistair Cooke Cokie Roberts Alistair Cookie James Fenimore Cooper	Last-Last (approximate) Last-First (approximate) Last-Last (approximate) First-First
Chris Columbus	Film director and screenwriter.	Columbo Christopher Columbus Chris Hughes	Last-Only (approximate) First-First (approximate) and Last-Last First-First

Imperpay (talk) 23:27, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

I like that idea. Especially because it would mean that all those links are removed from the transcript. As far as I understand transcripts (at least in this wiki) they don't inlcude any meta information (e.g. nothing that is not shown in the comic). Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 08:48, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Yes great example of a table, and yes no wiki links in transcript. I will put this in the explanation now. --Kynde (talk) 09:42, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

I have now made an image where each tile is numbered from left to right. See this picture and Explanation here. I have created a transcript from this list. And the table --Kynde (talk) 14:01, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Great job, thanks for the effort :) Should the table be moved to a separate page? Beacuse it's really massive... And another thing: I think the name list in the transcript as it was before (excluding links, of course) was better. At least for someone who is not visually impaired Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 14:52, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

And I thought Alistair Cookie was a reference to the fact Alistair Cook is batting like a muppet. BTW I have WG Grace and Grace Darling in my hand - but i cannot seem to fit them in. 141.101.107.204 17:16, 22 March 2018 (UT

I've created a table/spreadsheet of all the numbers, with a,b,c meaning first, second, and third part of name, respectively, here. Also, Van Jones is missing in both the numbered image and all text on this page. Ad1217 (talk) 04:40, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Cool. Thanks for pointing out that I failed to number the tile after 249. I'm now correcting the image adding this as number 250 and correcting the numbers after that. Ad1217 could you update your spreadsheet, and would it be OK to add a picture of this to the explanation? (I spotted an error in your spreadsheet as well, as you have used 286b rather than 268b at the bottom, but correctly used 268a --Kynde (talk) 09:55, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

Feel free to use it however you like! Also, it's publicly editable, so feel free to fix any other issues. My plan is to write a script to map names->boxes, then ideally make an html table with text transformed correctly, but it could take a bit of time before I get that working right. Ad1217 (talk) 08:24, 24 March 2018 (UTC)

Does anyone else see the connection between "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" and the fact that this picture is basically a network/graph? 108.162.249.136 05:25, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I was disappointed that Kevin Bacon isn't a clear node of some sort. The joke could have been extended by adding a Paul Erdős tile. --Quantum7 (talk) 08:41, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I wonder if Randall used an algorithm to build this. It would be interesting to generate dense domino packings automatically. Does he have an official github account or similar? --Quantum7 (talk) 08:42, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

I'll continue looking into it, and thought it might be worth mentioning. Could this be some kind of QR code?

Would it be helpful to fill in still-missing entries of the Notability column of the Table of Names. I can volunteer to do that. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 10:49, 28 March 2018 (UTC)

Looking at some of the missing entries in the Notability column for common names (eg. John Lewis, Chris Evans) and wondering what the best approach to this is. To me as a British person, John Lewis is a department store and Chris Evans is a radio presenter and former Top Gear host, however I realise this is not the case everywhere - Chris Evans is also an actor who featured in the Marvel films (probably more likely who Randell was referring to). Would it be best to list all notable people with that name (how do we decide who is notable enough?...) or should we just link the Wikipedia entry for people with that name? AlChemist (talk) 10:49, 3 March 2019 (UTC)

Other languages

Can "Name Dominoes" grids written in another non-English alphabet be assembled? ColorfulGalaxy (talk) 08:36, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Yo-Yo Ma is American, not Chinese

...according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma#). 172.70.114.210 (talk) 15:50, 29 October 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Well, the Yo-Yo Ma article says American, but born in Paris of Chinese parents and only moved to the US at age seven. (No clue given as to whether he was naturalised, on arrival/later, or one or both parents were US citizens to start with.)

By my reckoning, he's at least Chinese-American (and has taken that label at face value for some of his life). Wouldn't know how much he still possesses official natural-born Frenchness on top of that (if his actual arrival wasn't in an embassy grounds, or something additionally complicating). These sorts of things can be messy to tie down exactly, and often vastly reinterpretable according to the situation. 172.70.162.142 17:01, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

According to the Simple English Wikipedia, Yo-Yo Ma is a “French born Chinese-American”. 42.book.addict (talk) 17:28, 29 October 2024 (UTC)