Here's one everyone can play.
To enter just give me 3 linked name combos in a top, middle and bottom order.
A linked name combo is where the first name of one person is the same as the last name of another person.
Here would be a sample entry:

TOP: Jim Ringo Starr
MIDDLE: Stephen Boyd Dowler
BOTTOM: Jim Taylor Swift

The name must use the same spelling as the heading of their Wikipedia page.
So naturally all names must have a wikipedia page.
If there are more than 1 person with the same name, you might want to tell which us one you are using.

SCORING
-------------
Your top couple must be more famous than your middle couple
Your bottom couple must be less famous than your middle couple
If you fail to put your couples in the correct order, your entry is thrown in the dumpster and you get 0 points.

You get 1 point for every other entry with less famous people in the top position, middle position and bottom position.
Bonus: 1 point for every point over 80 for your top position couple
Bonus: 1 point for every point over 60 for your middle position couple
Bonus: 1 point for every point over 40 for your bottom position couple

How we rank "less famous" and "more famous" is a secret. Take a guess if you like. If you guess correctly, you should have an advantage over others.

Enter here in the thread. Once you have entered, nobody else can use any of your couples.
Reveal is May 1st. You can change your mind at any time before then and revise your entry.

I'll enter but I'll wait til tomorrow so I don't block anyone from taking a "sure thing" couple.
I won't check how famous my picks are til May 1st.

I'm dumb but I don't get this.

figured it out. there's no relation between top, middle, bottom, aside from needing to be ordered correctly.

i gave a speed entry. yolo

You need 3 pairs of names.

But each pair has to have a last name : first name the same combo.

So Sideshow Bob : Bob Barker

Top pair has to be more famous than pair 2, which is also more famous than pair 3

without knowing how scoring works, i'd wager a guess that bottom couple is more famous than middle couple. probably a zero burger here.

Jim Ringo Starr = Jim Ringo (football player) + Ringo Starr (a Beatle). They can be combined because Jim Ringo's last name (Ringo) is the same as Ringo Starr's first name (Ringo).
Stephen Boyd Dowler = Stephen Boyd (actor) + Boyd Dowler (football player). They can be combined because Stephen Boyd's last name (Boyd) is the same as Boyd Dowler's first name (Boyd).
Jim Taylor Swift = Jim Taylor (football player) + Taylor Swift (singer). They can be combined because Jim Taylor's last name (Taylor) is the same as Taylor Swift's first name (Taylor).

This is just a sample. It would be a terrible entry because Taylor Swift is in the bottom position where the less famous people should be. This entry would probably net you 0 points.

Hope it's all crystal clear now.

Any specific questions?

Elizabeth Taylor Swift
LeBron James Earl Jones
Michael Jordan Peele

Who knows

Didn't consider fictitious characters but as long as they are people they should be OK. Sideshow Bob is OK. Kermit The Frog is not.

Also, I should note that first and last name is whatever Wikipedia says it is. So LL Cool J has a last name of "J". He can be combined with "J Lee Thompson" but not "Jim Taylor".

My dumbness continues. I DM'd my submission. Here they are. Sports theme.

Aaron Donald Trump
John Wayne Gretzky
Duncan Keith Richards

To say nothing of how good or bad it is, I assume my entry is valid, right?

Yup, looks good.
If you can survive Michael Jordan being in the bottom position you should get a lot of points with this entry.

Just making sure, I assume single name people aren't eligible (instead of being used as a first or last name joker) and stuff in parenthesis isn't counted (e.g. wiki header being Michael Jordan (basketball player)).

Those two rules sound OK with me.
Single namers are out. So, "Prince" is not eligible.
Disambiguation stuff in the heading doesn't count. Prince's name is "Prince" not "Prince (musician)".

George Michael Jackson
Hank Aaron Rodgers
Channing Tatum O'Neal

OK. Time for me to put my entry in.
Play it safe (just get my 3 in the right order) or go for the gusto (risky entry).
So, I flipped a coin. It came up "play it safe" (Canadian nickel came up "queen" instead of "beaver").

Cliff Richard Nixon
Muhammad Ali Velshi
Merry Anders Hedberg

And since I'm the only one to know what I'm using for "more famous" and "less famous" it's probably better that I enter a safe entry even though I haven't really payed much attention to that info.
I do know that it's in the English language so people famous in English speaking countries probably have an advantage.
And I'm sure you thought the same but I would think:
1) people who were famous for a long time are ranked higher than those famous for a short time (Tom Hanks more famous than James Dean?)
2) people famous for multiple reasons more famous than people famous for just one thing (Donald Trump more famous than Bruce Springsteen?)

Of course, I don't really know these things. It just seems more likely.

And now I can check how well the 4 entries are (I won't change mine but everyone else has til the end of the month to make changes).

Would you like to get interim results? I'm busy from the 26th on but I could give out clues as to how you are doing before then.
1) No, it was tough enough getting my first 3 name combos
2) Yes, this is fun. I'd like to try again if I know my entry was useless.

Checked my 3.
Yes, they are in the right order.
But more importantly, I'm gonna get bonus points!

And just to be clear, the score for someone who has their 3 combos out-of-order is zero, zero, zero (entries in the correct order get 3 points for beating the other entry 3 times).

I've scored the other 3 entries.
I got no votes (yes or no) about whether I should give out a few clues as to how things are going so I'll drop some clues about my entry but leave the other 3 secret.

My score: 16 points
I have the 2 least famous people: Merry Anders and Anders Hedberg thus making Merry Anders Hedberg the least famous combo.

Not all Hollywood movie stars were famous: Merry Anders

Sure, I'd take an early 'valid or invalid' reaveal on my entry.

Same

So, 3 of 4 want to know if their entry has their three name combos in the right order.
OK. 3 of 4 do have their combos in the right order.

The only entry that's out of order is.............................iraisetoomuch.
iraisetoomuch can try again.

With my 16 points, I'm in 2nd place. That means housenuts and xander biscuits must be in 1st and 3rd. But which is which?
My only chance of winning depends upon me getting housenuts or xander biscuits to also "try again". But which one?
Doesn't seem likely that they'll throw away a 50% chance of being 1st.

In that case:

Elizabeth Taylor Swift
Michael Jordan Peele
LeBron James Earl Jones

Still not in the right order.

Not sure if I should be saying this but I'm gonna go ahead because this is just my opinion and not fact:

I think maybe you've got to have both people on a tier more famous than both in the tier below. Maybe something like LeBron James being more famous than Jordan Peele is the issue.

Also pretty sure I'm in 3rd place. My top tier might be famous but then it's a big step down. I played it safe to get the right order

I like yours more than mine. We should switch lol