October Surprise

Readme

Thirty-two American political gaffes, scandals and October surprises since 2000, seeded into four regions. Pick a winner in every matchup until one disaster is left standing.

How to play

• Click or tap an entry to advance it. Changing an earlier pick clears any later picks that depended on it.
• Hover an entry, or tap its i button, for the backstory, a quote and the fallout.
• Save & share makes a link that carries your picks. Whoever opens it sees your bracket read-only and can start their own.

Privacy

Your picks are saved only in this browser. There are no accounts, no analytics and no server, and a shared link holds everything in the link itself.

Accessibility

• Everything works from the keyboard: Tab moves through entries, Enter picks, focusing an entry shows its card, and Esc closes cards and dialogs.
• Pick reactions are announced to screen readers, and the doodles are decorative and hidden from them.
• If your device is set to reduce motion, the leaves, the news van and all wobbles are turned off.
• It follows your system's light or dark setting.

Changelog

• Oct 30, 2026: new tagline, plus this readme and changelog.
• Oct 30, 2026: doodles for every entry, hover cards with quotes and fallout, trash talk on every pick, falling leaves and a news van.
• Oct 30, 2026: Wikipedia links on every entry.
• Oct 30, 2026: launch with 32 entries, four regions, picks saved in your browser and shareable bracket links.

Blurbs are written with a straight face and a raised eyebrow. Spot an error? Tell the stingray dude.

Send your bracket

The link holds your picks, so whoever opens it sees exactly your bracket.