The game

Smush was hosted by Ken Ober

Ken Ober

Ken Ober was an American game show host, comedian, and actor.- Early life and career :Born Kenneth Oberding in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was raised in Hartford, Connecticut. Ober hosted four game shows over the course of his career. He received his break after appearing as a contestant on Star...

 and co-hosted by Lisa Dergan. The show, set in a basement party atmosphere, featured four contestants trying to "smush" the answers to clues together, to create a new smushed phrase. For example, the clue "A New England state + 'Flying Circus' man" would result in an answer of "Vermonty Python," formed by combining "Vermont" and "Monty Python". Smushes did not have to use the exact spelling of both words. For example, "Belly Lafghanistan" could be a combination of "belly laugh" and "Afghanistan."

Rounds One and Two

Questions asked in round one were worth one point. Round two featured "Smush Tri's", where a three-part clue would form one answer. ("White taco topping + Couch potato's device + Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay

Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...

 pretzel brand" would become "Sour Creamote Controld Gold." from "Sour Cream

Sour cream

Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Its name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial...

," "Remote Control

Remote control

A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...

," and "Rold Gold.") Smush Tri's were worth two points. The final question in round two was the "Smush Quad," in which a four-part clue was presented. This was worth three points, and often served as an important question in close-scoring games. The players with the lowest scores after rounds one and two were eliminated from play. Co-host Dergan would keep score in these first two rounds by placing numbers on top of each player's name.

Round Three

Round three was called the "Smush Chain." Clues would be given one at a time to a smush that would grow progressively longer. To score, the player must buzz in and recite the entire chain, starting at the first clue. A total of seven clues were asked, the first of which served as the base of the smush, and was not a smush in itself. (For example, the chain might become "Leap Yeardrum Major Tommy Thompson Twin Cities," by combining "Leap Year

Leap year

A leap year is a year containing one extra day in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year...

," "Ear Drum," "Drum Major

Drum Major

A drum major is the leader of a marching band, drum and bugle corps, or pipe band, usually positioned at the head of the band or corps. The drum major, who is often dressed in more ornate clothing than the rest of the band or corps, is responsible for providing commands to the ensemble regarding...

," "Major Tom

Major Tom

Major Tom is a fictional astronaut created by David Bowie, heard in his songs "Space Oddity," "Ashes to Ashes," and "Hallo Spaceboy." Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. 1969's "Space Oddity" depicts an astronaut who casually slips the bonds of a crass and...

," "Tommy Thompson

Tommy Thompson

Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...

," "Thompson Twins

Thompson Twins

The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...

," and "twin cities

Twin cities

Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...

.") The first clue was worth one point, the second clue was worth two points, and so on, up to seven points. The player with the highest score went on to the bonus round.

Bonus Round

In the bonus round, the contestant would stand in front of a mirror while co-host Dergan wrote a word or phrase on it with lipstick. The contestant would then be given five clues which could individually smush into that phrase. (For example, given the root phrase "Red Cross," the contestant could create "Inbred Cross," "Red Crosseyed," etc.) Each answer was worth $1,000, and answering all five in 45 seconds won $8,000.