A Rube Goldberg hand-washing competition is on

As if we weren't already spending enough time washing our hands to keep the coronavirus at bay, the process could get a lot more complicated — and comic — if Jennifer George has her way.

In the spirit of her grandfather Rube Goldberg, the cartoonist renowned for designing absurdly elaborate contraptions to accomplish the simplest tasks (attracting a waiter's attention, swatting a fly), George has invited people isolated in their homes to build devices that drop a bar of soap into someone's hand using a sequence of 10 to 20 steps.

As the legacy director of Rube Goldberg Inc., George, 60, has been using her grandfather's cartoons of chain-reaction inventions, which were syndicated for decades in publications nationwide, as the springboard for books, exhibitions and school contests. But the "Rube Goldberg bar of soap video challenge" is the first time she has aimed the competition at a worldwide audience.

"We've got to provide some fun, wonderful distraction for families that are at home right now," George said.

Last month, as schools abruptly closed because of the virus outbreak, she had to cancel the Rube Goldberg Inc. annual contest, now in its 33rd year, in which hundreds of schools from around the United States typically participate in live regional competitions. This year's challenge for students ages 8 to 18 was to build a machine to turn off a light. "Little did we know we'd be turning off the lights of all things," she said ruefully.

Her company quickly pivoted to the bar-of-soap competition that is encouraging families around the world to work together. Video submissions, due May 31, should show every step in the homemade chain-reaction machine in a single, unedited pass.

"Rube Goldberg machines are made from everyday objects," George said, noting that people need nothing more than the junk they already...