Master Minds Recap: May 15, 2020

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds for Friday, May 15, 2020 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Moon Landings”
Today’s Master Minds: Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Jim, Summer, Michael

The show’s format pits 3 contestants against each other and 3 Master Minds against each other. There are 3 rounds and the contestant with the highest score wins $1,000 and faces off in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge against the winning Master Mind. If the contestant beats the Master Mind, the prize money goes up to $10,000.

Round 1: Here are the 7 categories and questions. 100 points for each correct answer.

(1) LOGOS: A letter ‘G’ styled into a smiling face has been the logo of which organization for more than 50 years?
(a) Greenpeace (b) Goodwill (c) Girl Scouts of America
(2) RELIGION: Cambodia’s Angkor Wat is a Buddhist temple facing in which direction?
(a) east (b) west (c) north
(3) SPACE: What country was the first to land a probe on the dark side of the moon?
(a) United States (b) China (c) Russia
(4) WEATHER: On average, it takes how many inches of snow to equal one inch of rain?
(a) 1 inch (b) 10 inches (c) 16 inches
(5) OBSERVANCES: Which of these did FDR proclaim a national holiday in 1934?
(a) Columbus (b) Labor Day (c) Veterans Day
(6) PROHIBITION: In the 18th and 21st Amendments to the Constitution, which term is used to describe booze?
(a) inebriating substances (b) alcoholic spirits (c) intoxicating liquors
(7) TITLES: Which word for a sovereign translates to ‘great house’ in English?
(a) sultan (b) pharaoh (c) emir

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Jim 300 Summer 400 Michael 400 / Ken 400 Muffy 500 Jonathan 200

Round 2: There are 5 subjects and questions. No multiple choice. Only the first player on each team to buzz in gets to answer. Correct answers are worth 200 points for the first 4. The last question is worth 400 points. Wrong answers are penalized by the value of the question. At the end of the round, the person with the lowest score on each team is eliminated.

(1) STOCKS: “HOG” is the stock symbol for which motorcycle manufacturer?
(2) CUSTOMS: Due to its association with death, what color ink should you avoid using when writing to someone in South Korea?
(3) FILMS: In 1950, what Robert Louis Stevenson novel did Disney adapt into its first live-action feature?
(4) NEWSPAPERS: Which Northeast U.S. newspaper has an Oscar-winning movie named for Spotlight, its investigative division?
(5) OPERA: First produced in 1805, “Fidelio” is the only opera written by which composer?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Jim 500 Summer -200 Michael 400 / Ken 1000 Muffy 1100 Jonathan 200

Summer and Jonathan are eliminated.

Round 3: Each team faces off in a rapid-fire 1-minute trivia battle. The first question is worth 500 points and each additional question goes up an additional 100 points. The winners go on to the last round.

Jim and Michael go first:

(500) Most humans have how many pairs of ribs?
(600) What type of musical instrument made by Antonio Stradivari sold for nearly $16 million at auction?
(700) Sharing its name with an e-book device, what is the group name for a litter of kittens?
(800) The Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is one of the most famous examples of what type of architecture?
(900) Named for a girl in a 1902 comic strip, what shoe style is defined by a single buckled strap across the top of the foot?
(1000) The owners of Carl’s Jr. acquired what other fast food chain, keeping the name but changing the logo to match theirs?
(1100) Also called the sola topee, what safari headgear sometimes made with cork is designed to keep the wearer cool?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Jim 3400 Summer 2000

Jim wins $1,000 and advances to the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. But first, Ken and Muffy will battle it out for a minute to see who joins Jim.

(500) What country’s flag features an eagle devouring a serpent?
(600) The phrase ‘get your head examined’ comes from what pseudoscience that measures the bumps on people’s skulls?
(700) What insect-related term refers to the concept that the flapping of wings in Brazil can trigger a tornado in Texas?
(800) As it flies, a plane can rotate in three directions known as roll, pitch and what?
(900) In the Bible, Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den for doing what?
(1000) Which of Utah’s National Parks comes first alphabetically?
(1100) A folded sleeve often closed using a cufflink is known by what name?
(1200) Clyde Griffiths is the protagonist in what Theodore Dreiser novel?
(1300) Famous for its calculators, what U.S. company helped create the first commercial transistor radio?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Ken finished with 7300 to Muffy’s 2900 so Ken will join Jim in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Jim beats Ken, he will return on the next show. Any player who makes it through 3 shows and wins $30,000, gets to join the Master Minds expert team.

Ultimate Trivia Challenge: The questions are presented to the players individually and they say their answers out loud.

(1) Winner of the 1986 Caldecott medal, what Chris Van Allsburg book features a boy protagonist who is never named?
(2) ‘Pettifogger’ originally referred to an underhanded individual who has what occupation?
(3) Which of Pittsburgh’s three rivers is formed by the convergence of the other two?
(4) What shawl shares its name with the cashmere fabric they’re often made from?
(5) One called ‘the third eye’, the pineal gland secretes what hormone that is linked to regulating sleep?

ANSWERS: (unless otherwise indicated, both were correct)
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