Master Minds Recap: December 15, 2020

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

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Sugary Cereal”
Today’s Master Minds: Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Allie, Mike, Rachel

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) RELIGION: In the Bible the 10th Commandment says “Thou shalt not” do what?
(a) kill (b) steal (c) covet
(2) BREAKFAST: Which General Mills “monster cereal” debuted alongside Count Chocula?
(a) Boo Berry (b) Franken Berry (c) Fruity Yummy Mummy
(3) FAMOUS QUOTES: According to novelist Jane Austen, “A single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a” what?
(a) cook (b) banker (c) wife
(4) AMERICAN TIMELINE: Which event happened during the period in U.S. history known as “Reconstruction”?
(a) Great Chicago Fire (b) sinking of the Titanic (c) Wm. Henry Harrison buried
(5) PREHISTORIC TIMES: Eohippus was the earliest known ancestor of what common modern animal?
(a) horse (b) cow (c) chicken
(6) VOCABULARY: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, what is the most-used noun in the English language?
(a) time (b) man (c) money
(7) POKER: With players aiming for the lowest hand possible to win, “Razz” is a variation on what style of poker?
(a) Draw (b) Hold ’em (c) Stud

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Allie 400 Mike 500 Rachel 600 / Ken 600 Muffy 500 Jonathan 500

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) SOCIAL MEDIA: Spread via the internet, what often humorous cultural item has a name from the Greek for “imitated” or “copied”?
(2) HEALTHCARE: The four primary vital signs checked by doctors include body temperature, breathing rate, pulse & what?
(3) GEOGRAPHY: In 2019 Macedonia officially added what compass direction to its name?
(4) THEATER: “Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk” star Savion Glover is considered a master of what American dance style?
(5) COMPANIES: Headquartered at Dallas Love Field Airport, what airline trades stock under the symbol “LUV”?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Allie 400 Mike 1300 Rachel 1000 / Ken 1000 Muffy 1300 Jonathan 500

Allie 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.

Mike and Rachel go first:

(500) Passed in 1964, what resolution gave President Lyndon B. Johnson nearly unlimited powers to wage war in Vietnam?
(600) Prince Charles holds what title reserved for the heir apparent to the British throne?
(700) Which Apple co-founder and CEO never learned how to write computer code?
(800) The ivy on the outfield wall of Chicago’s Wrigley Field is commonly named for what other U.S. city?
(900) Massaging specific areas of the foot to benefit other parts of the body is called what?
(1000) What instrument measures the elevation of an airplane above ground level?
(1100) With winds up to 73 m.p.h., what two-word weather event usually precedes a hurricane?
didn’t count
(1200) The Mohawk, Oneida and Seneca tribes were among the six that formed what native confederacy?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Mike 3900 Rachel 3200

Mike 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 Mike.

(500) What free email service from Microsoft incorporated the computer language HTML into its name?
(600) With a name similar to the Black Panthers, what group did Maggie Kuhn form to defend seniors?
(700) After World War II, the Office of Strategic Services was the predecessor to what government agency in Langley, Virginia
(800) In a classic novel, what family surname is shared by siblings Ivan, Dimitri and Alexei?
(900) What science of cultivating plants and flowers has a name that stems from the Latin for “garden”?
(1000) Used to make balloons, Mylar was developed and trademarked by what company?
(1100) As a child, Gold Medal winning sprinter Wilma Rudolph overcame what disease that left her leg paralyzed?
(1200) What long-billed fish have been clocked at speeds over 68 m.p.h.?
(1300) xx?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Ken finished with 3600 to Muffy’s 3300 so Ken will join Mike in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Mike 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 at the same time and they write their answers down.
(1) What part of the electromagnetic spectrum shares its name with a letter in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet?
(2) Whose presidential library and museum is located in West Branch, Iowa?
(3) What almond-shaped mass in the brain is associated with fear and aggression?

ANSWERS: (unless otherwise indicated, both were correct)
show

After giving 3 wrong answers to the first 3 clues, Mike had no chance of winning. He is going home with $1,000 and there will be 3 new players tomorrow.

Master Minds airs daily on Game Show Network. Check your local listings for times. (Here in the Central Time Zone it comes on at 3:00 p.m.)

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