Master Minds Recap: December 23, 2020

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds for Wednesday, December 23, 2020 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Short Lived Team Sports”
Today’s Master Minds: Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Returning champ, Tyler, who won $10K yesterday, Lindsay and James

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) KID CRAZES: The “Rainbow Loom” is a crafting toy designed to create bracelets out of what material?
(a) yarn (b) rubber bands (c) construction paper
(2) FOOD: Which Kraft product did Emil Frey create as a use for broken wheels of cheese?
(a) Cheez Whiz (b) string cheese (c) Velveeta
(3) WHICH CAME FIRST? Which “last” came first?
(a) Last Studebaker (b) last Beatles concert (b) last Olympic tug of war
(4) MOVIES: The mechanical shark from “Jaws” was nicknamed “Bruce” after Steven Spielberg’s what?
(a) brother (b) lawyer (c) dog
(5) DISCOVERY: Maori tradition suggests that a Polynesian explorer may have been the first person to see which continent in 650 AD?
(a) Antarctica (b) Asia (c) North America
(6) QUOTATIONS: “I go to prepare a place for you” were the reported last words of what abolitionist hero?
(a) Frederick Douglass (b) Harriet Tubman (c) Sojourner Truth
(7) MEASUREMENTS: On the geologic time scale, which of these is longest?
(a) era (b) eon (c) epoch

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Tyler 400 Lindsay 200 James 400 / Ken 700 Muffy 500 Jonathan 400

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) U.S. HISTORY: What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?
(2) ANCIENT WONDERS: What modern-day Middle Eastern country is said to be home of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
(3) BEAUTY: In the 1990s, what cosmetic brand adopted the memorable slogan “Maybe she’s born with it”?
(4) SPORTS: In competitive diving, which body position always involves pulling the knees upward into the chest?
(5) THE BEATLES: Paul McCartney once attributed what “numerically illogical” song title to his overworked chauffeur?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Tyler 1000 Lindsay 800 James 400 / Ken 1700 Muffy 700 Jonathan 400

James 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.

Tyler and Lindsay go first:

(500) In a standard game of pool, what ball is almost entirely black?
(600) Often holding a nightgown on the shoulders, what very slender strap has a “pasta-like” name?
(700) Costing a pretty penny if you lose them, the wireless Bluetooth earbuds from Apple are called what?
(800) Before being repealed, the Volstead Act forbade the manufacture and sale of what?
(900) The name of what calendar month is also an adjective referring to dignity and grandeur?
(1000) Ajman and Fujairah are two of the seven members of what Middle Eastern Federation?
(1100) Chitterlings or “chitlins” are typically made from the intestines of what animal?
(1200) “Melange” is the most valuable commodity in the universe in what classic 1965 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert?
(1300) Falsely attributed to Mark Twain, what popular quotation advises to do what “like nobody’s watching?”

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Tyler 4000 Lindsay 5900

Lindsay 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 Lindsay.

(500) Made in 1836, “Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation” had what alliteratively-named poems?
(600) What Hockey Hall of Famer said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take?
(700) A horse described as a “roan” always has hair of what color dispersed through its coat?
(800) One of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye, what large spiral galaxy is the closest to the Milky Way?
(900) Known since antiquity, what alloy is a compound of copper and zinc?
(1000) Named for a war hero, what college’s full name includes the phrase “the State University of New Jersey”?
(1100) Small earrings that closely encircle the ear lobe from front to back, have what “embracing” name?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Ken finished with 3900 to Muffy’s 2300 so Ken will join Lindsay in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Lindsay beats Ken, she 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 two-word term seen on a dollar bill refers to anything that is accepted by law as a means to pay a debt?
(2) Lord Darlington declares, “I can resist everything except temptation” in what Oscar Wilde play?
(3) Who shocked the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he started playing “Maggie’s Farm” on an electric guitar?
(4) What is the largest U.S. state capital in land area?
(5) Sugars and other carbohydrates are absorbed into the rest of the human body through what digestive system organ?

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

Lindsay got 2 right to Ken’s 3. Lindsay 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.)

See the pool of trivia experts participating in Master Minds

Jeopardy! Calendar: What to Expect – see this page for weekly updates on Jeopardy! and other recaps