Master Minds Recap: December 9, 2020

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds for Wednesday, December 9, 2020 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Mystery”
Today’s Master Minds: Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Chrissy, Tayari, Alex

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) OCCUPATIONS: A “roustabout” is a job title for someone who works at either a carnival or at which of these locations?
(a) supermarket (b) oil rig (c) hospital
(2) WHICH CAME FIRST: mind, body or spirit?
(a) Jesse “The Body” Ventura (b) A Beautiful Mind (c) Spirit Airlines
(3) ANATOMY: If you check your pulse at the radial artery what part of your body are you monitoring?
(a) foot (b) neck (c) wrist
(4) SONGS: The Irving Berlin hit “There’s No Business Like Show Business” first appeared in which 1946 Broadway musical?
(a) Show Boat (b) Annie Get Your Gun (c) Holiday Inn
(5) ANIMALS: In which type of gait does a horse’s hooves land on the ground sequentially, creating four distinct hoofbeats?
(a) trot (b) canter (c) walk
(6) NATURE: A natural phenomenon not yet fully understood, a polynya is an open body of water surrounded by which of these?
(a) tar (b) ice (c) fluorescence
(7) COOKING: Nicknamed the “matchstick cut”, which of these refers to vegetables cut into thin sticks?
(a) julienne (b) paysanne (c) chiffonnade

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Chrissy 400 Tayari 200 Alex 500 / Ken 600 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) GEOLOGY: The Earth’s magnetic field is caused by the liquid flow of nickel and what other element deep below the surface?
(2) U.S. HISTORY: Advocating American independence, “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine was published in what year?
(3) COUNTRIES: What is the world’s largest island whose name contains a color of the rainbow?
(4) HISTORY: Joan of Arc was a major figure in what conflict, which lasted longer than its given name?
(5) RELIGION: Considerably less famous than his parents, Seth was introduced in what book of the Bible?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Chrissy 1000 Tayari 800 Alex 500 / Ken 1200 Muffy 700 Jonathan 400

Alex 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.

Chrissy and Tayari go first:

(500) Actually from a bear, a DNA test was done on a hair sample believed to be from what Himalayan creature?
(600) In U.S. publishing, a “C” with a circle around it stands for what?
(700) Referring to an unknown man. What name was first used in medieval legal disputes against Richard Roe?
(800) The logo for the Spanish lollipop Chupa Chups was designed by what painter of melting clocks?
(900) What style of furniture is created by weaving rattan, cane or other fibers?
(1000) What proposed Constitutional amendment was not ratified in 1982 after missing its original deadline?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Chrissy 2300 Tayari 2500

Tayari 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 Tayari.

(500) Used in French cooking, fines herbes typically include parsley, tarragon and what frequent baked potato topping?
(600) The Willis Tower in Chicago was formerly known by what name?
(700) The pith of what ancient and now rare Nile plant was used largely for writing?
(800) Nora Helmer is the protagonist of what Henrik Ibsen drama?
(900) The prototype of what piece of sportswear was two athletic supporters sewn together?
(1000) Which fourth-century emperor was the first to adopt Christianity and move the Roman Empire toward it?
(1100) What is the official acronym for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation??
(1200) The absolute hottest flames of a fire will burn in what color?
(1300) What is defined as soil that stays frozen for a period of at least two years?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Muffy finished with 5200 to Ken’s 4800 so Muffy will join Tayari in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Tayari beats Muffy, 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 was the first movie sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?
(2) Until the 1970s, a British pound was equal to 20 of what coin?
(3) Appropriately named, a “cackle” refers to a group of what African predatory animals?
(4) On the International Space Station, what is the name of the U.S. Laboratory Module?
(5) The asteroid that may have caused the dinosaur extinction created a crater in the area of what peninsula?

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

Tayari got 3 right to Muffy’s 4. Tayari 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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