Master Minds Recap: February 26, 2021

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds for Friday, February 26, 2021 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Miss America”
Today’s Master Minds: Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Ron, Emma, Sean

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) SPORTS: Distance-wise, which of the three triple crown races is traditionally the longest?
(a) Preakness Stakes (b) Kentucky Derby (c) Belmont Stakes
(2) TRADITIONS: Which of these crafts had imperfections intentionally worked into them so as not to be an affront to heaven?
(a) Chinese pottery (b) Greek sculpture (c) Persian rugs
(3) PERIODICALS: The cover of what magazine’s first million-selling issue featured a shirtless Telly Savalas as “Kojak”?
(a) TV Guide (b) People (c) Time
(4) LITERATURE: Raskolnikov is the protagonist of which Dostoevsky novel?
(a) The Idiot (b) The Brothers Karamazov (c) Crime and Punishment
(5) THE MILITARY: What is in the eagle’s beak in the Marine Corps seal?
(a) arrows (b) an olive branch (c) a “semper fidelis” banner
(6) OCCUPATIONS: Whose distinguished resume includes experience as a bouncer in a club?
(a) Pope Francis (b) Chief Justice John Roberts (c) Author Alice Walker
(7) WEIGHTs AND MEASURES: When putting air in your tires, what does “PSI” on the pump stand for?
(a) pressure per square inch (b) pounds per square inch (c) parts per square inch

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Ron 600 Emma 200 Sean 400 / Ken 500 Muffy 400 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) AWARDS: Following a 1921 Atlantic City competition, Margaret Gorman was the first woman to be given what title?
(2) COCKTAILS: Traditionally, what alcohol is used to make a gimlet?
(3) ANIMALS: Originally considered a hoax, what animal did scientists think was just a beaver with a duck bill sewn on?
(4) COMPUTERS: In 2015, a computer program finally defeated a human champion of which 4,000-year-old Asian board game?
(5) MUSIC: According to his wife, Gustav Mahler’s last word before dying was the name of what other Austrian composer?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Ron 1000 Emma 400 Sean 600 / Ken 1100 Muffy 400 Jonathan 1000

Emma and Muffy 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.

Ron and Sean go first:

(500) What incredibly slow-moving mammal can take up to 30 days to digest a single leaf?
(600) Baseball player Eddie Matthews was featured on the cover of which magazine’s first issue in 1954?
(700) With a name meaning “traveling companion”, what Soviet satellite was launched on October 4, 1957?
(800) Associated with wedding veils, what fine mesh fabric takes its name from the French city where it originated?
(900) The title of the film “The Usual Suspects” was indirectly inspired by a famous line from what 1942 movie?
(1000) What language is sometimes referred to as Cape Dutch?
(1100) Photoshop has been distributed by which software firm since 1990?
(1200) What Pulitzer Prize-winning novel features separated African American sisters Celie and Nettie?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Ron 7200 Sean 1200

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

(500) A hub during the Age of Enlightenment, what European capital is nicknamed the “City of Light”?
(600) Released in 1957, what candy brand’s first traditional character head dispenser depicted a Halloween witch?
(700) In 1812, what natural disaster caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards for several hours?
(800) From 2011 to 2019, Christine Lagarde was the managing director of what institution?
(900) In 1996, a Colorado Avalanche player christened his child in the bowl of what championship trophy?
(1000) From the Arabic for “sweet confection”, what Middle Eastern dessert can be made from ground sesame seeds and honey?
(1100) After the “Cleveland Fabric Shop” expanded out of Ohio, what new name was inspired by the owners’ kids?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Jonathan finished with 3800 to Ken’s 1800 so Jonathan will join Ron in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Ron beats Jonathan, 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) Known as a gliding vowel, what term refers to a single sound formed by combining two separate vowels?
(2) Running through the neck, what two arteries carry the majority of blood to the brain?
(3) With its seaport capital of Dakar, what country has historically been considered the gateway to West Africa?
(4) If you pass courses in sailing, fencing, pistols and archery at MIT, you can be certified as what?

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

By the fourth question, Ron only had one right. Jonathan had three so the game was over. Ron is going home with $1,000 and there will be 3 new players on Monday.

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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