Master Minds Recap: May 19, 2020

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds for Tuesday, May 19, 2020 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Swahili”
Today’s Master Minds: LaKedra Pam, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah
Today’s challengers: Emily, Kevin, Morgan

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) FUN & GAMES: Originating in Africa, what game derived its name from the Swahili for ‘to build’?
(a) Yahtzee (b) Jenga (c) Mancala
(2) CHEMISTRY: If you pour a handful of salt into a glass of water, what happens to the water level?
(a) it rises (b) it falls (c) it stays the same
(3) HISTORY: Which organization was founded on Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech?
(a) United Nations (b) NATO (c) League of Nations
(4) THEATER: Which production composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber was his first to win the Tony Award for Best Musical?
(a) Cats (b) Evita (c) Phantom of the Opera
(5) ADDITIVES: An FDA-approved additive known for its musky vanilla scent, castoreum comes from which creature?
(a) bees (b) beetles (c) beavers
(6) BEAUTY: Ash was the last name of the founder and namesake of which cosmetic company?
(a) Helene Curtis (b) Mary Kay (c) Sephora
(7) TRAVEL: The inhabitants of which U.S. territory drive on the left side of the road?
(a) American Samoa (b) Guam (c) U.S. Virgin Islands

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Emily 400 Kevin 200 Morgan 500 / LaKedra 500 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) DRINKS: Containing no eggs or cream, a traditional New York egg cream is made with chocolate syrup, milk and what?
(2) HOLIDAY: Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico’s victory over what country at the Battle of Puebla?
(3) JUSTICES: How many ‘Y’ chromosomes are on the U.S. Supreme Court?
(4) CHEFS: During World War II, what future television chef helped develop shark repellent?
(5) THE NORTH: The northernmost city in the U.S., what Alaskan city reverted back to its original indigenous name in 2016?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Emily 600 Kevin 200 Morgan 300 / LaKedra 500 Muffy 300 Jonathan 700

Kevin 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.

Emily and Morgan go first:

(500) In the poem “Casey at the Bat”, what finally happened to Casey?
(600) Also called Roissy, Paris’ main airport is named in honor of what former French president?
(700) Pulitzer Prize winner John Updike published five books centered around a character that had what animal name?
(800) Just as ‘karaoke’ translates to ’empty orchestra’, what Japanese word translates to ’empty hand’?
(900) In its ad, what clothing manufacturer uses the phrase “United Colors”?
(1000) Originally called the V-Bar, what fitness product had Suzanne Somers as its spokesperson?
(1100) When putting on your shoes, where are you most likely to see an aglet?
(1200) What appliance company was founded by the inventor of the air brake?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Emily 1600 Morgan 3400

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

(500) In 2004, what fast-food chain stopped offering a “Super-Size” option to its meal?
(600) What former leader of the Marine Band was nicknamed ‘The March King’?
(700) Developed to treat rheumatoid arthritis, what painkiller did Dr. Stewart Adams help discover in the 1960s?
(800) Abbreviated NYFW, what event is held in NYC for about 7 days in February and September?
(900) In a court case, litigants who are ‘pro se’ have no what?
(1000) What national park contains the tallest peak in North America?
(1100) How many faces are found on a dodecahedron?
(1200) What “small and white, clean and bright” blossom is the national flower of Austria?
(1300) Essentially a pyramid of glass, what building completed in 2012 is recognized as the tallest in the U.K.?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

LaKedra finished with 2900 to Jonathan’s 5100 so Jonathan will join Morgan in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Morgan beats LaKedra, 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) What is the only two-letter creature in the English language that is represented in the Chinese zodiac?
(2) In 2008, what financial services company underwent the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history?
(3) What was the only published novel by poet and playwright Oscar Wilde?
(4) What woman was famously arrested at 6:06 pm on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama?
(5) In terms of precipitation, what is the driest state in the U.S.?

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

Morgan got 4 right to Jonathan’s 3. Morgan wins $10,000 and the right to come back tomorrow. That’s the second $10K winner this month, the last being Joe on 5/6/2020. We’ll have to tune in to see if Morgan will be the first contestant to win two games this season.



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

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6 Responses

  1. VJ says:

    Congrats to Morgan. To be honest, I was particularly happy that Jonathan lost because of that outrageously cocky attitude. I get that it is supposed to be funny but it ain’t.

    • JJ says:

      I agree… Ken Jennings & Ryan Chaffee can get away w/ the trash talk, but Jonathan, who I’m sure is a nice guy, doesn’t do a very good job of pulling it off. The truth is, I thought the Qs were easy except for the literature one that both missed. I thought knowing what state receives the least amt of precipitation annually was Trivia 101?! Even I knew that!

      • VJ says:

        I got that Oscar Wilde clue — I used to have the book although I never finished it because I thought it was terrible.

        I don’t think any of them are funny when they do that. Maybe I would feel differently if the odds weren’t’ stacked so high against the contestants.

        • JJ says:

          Please don’t get me wrong… despite being a rabid fan of sports where this extracurricular activity runs rampant, I’m NOT a fan of trash-talk. But when Ken J., who has such a meek, unassuming presence & Ryan C., who’s a tall, lanky goofball start doing it, I just find it comical and NOT threatening nor intimidating at all.

        • VJ says:

          Oh, I didn’t take it that way, JJ. What I’m trying to communicate is, I don’t have a problem with trash talk where the participants are on a much more level playing field.

        • Jacob Ska says:

          VJ&JJ,I agree with you two about Jonathan. I thought it was just me but I have you to thank for making me feel better. Perhaps I’m old school but especially when he does that to a female I find it truly annoying. Ken&Ryan are more congenial in their teasing with the contestants and more classy.