Master Minds Recap: August 25, 2023

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds (Season 4) for Friday, August 25, 2023 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Legos”
Today’s Master Minds: Mark “The Beast” Labbett, Muffy Marracco, Ryan Chaffee
Today’s challengers: Dave, Lindsey, Paul

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) ASIA: What is the basic monetary unit of Japan?
(a) yen (b) won (c) yuan
(2) BOTANY: Which of these blooms isn’t a single flower but an arrangement of hundreds of flowers?
(a) lotus blossom (b) English rose (c) sunflower
(3) MOVIES: In “A Christmas Story”, Ralphie’s long-awaited decoder pin revealed the secret message “Be sure to” what?
(a) brush your teeth (b) drink your Ovaltine (c) eat your veggies
(4) WHICH CAME FIRST: meme, myself or eye?
(a) Grumpy cat meme (b) 4 Tops “Can’t Help Myself” (c) London Eye opening
(5) MEDICINE: Of these acclaimed doctors, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize?
(a) Benjamin Spock (b) Jonas Salk (c) Albert Schweitzer
(6) MUSIC: Future Steely Dan bandmates Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were once part of a jazz group with what “SNL” star as its drummer?
(a) John Belushi (b) Dan Aykroyd (c) Chevy Chase
(7) TOOLS: As first defined by Renaissance scientists, which of these is one of the “six simple machines”?
(a) screw (b) nail (c) needle?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Dave 600 Lindsey 500 Paul 400 / Beastie 400 Muffy 700 Ryan 700

Round 2: There are 5 subjects and questions. No multiple choice. Correct answers are worth 200 points for the first 4. The last question is worth 400 points. At the end of the round, the person with the lowest score on each team is eliminated.

(1) RELIGION: Letters sent to Jerusalem addressed to God are taken by the Israel Postal Service and stuffed between the cracks of what sacred pilgrimage site?
(2) FOOD: One of the top orders at any Indian restaurant, Murgh Makhani is primarily made with what meat?
(3) BUSINESS: What American businessman heads a magazine with his name on it that regularly publishes a list of the 400 richest Americans?
COMMUNICATIONS: Home to Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida has what telephone area code in honor of its ties to the space program?
ACCENTS: The most common accent mark in the French language, the accent “aigu” is used to change the pronunciation of what letter?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Dave 1200 Lindsey 900 Paul 1200 / Beastie 1400 Muffy 1900 Ryan 1300

Lindsey and Ryan are eliminated.

Dave and Paul advance to the next round, as do Beastie and Muffy.

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.

Dave and Paul go first:

(500) Known for playing the character Madea, what actor and filmmaker owns a movie studio in Atlanta, Georgia?
(600) Separated from whey during cheese-making, what traditionally fried snack squeaks when it’s eaten?
(700) What literary horror title character is ultimately killed by Jonathan Harker and Quincey Morris?
(800) In 1962, the scientist and inventor behind Piz Buin Glacier Cream created what rating scale?
(900) Which sea monster from Norse mythology is almost always described as some kind of giant squid?
Serving in the early ’90s, who was the first black mayor of New York City?
(1100) In 1842, Crawford Long became the first doctor to use what inhalant as a general anesthetic during surgery?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Dave 2800 Paul 4400

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

(500) What ABC reality dating show introduced the rose ceremony?
(600) What winter wear did Chester Greenwood invent by connecting fur pads to two hoops attached by a wire headband?
(700) Noted as a big band leader, arranger and composer, Glenn Miller is best known for playing what instrument?
(800) Launched in the ’90s, Reaction is a line from what shoe and clothing designer?
(900) Because it contains less moisture, what gas do most NASCAR crews use to fill the tires?
(1000) Covering some 9 million square miles at its peak, what is considered the largest contiguous land empire in world history?
(1100) The “Gill-Man” was the title character of what 1954 Universal monster movie?
(1200) What Mexican-American actress earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of artist Frida Kahlo?
(1300) Though not an official slogan, what U.S. state is widely known as the “Show Me State”?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Muffy finished with 7400 to Beastie’s 4000 so Muffy will join Paul in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Paul beats Muffy, he will win $10,000 and return on the next show. Any player who makes it through 2 shows and wins $20,000, 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 actress appeared in both film versions of “West Side Story”, 60 years apart?
(2) In “The Wind in the Willows”, what animal obsessively crashes multiple cars?
(3) American painter Gilbert Stuart’s last completed portrait of a sitting U.S. President featured whom?
(4) Since it is activated by hugging and kissing, what is known as “the cuddle chemical”?

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

Muffy got 4 right to Paul’s 2. Paul is going home with $1,000 and we will see 3 new challengers on Monday.

FYI: If you see someone on Master Minds that you think was on Jeopardy!, you can look up their player page on J-Archive. JBoard keeps track of Jeopardy! contestants’ appearances on their Master Minds thread. Also, IMDB has a list of many contestants that includes their last name.

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