Master Minds Recap: November 16, 2023

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds (Season 4) for Thursday, November 16, 2023 with host Brooke Burns

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Donuts”
Today’s Master Minds: Mark “The Beast” Labbett, Monica Thieu, Ryan Chaffee
Today’s challengers: Brad, Steve, Susan

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) ACTORS: In the Marvel cinematic universe, what actor plays the god of Mischief?
(a) Tim Hiddleston (b) Tom Hiddleston (c) Tom Huddleston
(2) The primary ingredient in a caipirinha cocktail, cachaça is considered the national spirit of what country?
(a) Indonesia (b) South Africa (c) Brazil
(3) WHICH CAME FIRST: Big, Bad or Wolf?
(a) Big Mac (b) Bad to the Bone song (c) Wolf Blitzer
(4) ATHLETICS: If you experience someone doing a Miller and then releasing a Kaboom, what Olympic sport would you most likely be watching?
(a) trampoline (b) skateboarding (c) sumo wrestling
(5) ILLUMINATION: In 1879, what midwestern metropolis became the first city to have a public space fully lit by electricity?
(a) Chicago (b) Cleveland (c) Milwaukee
(6) FLOWERS: During the Victorian era, what term was used for sending secret coded messages with flowers, both positive and negative?
(a) petal poetry (b) garden notation (c) floriography
(7) BUILDINGS: What type of religious structure also typically serves as the seat of a bishop?
(a) cathedral (b) basilica (c) parish

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Brad 200 Steve 500 Susan 100 / Beastie 400 Monica 400 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) SWEET TREATS: What donut company’s trademarked Hot Light signals that glazed donuts are coming fresh off the line?
(2) GEOGRAPHY: Luray Caverns in Virginia features what keyboard instrument played by tapping on rock formations?
(3) MOVIES: Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt had to hang upside down for 30 minutes whiles their makeup was being applied for what ’90s Anne Rice film adaptation?
(4) INNOVATORS: Percy Julian synthesized a drug to treat what disease caused by abnormally high fluid pressure in the eye?
(5) LITERATURE: Who pulled from her experience growing up in frontier Nebraska for her novel “My Antonia”?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Brad 1200 Steve 1100 Susan 700 / Beastie 1000 Monica 1600 Ryan 1700

Susan and Beastie are eliminated.

Brad and Steve advance to the next round, as do Monica and Ryan.

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.

Brad and Steve go first:

(500) What Pacific northwest city was the birthplace of “grunge” music?
(600) What day of the week is referred to as “Hump Day”?
(700) Regulating radio and TV broadcasts, the FCC stands for the Federal what?
(800) Founded by Luther and Charlotte Gulick in 1910, what group first admitted boys in 1975?
(900) What celebrity chef wrote a memoir about the culinary industry titled “Kitchen Confidential”?
(1000) According to Newton’s Laws, the moon stays in orbit around the Earth due to inertia and what force?
(1100) What biblical queen was married to King David and mother to King Solomon?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Brad 3300 Steve 3800

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

(500) Microsoft debuted what video game console in 2001?
(600) What K-Pop band’s performance of “Butter” was a highlight of the 2022 Grammys?
(700) What willow hoop with netting is believed to protect sleeping children in some indigenous cultures?
(800) What term is used for animals at the top of the food chain who have no natural predators?
(900) initially elected to lead the West, who served as the first chancellor of a reunified Germany?
(1000) “The horror, the horror” are the final words of Kurtz in what Joseph Conrad novella?
(1100) Before making the film “Malcolm X”, who wrote, directed, and starred in “Do the Right Thing”?
(1200) A decisive British victory, the Battle of Quebec occurred during what war?
(1300) What state first introduced photographs on driver’s licenses and innovated further by adding color photos?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Ryan finished with 5300 to Monica’s 4800 so Ryan will join Steve in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Steve beats Ryan, 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 is the only animal in the world with cube-shaped droppings?
(2) Heard in the film “RRR”, what dance battle number won an Oscar in the Best Original Song category?
(3) The door to Bob Dylan’s old room at what landmark bohemian NYC hotel sold for $100,000?

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

Ryan had two right to none for Steve by the third question. Steve 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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