Master Minds Recap: September 18, 2023

Here’s a recap of the clues on Master Minds (Season 4) for Monday, September 18, 2023 with host Brooke Burns.

Today’s episode title: “Trivia, Smarts & Lasagna”
Today’s Master Minds: Mark “The Beast” Labbett, Muffy Marracco, Ryan Chaffee
Today’s challengers: Stephen, Chandler, Lana

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) MUSIC: In the classic 1970s Paul Simon song, which was one of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”?
(a) Hop on the bus, Gus (b) Send her a fax, Max (c) Ignore her text, Rex
(2) U.S. HISTORY: Which President gave the longest inaugural address, yet served for the shortest amount of time?
(a) James Garfield (b) Millard Fillmore (c) William Henry Harrison
(3) TECH: In the heart of Silicon Valley there is a life-sized statue of Nikola Tesla that emits free what?
(a) water (b) WiFi (c) hand sanitizer
(4) PARENTING: Often used with premature infants, what “care” method involves parents holding a baby with prolonged skin-to-skin contact?
(a) kitten care (b) kodiak care (c) kangaroo care
(5) EVENTS: To raise money for charity over 2,500 women at a beach in Wicklow, Ireland broke the record for the world’s largest what?
(a) sandcastle (b) limbo contest (c) skinny dip
(6) SPORTS: What Hollywood star is co-owner of the Welsh soccer team Wrexham?
Ryan Gosling (b) Ryan Reynolds (c) Ryan Seacrest
(7) FOOD: What classic condiment is rejected at the factory if it doesn’t exit the bottle at precisely .028 miles per hour
(a) Heinz ketchup (b) Hershey’s syrup (c) French’s mustard

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 1:
Stephen 300 Chandler 400 Lana 500 / Beastie 700 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) LANGUAGE: This may be an unimportant fact, but what word comes from the Latin for “the place where three roads meet”
(2) GEOLOGY: Armalcolite was a rare new mineral discovered on the moon and named for the astronauts from what NASA mission?
(3) DRINKS: The name of what type of tea came from a Chinese phrase meaning “black dragon”?
(4) RELIGION: Princess Yasodhara was the wife of what religious teacher when he left home to pursue enlightenment?
(5) MOVIES: In the outline for a proposed sequel that never got made, what alien’s real name was going to be Zrek?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 2:
Stephen 700 Chandler 1600 Lana 1700 / Beastie 1500 Muffy 1900 Ryan 1500

MASTER MIND TIE-BREAKER: What famous figure traditionally appears in the finale of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
ANSWER show

Beastie buzzed in first and said “Snoopy” but that was wrong.

Stephen and Beastie are eliminated.

Chandler and Lana advance to the next round, as do Muffy 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.

Chandler and Lana go first:

(500) The provocator was a type of what armed combatant who entertained crowds in ancient Rome?
(600) Primarily used for making sauce, what type of tomato was named for a purple fruit?
(700) What film starring Matt Damon followed the origin of Michael Jordan’s basketball shoe line for Nike?
(800) The state capital of Nevada was named for what American frontiersman who guided John C. Fremont’s western expeditions?
(900) What golden spring flower with a trumpet-shaped center is the national flower of Wales?
(1000) At the end of the 20th century, what historic women’s college officially merged with Harvard?
(1100) A cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” was the first major radio hit for what Anthony Kiedis-led rock band?
(1200) Captain Wilder led an expedition to a nearby planet in what 1950s science fiction book?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Scores at end of Round 3:
Chandler 2900 Lana 4100

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

(500) A swamp in south Asia, the Sundarbans is the only mangrove habitat in the world for what large predatory mammal?
(600) Once the seat of the Ottoman empire, what is the modern name of the Turkish city once called Byzantium?
(700) What famed insult comic was given the ironic nickname “Mr. Warmth”?
(800) What son of Venus and cousin of Hector was the namesake of Virgil’s epic poem?
(900) Leading a team of 20 surgeons, what South African doctor successfully performed the first human heart transplant in a 1967 operation?
(1000) When shale experiences a certain level of heat and pressure, it becomes what metamorphic rock used in roofing?
(1100) In the movie “Die Hard”, what British actor played iconic scene-stealing villain Hans Gruber?
(1200) What Elizabethan playwright was credited by Oxford University Press as Shakespeare’s co-writer for 3 plays about Henry VI?
(1300) Worldwide, what brand of Frito-Lay corn chip has been made in Cool Ranch and Peking Duck flavors?

CORRECT ANSWERS show

Muffy finished with 5000 to Ryan’s 6500 so Ryan will join Lana in the Ultimate Trivia Challenge. If Lana beats Ryan, she 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) The geographic center of South America is located in what country?
(2) Starting in the 1880s, the first artificial Christmas trees in Germany used what specific material to simulate the needled branches?
(3) Gutzon Borglum wasn’t just a dynamite sculptor, he used dynamite to create what national memorial?
(4) When Dan Rather stepped down as CBS news anchor after 25 years, what woman followed him from 2006 to 2011?

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

Ryan got 3 right to Lana’s 2. Lana is going home with $1,000 and we will see 3 new challengers tomorrow.

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