Mastermind 2026 Semi Final 5

The Tale of the Tape

4	Carolyn Rowe	12	0	13	0	25	0
=8	Miles Searle	9	0	13	0	22	0
=12	Ben Abbott	9	0	11	1	20	1
13	Robert Cohen	8	1	12	1	20	2

Here it is, dearly beloved, the last semi final and for one more intrepid Masterminder to book a place in the grand final. But which one would it be? Well, for all of the fact that once again we had a fairly wide spread, all four of these semi finalists achieved double figure GK scores in winning their heats. Would it largely be decided on the specialists, then?

Carolyn Rowe was the only one of tonight’s semi-finalists who had scored double figures on specialist in her heat. This time, answering on Amelia Earhart she again produced a round from the top drawer, only slightly let down by a couple of long hesitations before producing the correct answers. 11 meant that chances were that she would be in the hunt at the turnaround, while maybe one or two of the others wouldn’t.

Miles Searle would, though. He must have known that his specialist was weaker in his heat than his GK was and this he seemed to have well and truly remedied. His round was a contrast with Carolyn’s, since in his case it was sheer speed of answer that pulled him through to equal the lead with 11. Incidentally I tentatively identified this as my banker subject of the four on offer tonight and so it certainly proved, as I was happy to pocket 5 and take the points and run, having failed to trouble the scorer on Amelia Earhart.

Despite being teetotal – altogether now, I don’t touch tea – despite that I managed 1 on Robert Cohen’s specialist round on the Red Wines of Burgundy. Now, this is the sort of specialist subject that has, with hindsight, government health warnings written all over it. It’s not just the wines. It’s not just the regions. It’s not just the grapes. It’s not just the growers. . . and so on and so forth. My heart went out to Robert, but he never seemed to lose his composure, and returned to his chair with 5 points, bloodied but unbowed.

Our final contender to embark upon his specialist round in the 2026 semi finals was teacher Ben Abbott. He was answering on the songs of Sir Noel Coward. I took the first and finished this last semi with a specialist aggregate of 7.. Ben did better, but surely not quite as well as he would have hoped. I don’t know the subject hardly at all, but it seemed to me that the questions by and large were pretty fair. Oh well, sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way that you want it to.

Still, to all intents and purposes we were down to a two-horse race. If you’re four points behind at half time in a semi, you’re highly unlikely to feature in the shakeup. Even more so if you’re six points behind. So I give Robert Cohen full credit for producing a 10 point double figure round to finish with 15, and in this series that’s a perfectly respectable semi-final total.

Ben, also down amongst the wines and spirits as it were, did not have the best GK round he’s ever had, not matching the 11 he scored in his heat. He took 8, but again, kept his composure and if anything seemed to be enjoying his semi-final experience. Smell the roses, is my advice to anyone who reaches a Mastermind semi-final, because most of us only pass this way once. Ben seemed to be doing so and he too finished with a respectable 15.

So to the business end of the semi-final. Carolyn began with another long pause and I feared for her. It was a case of ye of little faith as calmly and steadily Carolyn produced correct answer after correct answer and continued to pile on the points. She passed 15 and by the time she crossed the line she’d scored 13 for 24. Putting that performance into perspective, that would have been good enough to win 4 of the other 5 semi-finals. But would it be good enough to win this one?

Well, like Carolyn, Miles had scored 13 in his GK round in the heats. That would not be good enough now. If he was daunted by the size of the challenge before him he certainly didn’t show it. From the first question to the last he maintained momentum, quickly answering what he did know and quickly guessing what he didn’t. It’s a good tactic but it needs real presence of mind to maintain it throughout the round. As he approached the tape he reaped the benefits, scoring his 14^th and then 15^th GK points to win with 26.

A word of congratulations to all 4 contenders, for we did not see a single pass in the whole show. Commiserations to Carolyn, but then if you’re going to be beaten, it should be a consolation to have played so well that the winner had to produce such a magnificent performance to beat you. But of course, huge congratulations to Miles. That was a classy performance, sir. As you know, like last year I shall not be scuppering anyone’s chances by tipping them to win, but I certainly wish you the very best of luck for the final.

The Details

Carolyn Rowe	Amelia Earhart	11	0	13	0	24	0
Miles Searle	Sir Laurence Olivier	11	0	15	0	26	0
Robert Cohen	The Red Wines of Burgundy	5	0	10	0	15	0
Ben Abbott	The Songs of Sir Noel Coward	7	0	8	0	15	0