Learn Hardcore Russian: Розыгрыш длился минуту.

Russian has no articles. So Розыгрыш длился минуту can correspond to the prank lasted a minute, the drawing lasted a minute, or similar, depending on context.

Russian usually lets context show whether something is definite or indefinite.

Why is длился in the masculine form?

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

The subject here is розыгрыш, which is a masculine singular noun, so the verb is длился.

Compare:

розыгрыш длился — masculine
шутка длилась — feminine
представление длилось — neuter
игры длились — plural

What is the base form of длился, and what does -ся mean here?

The dictionary form is длиться.

Here, длиться means to last. The -ся is part of the verb form; it does not translate literally as oneself here. In many Russian verbs, -ся appears in verbs that are not directly reflexive in English.

So:

длиться — to last
длился — lasted, was lasting

Why is минуту in the accusative case?