PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Now it's time for our final game, Lightning Fill In The Blank. Each of our players will have 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as he or she can, each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS, BYLINE: Peter and Amy each have two, and guess what? Paula has four.
PAULA POUNDSTONE: What?
SAGAL: Whoa...
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: How is that even possible? All right, we have flipped a coin. Peter's elected to go first. The clock will start when I begin your first question - fill in the blank. This week, President Obama said it was possible the crash of a Russian jet over Egypt was caused by a blank.
PETER GROSZ: Bomb.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, Fox Business News announced that Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee would be bumped to the kids' table at the next blank.
GROSZ: Debate.
SAGAL: Right. On Tuesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin was elected the governor of blank.
GROSZ: Kentucky.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to Forbes' list of The World's Most Powerful People, blank is more powerful than President Obama.
GROSZ: Bill Gates?
SAGAL: No, Vladimir Putin.
GROSZ: Oh.
SAGAL: Citing the team's 1 in 7 record, the blanks fired their GM and president on Thursday.
GROSZ: Detroit Lions.
SAGAL: Exactly right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, former senator and "Law & Order" actor blank passed away at the age of 73.
GROSZ: Fred Thompson.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Canada is considering renaming Calgary International Airport...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...After departing Prime Minister Stephen Harper. But several online petitions are instead suggesting blank.
GROSZ: That they name a local sewage facility after it.
SAGAL: No, that they change Stephen Harper's name to Calgary International Airport.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The online petitions say the name change would help rehabilitate Stephen Harper's image after a disastrous campaign. They also say it would help the former prime minister answer questions about the Cinnabon located in the small of his back. Bill, how did Peter do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Peter got five right. He has 10 more points. And at 12 points, he has the lead.
GROSZ: Great.
KURTIS: He's taken it.
SAGAL: All right.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: So Amy, your turn has come. Here we go, fill in the blank. On Wednesday, former snowboard instructor and all-around dreamboat Justin Trudeau was sworn in as blank's prime minister.
AMY DICKINSON: Canada.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, U.S. safety regulators announced they were fining Japanese company Takata up to $200 million over faulty blanks.
DICKINSON: Airbags.
SAGAL: Right. For the first time...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...In 66 years, the president of China met with the president of blank.
DICKINSON: Taiwan.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, NASA began accepting applications for a manned mission to blank.
DICKINSON: Mars.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, the Kansas City Royals won their first blank since 1985.
DICKINSON: World Series.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Following an investigation, the Department of Energy...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Has enacted a new rule advising workers at nuclear plants not to blank.
DICKINSON: Pass gas.
SAGAL: Not to put highly-enriched uranium in their pockets.
(LAUGHTER)
GROSZ: Like in the beginning of "The Simpsons?"
SAGAL: Exactly, it's like...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: ...I don't know if they realize that's not like security film.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: That's an animated joke.
GROSZ: Don't scan your baby at the supermarket.
SAGAL: Yeah. According to the report from the Department of Energy's inspector general, quote, "after reviewing our procedures, we confirmed that chemical operators are no longer allowed to place samples in their pockets." The rule change was made to protect the safety of plant workers and after one employee went home, put his work pants in the washing machine and destroyed Cleveland.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: How did Amy do?
KURTIS: She did well - five right, 10 more points. She is now tied with Peter with the lead.
SAGAL: All right. I love saying this next question. Here we go. How many does Paula Poundstone need to win?
KURTIS: To win, she needs five, four to tie
POUNDSTONE: What I see here is a situation.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: OK, Paula, this is for the game.
POUNDSTONE: Yeah.
SAGAL: Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, voters in Houston repealed an ordinance banning discrimination based on blank.
POUNDSTONE: Sexual orientation.
SAGAL: Right, or gender identity.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Showing that his campaign has not really caught fire, The Wall Street Journal captioned a photo of Governor Martin O'Malley as, quote, "blank."
POUNDSTONE: They captioned a photo of Martin O'Malley as a guy running for prime minister of Canada.
SAGAL: No, they identified him as, quote, "unidentified man."
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: In a new biography released next week, former president blank criticizes Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
POUNDSTONE: George Bush.
SAGAL: Yeah, George H. W. Bush.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In an effort to prevent thieves from breaking into unlocked cars and taking valuables, police in Connecticut are blanking.
POUNDSTONE: Arresting everyone.
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: They are breaking into unlocked cars and taking valuables for safekeeping.
POUNDSTONE: Oh, God.
SAGAL: After a four-year run, ESPN announced it was shuttering its sports and culture site blank.
POUNDSTONE: ESPN 30.
SAGAL: No, Grantland. This week, former "Daily Show" host blank announced a multiyear deal with HBO.
POUNDSTONE: Jon Stewart.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This Halloween, a Canadian dressed as the Tin Man was treated...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...For injuries after getting in a fight with blank.
POUNDSTONE: The lion.
SAGAL: Yes, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. According to witnesses who were dressed as - and this is true - Dorothy, Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the East, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion started the fight with the Tin Man before fleeing the scene, presumably to ask the wizard for a safe place to hide from cops. Fortunately for the duo, when asked by officers if he was interested in pressing charges against his friends, the Tin Man responded that he would like to but he just didn't have the heart.
(LAUGHTER)
GROSZ: Oh, my gosh.
SAGAL: Bill, did Paula do well enough to win?
KURTIS: She got four right, eight more points and with 12 all three are tied.
(CHEERING)
SAGAL: Oh, my gosh.
GROSZ: That never happens.
KURTIS: Never happened on my watch.
SAGAL: That was very generous of you, Paula.
POUNDSTONE: It's the three-way we've always dreamed of.
(LAUGHTER) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.