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 is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the score?
BILL KURTIS: Faith has four. Mo and Liz each have two.
SAGAL: All right. Mo and Liz, you are tied for second place. But because Liz is new, I'm going to give her the privilege of deciding whether you would like to go right now - first or second.
LIZ MIELE: Now.
SAGAL: All right. Liz, here we go. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, the director of the FBI contradicted the White House's statement on when a background check was completed for blank.
MIELE: Trump?
SAGAL: No, Rob Porter. Remember him?
MIELE: Oh, I was going to get there. It was my third guess.
SAGAL: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: People in Moscow say they discovered a guaranteed way to get the city to remove large snowdrifts. They just blanked.
MIELE: Ran away?
SAGAL: No. They just write opposition leader Alexei Navalny's name on the snowdrifts, and they're gone.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, the FDA approved the first blood test that could help diagnose a blank.
MIELE: Cancer? Headaches? Sadness?
SAGAL: I'm going to give it to you because you said headache. It's a concussion.
MIELE: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After receiving a DUI conviction, a man in Texas...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
MIELE: ...Tried to get his case overturned by arguing blank.
MIELE: That he was, like, a great driver.
SAGAL: No. He argued that the state's legal limit on alcohol in your blood discriminates against heavy drinkers.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: His name is Ralph Friesenhahn. He argued in court that the alcohol limit discriminated against heavy drinkers, which really isn't a great legal argument. In his defense, he never did pass the Bar, but he was in one all afternoon.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: (Laughter) Bill, how did Liz do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Got one right - yay.
(APPLAUSE)
FAITH SALIE: You're in the lead now.
MIELE: I'm in the lead for, like, two seconds.
KURTIS: No, she's tied with Faith.
SALIE: Oh, we're tied. We're tied.
MIELE: All right.
SAGAL: Mo, you are up next. Fill in the blank. This week, officials warned that blank already has plans to disrupt the 2018 elections.
MO ROCCA: Russia.
SAGAL: Yes. On Tuesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...A federal judge blocked President Trump's order to end blank.
ROCCA: The order to end DACA.
SAGAL: Right. This week...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Israeli police recommended corruption charges against blank.
ROCCA: Netanyahu.
SAGAL: Right. On Wednesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Authorities arrested three people after an SUV rammed into a barricade at blank's headquarters.
ROCCA: The NSA.
SAGAL: A...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...News station in Chicago apologized on Tuesday after posting a graphic that mixed up Pyeongchang, South Korea and blank.
ROCCA: With P.F. Chang's.
SAGAL: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: This week, the new Marvel movie blank broke pre-sale ticket records.
ROCCA: "Black Panther."
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After buying two tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...As a gift for his girlfriend, a man in Ireland was disappointed to discover blank.
ROCCA: That she is actually dating somebody in the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
SAGAL: No. He was very disappointed to discover that he actually bought tickets to see the bagpipe band The Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: He was surprised at how cheap these tickets were.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: But it wasn't until a few days before the concert on Valentine's Day that his girlfriend noticed that he had accidentally bought tickets to see The Red Hot Chilli Pipers - billed as, quote, "the most popular bagpipe band in the world." Even though they had to suffer through two hours of bagpipe music, the couple said it could have been worse. They could have actually had to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Mo do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Well, he got six right - 12 more points. He has a total of 14...
MIELE: Good for Mo.
KURTIS: ...And the lead.
SAGAL: All right.
(APPLAUSE)
KURTIS: Yes.
SAGAL: How many, then, does Faith need to win?
KURTIS: Six.
SAGAL: Six - she needs six. She can do it.
SALIE: Gosh.
SAGAL: Here we go, Faith. This is for the game. This week, the Smithsonian unveiled the official portraits of the blanks.
SALIE: Obamas.
SAGAL: Right. After...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...He refused to answer House intelligence committee questions, GOP leaders said they were considering holding former White House adviser blank in contempt.
SALIE: Steve Bannon.
SAGAL: Right. On Wednesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Jacob Zuma, the president of blank, announced his resignation.
SALIE: Oh, South Africa.
SAGAL: Right. On Tuesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...The governor of blank vetoed the state's GOP's new election map.
SALIE: Pennsylvania.
SAGAL: Right. A lawyer in Germany...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Is asking for police assistance after blank was sent to his house.
SALIE: Unlimited number of pizzas.
SAGAL: That's exactly right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Actually, about a hundred of them. This week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit against disgraced producer blank.
SALIE: Harvey Weinstein.
SAGAL: Right. This week...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Amazon confirmed that Jeffrey Tambor will not return to his role in blank.
SALIE: "Transparent."
SAGAL: Right. Thieves...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...In California who stole a package off a woman's...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Porch soon learned that the person they stole from was blank.
SALIE: An entomologist. Those were 500 cockroaches.
SAGAL: That's exactly right, Faith.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Police say that the thieves were responsible for a string of mailbox thefts. They were most likely hoping to steal people's tax returns for some reason. What they got instead was a box filled with 500 live cockroaches. But the scientist says she's worried about the safety of the bugs. She also says it won't slow down her research project, which is to discover the grossest possible thing she can convince Amazon to deliver.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Faith do well enough to win?
KURTIS: A rare score. I'm going to take my time.
(LAUGHTER)
KURTIS: She got them all right - that's eight, 16 more points, a total of 20.
SAGAL: Oh, my gosh.
(APPLAUSE)
SALIE: Thanks for taking your time, Bill. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.