PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Now onto 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: All three of our panelists are tied...
SAGAL: Oh, my...
KURTIS: ...At three.
SAGAL: Tied at three.
NEGIN FARSAD: What?
MAEVE HIGGINS: Oh, my God.
SAGAL: OK. I'm just going to randomly pick Maeve to go first. Maeve, fill in the blank. On Thursday, the EU offered to delay blank until October 31.
HIGGINS: Brexit.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, lawmakers in New Zealand overwhelmingly approved a ban on blank.
HIGGINS: White guys.
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Assault weapons. On Monday, Virginia beat Texas Tech to win the men's blank title.
HIGGINS: School.
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: The best school award.
SAGAL: If only. The NCAA basketball tournament.
HIGGINS: Oh.
SAGAL: This week, a high school baseball game was canceled after a group of people attempted to dry the field by blanking.
HIGGINS: To dry the field?
SAGAL: Yes.
HIGGINS: By going out there with tea towels?
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: By dumping 25 gallons of gasoline on it and lighting it on fire.
(LAUGHTER)
FARSAD: Jesus.
SAGAL: Happened in Connecticut. On Monday, the White House reversed an Obama-era decision to allow baseball players from blank to play in the U.S. without defecting.
HIGGINS: Cuba?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Police in Oregon were surprised when a 911 call reporting a robbery in progress turned out to be blank.
HIGGINS: It was a bear?
SAGAL: No. It wasn't a bear. It was a Roomba trapped in a bathroom.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The homeowner heard strange noises from a bathroom and called the police, who arrived on the scene with guns drawn. They busted in the door and were surprised to find a Roomba inside - even more surprised when it said, can't you knock?
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: They were like, give me all your dirt.
SAGAL: The woman apologized to the police for wasting their time. And the burglar under her bed breathed a sigh of relief and jumped out the window.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Maeve do on our quiz?
KURTIS: She beat her old record. She got two right.
HIGGINS: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
KURTIS: That gives her four more points, a total of seven. And in her distinct style, she takes the lead.
SAGAL: All right.
HIGGINS: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: All right. Alonzo, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Monday, a federal judge blocked the White House's policy forcing blanks to stay in Mexico.
ALONZO BODDEN: Oh, asylum seekers.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, WikiLeaks founder blank was arrested in London.
BODDEN: Julian Assange.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A Florida man who stole a jeep but left his phone behind was arrested when he blanked.
BODDEN: Went to get it.
SAGAL: No. He drove up in the stolen Jeep and asked the cops for help finding his phone.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: On Thursday...
BODDEN: Wait, wait, wait. Wouldn't that be went to get it?
SAGAL: I don't know. Bill, what do you think?
BODDEN: Judges?
KURTIS: Yeah, (unintelligible).
SAGAL: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
BODDEN: Yeah.
(CHEERING)
SAGAL: On Thursday, the CDC warned that a new drug-resistant blank is a global health threat.
BODDEN: A new drug-resistant virus?
SAGAL: No. It's a fungus. This week, a grand jury indicted former Stormy Daniels attorney blank on 36 federal counts.
BODDEN: Aventi (ph).
SAGAL: Yes. Michael Avenatti - close enough.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
BODDEN: Avenatti.
SAGAL: This week, the owner of a bed and breakfast on the U.S.-Canadian border...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Called the Smuggler's Inn was arrested for blanking.
BODDEN: Smuggling.
SAGAL: Of course.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Why he called it that.
KURTIS: (Unintelligible).
SAGAL: It's on the sign. Canadian police arrested the owner of the Smuggler's Inn for organizing...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: ...Illegal entry into Canada for seven people. He now faces 21 criminal charges, which could come with a hefty jail sentence. The owner says he's going to stay calm and really hopes police don't find out about his other business, the every cake contains a nail file to help you break out of prison bakery.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Alonzo do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Well, he raced to the lead with five right.
FARSAD: Wow.
KURTIS: 10 more points - total of 13.
SAGAL: Very well done.
FARSAD: Did so much better than Maeve.
HIGGINS: (Laughter).
SAGAL: How many, then...
FARSAD: Noticing that.
SAGAL: ...Does Negin need to win?
KURTIS: She needs six to win in a very difficult field.
FARSAD: Yeah.
SAGAL: Here we go, Negin.
FARSAD: All right.
SAGAL: This is for the game.
FARSAD: OK.
SAGAL: On Tuesday, Steve Mnuchin said the IRS would not meet a House panel's deadline for releasing Donald Trump's blank's.
FARSAD: Tax returns.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, Benny Gantz conceded defeat to Israeli Prime Minister blank.
FARSAD: Benjamin Netanyahu.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, New York declared a public health emergency over an outbreak of blank.
FARSAD: Measles.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, the White House declared blank's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group.
FARSAD: Iran.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, police in South Africa said that a missing poacher was likely blanked.
FARSAD: A missing poacher was likely eaten by an elephant?
SAGAL: Oh, so close.
FARSAD: Wait.
HIGGINS: (Laughter).
SAGAL: I'm going to give it to you.
FARSAD: They don't eat elephants.
SAGAL: Killed by an elephant, then eaten by lions.
FARSAD: Oh.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
FARSAD: Yeah.
SAGAL: On Monday, Texas Tech announced it would no longer consider blank in its admissions.
FARSAD: Race.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, it was reported that blank hires thousands of employees to listen to recordings made by their smart speakers.
FARSAD: Amazon?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Police in Detroit have opened an internal investigation...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...After an officer showed up drunk to a training session on a blank.
FARSAD: (Laughter) On how to use a Breathalyzer.
SAGAL: You're exactly right...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: ...Negin.
(APPLAUSE)
FARSAD: (Laughter).
SAGAL: According to the police report, the officer volunteered to role play the part of a drunk driver for a Breathalyzer demonstration and proceeded to blow above the legal limit.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: That means he was either drinking on the job or just really that good an actor.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: He is currently being investigated on charges of being really, really, really dedicated to his job.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, I think Negin did well enough to win. Did she not?
KURTIS: She got eight points for 16 more points...
(CHEERING)
KURTIS: ...with a total of 19 and the win.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Congratulations, Negin.
HIGGINS: Whoa.
SAGAL: That was masterful.
FARSAD: Thank you very much. Thank you.
HIGGINS: Did you get the questions beforehand?
FARSAD: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.