PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Hey, 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 they can. Each correct answer is now worth 2 points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Josh has 2. Faith and Maz each have 3.
SAGAL: OK, so that means, Josh, you are in second place, so you get to go first. Here we go. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. At a ceremony on Wednesday, President Trump signed the USMCA, a new trade pact meant to replace blank.
JOSH GONDELMAN: NAFTA.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Just a week ahead of the Iowa caucuses, the Des Moines Register endorsed blank for president.
GONDELMAN: Elizabeth Warren.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week the LA Lakers and Dallas Mavericks announced they'd be retiring No. 24 in honor of blank.
GONDELMAN: Kobe Bryant.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After a surge in sign-ups over the holidays, online giant blank announced it has more than 150 million Prime members.
GONDELMAN: Amazon.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: U.S. officials reported that a section of the president's impenetrable wall on the Mexican border was destroyed by blank.
GONDELMAN: Wind.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, GMC announced their new, all-electric, environmentally conscious version of the blank.
GONDELMAN: Truck?
SAGAL: Well, close - the Hummer. For the first time in four years, blank expectancy in the U.S. rose.
GONDELMAN: Life.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a sheriff's office in Colorado reported that a section of highway 145 has been closed due to blank.
GONDELMAN: Everybody too high. Snow.
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The sheriff's office in Colorado reported that the highway had been closed due to, quote, "a large boulder the size of a small boulder."
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: According to the dispatch from the sheriff's office, the large boulder that was approximately the size of a small boulder blocked traffic in the eastbound lane of 145 for over an hour. It took that long for other officers to show up and move it. Onlookers say it was amazing. It somehow seemed like the twelve officers had the strength of a dozen men.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Josh do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Josh did very well. He's got six right, 12 more points, a total of 14 puts him in first place.
SAGAL: All right. Now...
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: You flipped a coin and Faith has elected to go second. So Faith, fill in the blank. On Tuesday, President Trump unveiled his new peace plan for blank.
FAITH SALIE: Israel and Palestine.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to prosecutors, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation in their investigation of blank.
SALIE: Jeffrey Epstein.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, several international sporting events in China were canceled over fears of blank.
SALIE: Coronavirus.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A man in Tennessee on trial for marijuana possession surprised his lawyer by blanking during sentencing.
SALIE: Lighting up a joint.
SAGAL: Yes indeed.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, New York City passed a resolution banning restaurants and stores that don't accept blank.
SALIE: Cash.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, Billie Eilish swept all the major categories of the blank awards.
SALIE: Grammy's.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man in Louisiana was arrested for walking up to people in a gym parking lot and asking to borrow blank.
SALIE: Their guns.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: So he could do a robbery.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: According to police, the man approached two people outside a Planet Fitness and asked if he could borrow their guns to go rob someone. They said no.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: And then the man followed them inside, worked out next to them - right? Hey, it's you, huh? - And then kept asking about the guns. Police arrived eventually with their guns drawn and the man said, oh, thank goodness. Can I borrow those real quick?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Faith do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Seven right, 14 more points, total of 17, which puts her in the lead.
SAGAL: All right then.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: How many, then, does Maz need to win?
KURTIS: Seven to tie, 8 to win.
MAZ JOBRANI: I fold.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Here we go, Maz. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, EU lawmakers approved blank's exit from the union's trading bloc.
JOBRANI: England.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the Pentagon said that 50 American service members suffered brain injuries during blank's missile attack on the airbase in Iraq.
JOBRANI: You know, I'm from Iran, so thank you for bringing that up.
SAGAL: You're welcome.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced it was holding blank rates steady.
JOBRANI: Interest.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the Wisconsin highway patrol pulled over blank for a traffic violation.
JOBRANI: Wisconsin highway patrol pulled over blank - Aaron Rodgers.
SAGAL: No, the Oscar Meyer wiener mobile.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Despite warnings from the Trump administration, the U.K. announced it would allow Chinese tech firm blank to supply some wireless carriers with 5G network equipment.
JOBRANI: Huawei.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, popular fast casual Mexican chain blank was fined $1.3 million for violating child labor laws.
JOBRANI: Taco Bell?
SAGAL: No, Chipotle.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: A man who went to the emergency room after discovering giant blue bruises on his legs was told by a doctor that he was blank.
JOBRANI: Dead.
SAGAL: No, they told him he was fine. It was just blue dye from his tight new skinny jeans.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The man, who looked up his symptoms on WebMD before rushing to the emergency room, was convinced he had deep vein thrombosis.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Turns out his legs were just stained blue from his new unwashed jeans, though it didn't help when he arrived at the emergency room and the doctor pointed at his blue legs and said, dye.
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: So I was right.
SAGAL: Bill, did Maz do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Not quite. He got four right, 8 more points, total of 11, which means Faith is our winner.
SAGAL: Oh, really?
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: I am so surprised. In just a minute, we're going to ask our panels to predict, after John Bolton's, what will be the next tell-all book to make a big splash? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.