PETER SAGAL, HOST:
Now it's time to move 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 they can. Each correct answer's now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Peter has two. Alonzo has four. And Helen has five.
HELEN HONG: Woo.
SAGAL: Peter, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he did not support Trump's plan to use blank to quell protests around the country.
PETER GROSZ: The U.S. military.
SAGAL: Exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, employees and executives of social media site blank held a virtual walkout in response to the company's fact-checking policies.
GROSZ: Facebook.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, Tropical Storm Cristobal made its landfall in blank.
GROSZ: Mexico.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man on a United flight baffled other passengers when he tried to use his overhead light to blank.
GROSZ: Kill the coronavirus in his stomach.
SAGAL: No, to heat up a slice of pizza he'd brought onboard with him. On Wednesday, casinos in blank reopened with rules about masks and social distancing.
GROSZ: Vegas.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, conceptual artist blank, best known for wrapping buildings and landmarks in fabric, passed away at the age of 84.
GROSZ: Christo.
SAGAL: That's his name.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A man in San Diego...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Was arrested for breaking into a bank after hours this week and blanking.
GROSZ: Swimming in the money like Scrooge McDuck.
SAGAL: No, using the bank's microwave to heat up a Hot Pocket. I guess he couldn't get on a flight. It was 3 a.m. when the man triggered the alarm at the local Wells Fargo Bank. But when authorities arrived at the scene, they found him in the bank's break room, calmly microwaving two Hot Pockets. As he was taken out of the bank, a journalist on the scene asked the man if it was worth getting arrested for. He responded - and this is totally true. He said, quote, "A Hot pocket? Hell yeah."
HONG: (Laughter).
SAGAL: OK, Bill. How did Peter do on our quiz?
KURITS: Peter had five right for 10 more points. He now has 12 points and the lead.
SAGAL: All right then. Alonzo, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Sunday, the White House announced plans to label blank as a terrorist group.
ALONZO BODDEN: Antifa.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, President Trump said he would move the GOP's convention out of blank.
BODDEN: North Carolina.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, the White House released the results of blank's physical.
BODDEN: Trump's.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man named blank was arrested for trespassing at the Budweiser brewery.
BODDEN: Bud Weisser.
SAGAL: That's his name, a man named Bud Weisser.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, the daughter of New York Mayor blank was arrested while protesting.
BODDEN: De Blasio.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, the blank agreed to a 22-team playoff to finish the 2019-2020 season.
BODDEN: The NBA.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A 4-year-old in Britain celebrated being able to go to the park...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...For the first time in months by immediately blanking.
BODDEN: Refusing to go to the park.
SAGAL: No, by immediately getting his whole body stuck inside of a tree trunk. A mother and her four kids had been on lockdown for nine weeks like the rest of us. So they were thrilled to finally get some fresh air. But the feeling faded quickly when one of the kids got trapped inside a hollow tree trunk. Though she couldn't get him out herself, Boris Johnson has written up an exit plan. So the boy should be removed from the trunk in about four years. Bill, how did Alonzo do on our quiz?
KURITS: Alonzo had six right for 12 more points. He now has 16 and the lead.
SAGAL: All right then. And you know what I'm going to ask, Bill. How many does Helen need to win?
KURITS: Helen needs six to win.
SAGAL: All right. Helen, you need six to win. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. Following a week of protests over the death of George Floyd, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz filed civil rights charges against the police department in blank.
HONG: Minneapolis.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Rod Rosenstein defended his decision to appoint blank as special counsel to investigate Russian election meddling.
HONG: Mueller?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, Iowa representative blank lost his five-way primary battle, ending his congressional career.
HONG: Steve King.
SAGAL: That's the man.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a sheriff's office in California asked residents to call 911 if they saw blank.
HONG: Police brutality?
SAGAL: No, a tiger on the loose near the Oakland Zoo. Turned out to be a false alarm. According to a new report, global blank cases have exceeded six million.
HONG: Coronavirus.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: It took a man two months to realize that his brother's ex-girlfriend...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Was using his Netflix account because she made her profile name blank.
HONG: The name of the ex-girlfriend?
SAGAL: No, she made her profile name Settings. The California man...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: ...Would log into Netflix. And he'd see three things on the screen. He'd see his profile, his brother's profile and then a third little box that said Settings, which had an icon of the Netflix loading wheel. And it wasn't until months later that he realized two things - his brother's ex had changed her profile name to Settings, so she could still sponge off the account, and that his brother had broken up with a genius.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Helen do well enough to win?
KURITS: Helen had four right for eight more points for a total of 13. And that means with 16, Alonzo is holding that trophy high. He is this week's champion.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: There you are, Alonzo.
BODDEN: My first virtual win. Thank you.
SAGAL: I know. It's very exciting.
GROSZ: Well done.
BODDEN: Thank you.
SAGAL: Congratulations. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.