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 they now can. Each correct answer is worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Alonzo has two. Dulce has two. Joel has four.
SAGAL: Oh, my goodness. All right. Well, Joel's in first place. That means the other two of you are tied. And for just completely arbitrary reasons, I'm going to pick Alonzo to go first.
Here we go, Alonzo. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, the U.S. surpassed 200,000 deaths from blank.
ALONZO BODDEN: COVID or coronavirus.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, nearly 500 national security experts endorsed blank for president.
BODDEN: Biden.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the acting secretary of Homeland Security said that blank were the U.S.'s greatest domestic security threat.
BODDEN: White supremacists.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, a judge ordered the USPS to treat all blank-related mail as priority mail.
BODDEN: Voter-related or mail-in ballots or...
SAGAL: Yeah, election mail.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a new memoir, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was once so angry at Mike Bloomberg, he threatened to blank.
BODDEN: Close New Jersey?
SAGAL: No, to sit on Mike Bloomberg. This week...
BODDEN: (Laughter).
SAGAL: ...Michael Bloomberg paid the fines for 32,000 felons in blank so they could vote.
BODDEN: Florida.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man in Wales discovered...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...That for over a year, every time he turned on his TV, he accidentally blanked.
BODDEN: (Laughter) I don't know - turned out the lights?
SAGAL: He accidentally shorted out the entire town's Wi-Fi. The Welsh town was without Internet for 18 months because of this man's vintage TV set. It kept interrupting the Wi-Fi signals. Authorities finally figured it out by using a device to scan for signal disruptors, which seems like a great first or second-day solution, not something you try at month 18. The Wi-Fi is now fixed. Unfortunately, no one can log on because the password is in Welsh, so no one can spell it.
Bill, how did Alonzo do on our quiz?
KURTIS: He's in good shape. He had five right for 10 more points. He now has 12, and that's the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: All right, Dulce, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, a GOP-led committee in the Senate said it found no wrongdoing by Joe Biden in his dealings with blank.
DULCE SLOAN: Ukraine.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the House passed a budget compromise, narrowly averting a blank.
SLOAN: Government shutdown.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Johnson & Johnson moved into Phase 3 of testing for their blank vaccine.
SLOAN: Coronavirus.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the Royal Mounted Police in Canada investigated claims of a new demand - hiking the blank trail.
SLOAN: Comet (ph)?
SAGAL: No, the Full Frontal Trail. That's what it's called.
SLOAN: (Laughter).
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the CDC recommended that families avoid blank this October - or blanking.
SLOAN: Trick-or-treating.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, we learned the co-founder of Costco, Jim Sinegal...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Threatened the life of the company's new CEO, saying he would kill him if the CEO dared to blank.
SLOAN: Raise membership fees.
SAGAL: No. Close, though - raise the price of their food court hotdog.
SLOAN: Wow.
SAGAL: People love that $1.50 hotdog and a soda combo from Costco, so much so that when the new CEO suggested raising the price, the store's co-founder replied, if you raise the price of the hotdogs, I will kill you. Now, he was probably just being hyperbolic. But on the other hand, nobody has seen the CEO in months, and now the hotdogs taste kind of funny.
JOEL KIM BOOSTER: (Laughter).
SAGAL: I love the $1.50 Costco hotdog and soda.
BOOSTER: But would you pay $2.50 for it, Peter?
SAGAL: No. One of the things that makes it taste so great is it's only a buck-50. It's awesome.
SLOAN: Those are 1975 prices. Like...
SAGAL: 1985, actually. It's been priced that way since then.
SLOAN: I was going to say '85.
BOOSTER: Wow. You really love those hotdogs.
SAGAL: I really love those hotdogs. Bill, how did Dulce do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Dulce has four right - eight more points. She now has 10, but Alonzo still has the lead with 12.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: How many, then, does Joel need to win?
KURTIS: Joel needs four to tie, five to win.
SAGAL: All right. Here we go, Joel. This is for the game.
SLOAN: You got this, Joel. Come on, baby.
SAGAL: On Wednesday, California signed an executive order requiring all cars sold in the state to be blank by 2035.
BOOSTER: Carbon-neutral.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the CIA said that Vladimir Putin was likely behind an operation to denigrate blank before the election.
BOOSTER: Joe Biden.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, the White House press secretary said that despite what he said on Wednesday, President Trump would accept blank.
BOOSTER: Losing the election.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Later on Thursday, President Trump said that he would not accept blank.
BOOSTER: (Laughter) Losing the election.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the Hallmark Channel announced their first Christmas movie featuring a blank couple would air in November.
BOOSTER: Gay couple.
SAGAL: Yes, indeed.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, "Schitt's Creek" set a record after sweeping the comedy category at the 72nd blank awards.
BOOSTER: Emmys - come on.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a new campaign from Georgia Republican...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Kelly Loeffler brags that she is more conservative than blank.
BOOSTER: Ronald Reagan.
SAGAL: No, more conservative than Attila the Hun.
BOOSTER: Oh.
SLOAN: What?
SAGAL: While it's unclear from a policy standpoint why you would compare yourself to the guy who regularly put his enemies' heads on spikes, it might help in debates. Of course, Senator Loeffler is from Georgia, so there's a chance she thought it was Attila the Hon with an O as in, well, bless Attila's heart. Aside from that whole raping and pillaging thing, he's sweet as pecan pie.
SLOAN: It's always sad to hear a Yankee do that.
SAGAL: I know.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Joel do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Everybody sit down. He had six right for 12 more points. That means, with 16, he's this week's champion.
SAGAL: There you go.
BOOSTER: Oh, I never win. This feels amazing. I'd like to thank my mom. *** Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.