MIKE PESCA, HOST:
Now on to 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 worth two points. Bill, can you give us the score?
BILL KURTIS: Roxanne and Bobcat each have three. And Mo, only one behind with two.
PESCA: All right, so Mo, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. Ten U.S. soldiers who were held after accidentally straying into blank's territorial waters were released on Wednesday.
MO ROCCA: Iran.
PESCA: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: According to a new Quinnipiac poll, for the first time since starting his campaign, blank leads Hillary Clinton in Iowa.
ROCCA: Bernie Sanders.
PESCA: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after the price of blank dropped below $30 a barrel.
ROCCA: Oil.
PESCA: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation announced a $4 billion proposal to expedite the development of blank.
ROCCA: Development of the supersonic round the world jet.
PESCA: Yeah, self-driving cars.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: After his team lost on Sunday, a drunk Minnesota Vikings fan blanked, thinking that it was his house.
ROCCA: He walked into the house and took off his clothes and...
PESCA: Broke into my police station.
ROCCA: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: "The Revenant" and "Mad Max: Fury Road" led the nominations for the 88th annual blank awards.
ROCCA: Academy Awards.
PESCA: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: Known for his songs "Changes," "Space Oddity," "Let's Dance" and a million others, blank passed away on Sunday at the age of 69.
ROCCA: David Bowie.
PESCA: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: After being asked for his ID, a Florida man who was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving blanked for several minutes.
ROCCA: He - he meditated?
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: He gave the officers coupons for Ruby Tuesday's.
(LAUGHTER)
ROCCA: Nice.
PESCA: The man told police that he was coming from Bluewater Bay. And when asked where he was going, he said I'm going to Bluewater Bay. Then, when asked for ID, the man handed over a coupon for Ruby Tuesday's. He was told the coupon wasn't a legal ID. He reached into his wallet and gave the officer another coupon for Ruby Tuesday's.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: In the cop's words, quote, "this went on for several minutes."
Bill, how did Mo do?
KURTIS: Five right, Mo. Ten more points...
ROCCA: Not very good.
KURTIS: You have a total of 12 and in the lead.
PESCA: All right.
(APPLAUSE)
ROCCA: OK.
PESCA: We flipped a coin. Bobcat has elected to go next. You're ready. Fill in blank.
During the State of the Union, Obama vowed to close blank before he left office.
(LAUGHTER)
BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT: The back door.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: Guantanamo Bay. Guantanamo Bay.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's State of the Union response came under fire from conservative voters for her swipes at blank.
GOLDTHWAIT: President Obama?
PESCA: Donald Trump.
According to railway employees, a commuter train in London suffered serious delays this week due to blank.
GOLDTHWAIT: Pigeons.
PESCA: Strong sunlight.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: On Monday, the University of Alabama beat top-ranked blank to win the college football national championship.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLDTHWAIT: I love sports.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLDTHWAIT: The University of Narnia.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: I love it. Go Lions...
GOLDTHWAIT: Go lions (laughter)
PESCA: But no, it was Clemson. On Wednesday, NBC announced that the cast of blank would reunite for a two-hour special.
GOLDTHWAIT: "Friends."
PESCA: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: The head of a senior center in Rhode Island has been forced to resign after blanking at a press conference.
GOLDTHWAIT: Dying?
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: Making a male bus driver dress up as an old lady because it would look good for the cameras. The director of the Senior Enrichment Center in Rhode Island had a press conference with the mayor and wanted to have some happy seniors there for photo ops. Rather than just pick any of the seniors there, she had the center's male, somewhat Danny DeVito-looking bus driver put on a wig, dress, earrings and lipstick and pretend to be a resident.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLDTHWAIT: You want to know something?
PESCA: Yeah.
GOLDTHWAIT: I read that story.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLDTHWAIT: I really did.
PESCA: Bill, how did Bobcat do?
(LAUGHTER)
KURTIS: Well, Bobby got one right.
GOLDTHWAIT: Yeah, yeah. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
GOLDTHWAIT: That's it.
KURTIS: That gives him two points with a total of five. But we love you, and we'll still ask you back.
GOLDTHWAIT: Oh, thanks.
PESCA: So Bill, how many does Roxanne need to win?
KURTIS: Five to win.
PESCA: All right, Roxanne. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. This week, ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in...
ROXANNE ROBERTS: Jakarta.
PESCA: Correct.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: According to the most recent Iowa poll, blank is holding on to his slim lead over Donald Trump.
ROBERTS: Well, I'll say Cruz.
PESCA: It is correct. Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: The NFL voted this week to allow the Los Angeles Rams to relocate to blank.
ROBERTS: The St. Louis Rams will relocate to Los Angeles.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: That is correct.
(APPLAUSE)
ROCCA: Two points.
(APPLAUSE)
GOLDTHWAIT: I don't like your attitude.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: On Sunday, electric carmaker Tesla released a software update that enabled its car to go blank itself.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: To park itself.
PESCA: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: This week, an Ohio fugitive who didn't like the way he looked in his wanted poster blanked.
ROBERTS: He sent a selfie to the police.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: Indeed, he did.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: The message said here's a better photo. That one's terrible.
The Ringling Bros. announced Thursday that they would stop using blanks in their shows a year earlier than planned.
ROBERTS: Elephants.
PESCA: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
PESCA: Known for his roles in "Die Hard" and the "Harry Potter" franchise, blank passed away at the age of 69.
ROBERTS: Alan Rickman.
PESCA: Yes. And after receiving a string of raunchy texts...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
PESCA: ...And offers for free concert tickets, a man in Seattle realized blank.
ROBERTS: He was texting himself.
PESCA: (Laughter) That Verizon had given him Sir Mix-A-Lot's old phone number.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: After getting a number of texts far too interesting to be meant for him, lawyer Jonathan Nichols discovered that his new number had once belonged to Seattle rapper and doctor a big butt studies Sir Mix-A-Lot.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: Nichols says that having the number doesn't really affect him at all, though he did recently close out a case by saying evidence cannot lie, and your other brothers can't deny that my client is innocent.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: And everyone knows the number. It's 1-900-MIX-A-LOT, right?
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: Bill, don't keep me on tenterhooks, Bill. Did Roxanne do enough to win?
KURTIS: Yes, 14 points and the win.
(APPLAUSE)
PESCA: Congratulations, Roxanne.
(APPLAUSE)
PESCA: In just a minute, we'll ask our panelists what will be Sean Penn's next big scoop. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
