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 can. Each correct answer is worth two points. Bill, can you give us the score?
BILL KURTIS: I can. Negin has 4. Mo and Paula each have 2.
SAGAL: All right.
MO ROCCA: How did that happen?
KURTIS: Yeah.
NEGIN FARSAD: Oh, that's weird. I have, like, double what you guys have.
ROCCA: Wow. OK.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: All right. We have flipped a coin, and Mo has elected to go second. So, Paula, you are up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, the Trump administration announced it was removing environmental protections for blanks.
PAULA POUNDSTONE: Rivers and streams and water.
SAGAL: Right, streams and wetlands.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, the governor of blank fired two top officials, claiming they'd stockpiled emergency aid from Hurricane Maria.
POUNDSTONE: Puerto Rico.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In the new national poll from CNN, blank edged out longtime front-runner Joe Biden.
POUNDSTONE: Bernie Sanders.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a new report, blank's cellphone was hacked by the Saudi crown prince himself.
POUNDSTONE: Oh, Jeff Bezos' phone.
SAGAL: Yes, very good.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Weeks after one of their prisoners escaped, guards at a facility in Belgium received blank.
POUNDSTONE: Flowers.
SAGAL: No, a postcard from him with a message, greetings from Thailand.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: On Thursday, scientists moved the blank one minute closer to midnight.
POUNDSTONE: The Doomsday Clock.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, Terry Jones, best known as one of the founding members of blank, passed away at the age of 77.
POUNDSTONE: Monty Python.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A dentist in Alaska has been found guilty...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...For extracting a patient's tooth while blanking.
POUNDSTONE: Riding on a hoverboard.
SAGAL: You are so right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
KURTIS: Wow.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: The judge threw the book at him, saying, this is Alaska. In Alaska, we pull teeth while riding dog sleds. The dentist, whose defense attorney referred to him as a, quote, "idiot," had posted a video of himself rolling on a hoverboard into the exam room, extracting the tooth from a sedated patient, then rolling out of the room with his arms raised in victory. So the authorities charged him with 46 counts of - and I am not kidding - unlawful dental acts.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Paula do?
POUNDSTONE: Well, let's celebrate. She got seven right, 14 more points with an almost unstoppable 16 total.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: All right.
FARSAD: Wow.
SAGAL: Mo, you're up next. Fill in the blank. In an interview released this week, Hillary Clinton said that, quote, "nobody likes blank."
ROCCA: Bernie Sanders.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that lawsuits over the water crisis in blank can move forward.
ROCCA: Is it Flint?
SAGAL: Yes, Flint, Mich.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the attorney general of Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against blank's inaugural committee.
ROCCA: Donald Trump's.
SAGAL: Yes, President Trump's.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, the longtime anchor of the "PBS NewsHour" blank passed away at the age of 85.
ROCCA: Jim Lehrer.
SAGAL: Yes, indeed. On Tuesday, Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the blank.
ROCCA: Baseball Hall of Fame.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Officials in Florida are warning that, thanks to unseasonably cold temperatures...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Residents should be on the lookout for blank.
ROCCA: I - not snowman. A human-eating cat.
SAGAL: No, Mo.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: It's frozen iguanas falling from trees. Temperatures in Florida are the lowest they've been in a decade. And with freezing temperatures comes a 30% chance of snow and 100% chance of frozen lizards falling out of trees. People are being advised that the lizards are not dead. They're just asleep because of the cold. And the only thing that can wake them up is true love's kiss.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Mo do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Mo got five right, 10 more points, a total of 12, still trailing Paula.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: How many then does Negin need to win?
KURTIS: Well, 6 to tie. She needs 7 to win.
SAGAL: All right, Negin. This is for the game.
FARSAD: OK.
SAGAL: Fill in the blank. On Thursday, Chinese authorities closed off the city of Wuhan in an attempt to contain an outbreak of blank.
FARSAD: Coronavirus.
SAGAL: Very good.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, President Trump took credit for low unemployment and a strong stock market at the annual World Economic Forum in blank.
FARSAD: Davos.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the U.N.'s top court ruled that blank must enact new policies to protect Rohingya Muslims.
FARSAD: China.
SAGAL: No, Myanmar. On Wednesday, presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against blank.
FARSAD: Hillary Clinton.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a new study, anyone looking to achieve the American dream should blank.
FARSAD: Move to Iceland.
SAGAL: So close. Move to Canada. After winning the AFC Championship on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers at the 54th blank.
FARSAD: Super Bowl.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, scientists announced they'd discovered why stress turns your hair blank.
FARSAD: Gray.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A bank robbery in Scotland almost fell apart completely when the thief...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Put on a pillowcase as a mask and discovered that blank.
FARSAD: That he can operate a gun with his foot.
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
POUNDSTONE: He forgot to put holes in it.
SAGAL: That's right, Paula. Despite the slip-up, the man still managed to escape with over $2,000. And though you'd expect him to be in a hurry to avoid the police, witnesses say - and this is totally true - he took a few minutes to pet a cute dog that was sitting outside the bank. Then he got even more delayed when someone with a clipboard asked him if he had a second to talk about the environment. And how can you say no to that?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Negin do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Well, she did well. She got five right, a total of 14. But that means Paula is our winner.
SAGAL: Paula.
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
