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 scores?
BILL KURTIS: Faith has two points. Hari has two. Mo has four.
SAGAL: All right. Faith and Hari are tied. So I'm arbitrarily going to pick Hari to go first. So, Hari, fill in the blank.
When they reopen their borders in July, the blank has suggested that Americans would be blocked from entry.
HARI KONDABOLU: The EU.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a grand jury indicted the three suspects in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in blank.
KONDABOLU: Georgia.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, a judge denied a request from the Trump family to block a tell-all book written by the president's blank.
KONDABOLU: Niece.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a watchdog group reported that the U.S. sent $1.4 billion in coronavirus aid to blank.
KONDABOLU: South Korea.
SAGAL: Dead people. On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced it was severely limiting the annual pilgrimage to blank.
KONDABOLU: The Mecca.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, Disneyland announced they'd be retheming the water ride blank to no longer include characters from "Song Of The South."
KONDABOLU: Splash Mountain.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a strip club in South Carolina...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Was given permission to reopen as long as they banned blank.
KONDABOLU: Fluid.
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Stripping - the governor of South Carolina declared all strip clubs non-essential in March, forcing them to close their doors for the duration of the pandemic. But this week, Thee Dollhouse, South Carolina's only Ibsen-themed strip club...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: ...Was given special permission to reopen so long as they followed one rule - no stripping. So it's reopened as a fully clothed club. But customers are still encouraged to stuff tips in the pockets of the dancers' sensible slacks. Bill, how did Hari do on our quiz?
KURTIS: He got five right for a total of 12 points.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
KURTIS: And that gives him the lead.
SAGAL: All right, Faith. You're up next. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced they would require travelers from coronavirus hotspots to blank.
FAITH SALIE: Self-quarantine.
SAGAL: Exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SALIE: For 14 days.
SAGAL: After voting on Tuesday, the primary between Amy McGrath and Charles Booker in blank was still too close to call.
SALIE: Kentucky.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the IMF projected that the global blank would shrink more than they had previously predicted.
SALIE: The global economy.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Trump's 200th blank nominee.
SALIE: Judicial.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: With baseball still a month away, one bookmaking site is offering gamblers a chance to bet on blank.
SALIE: On the World Series?
SAGAL: No, to bet on - you can bet on the migratory patterns of great white sharks.
SALIE: (Laughter).
SAGAL: On Sunday, New York City declared blank an official holiday.
SALIE: Juneteenth.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to the National Association of Realtors, blank sales have fallen to their lowest level in a decade.
SALIE: Home.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: An Amazon delivery driver in Delaware is being praised for carefully following a family's delivery instructions...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Which asked her to blank.
SALIE: Knock three times, yell abracadabra and then run away as fast as she could.
SAGAL: That's right. Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SALIE: (Laughter).
SAGAL: According to the homeowner, her son set the additional delivery instructions as a joke months before but had forgotten. So they were both shocked when they heard three loud knocks on the front door followed by someone screaming abracadabra. The driver says she was happy to go along with the odd request. She says she's happy to work for a great company like Amazon. And can she please use your bathroom? Just don't tell anyone.
SALIE: It is a delightful video to watch. She's...
SAGAL: I haven't watched it.
SALIE: ...Employee of the week.
SAGAL: Bill, how did Faith do on our quiz?
KURTIS: She had seven right for 14 more points. She now has 16 points and the lead.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: All right. And how many then does Mo Rocca need to win?
KURTIS: Six to tie, seven to win outright.
SAGAL: Here we go, Mo. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. This week, a federal prosecutor told the House that Attorney General blank exerted political pressure to go easy on Roger Stone.
MO ROCCA: Barr.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, President Trump announced he was suspending work blanks blocking over 500,000 people from entering the U.S.
ROCCA: He's suspending work permits, visas.
SAGAL: Work visas - yeah.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Senate Democrats blocked Republicans from advancing their blank reform bills.
ROCCA: A police reform bill.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Wednesday, the DNC announced they would hold a mostly virtual blank in August.
ROCCA: Convention.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, officials in Austin blamed slow coronavirus test results on the labs' use of blank.
ROCCA: Bad swabs.
SAGAL: No, fax machines. This week, the SEC warned blank to change their state flag or risk losing college sports events.
ROCCA: Mississippi.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Lin-Manuel Miranda says he had to clean up two F-bombs before putting his musical blank on Disney+.
ROCCA: Oh, I think it's called "Hamilton."
SAGAL: It is. This week, a man who was caught downloading Tinder...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...By his girlfriend explained he only wanted it for blanking.
ROCCA: To practice swiping with his finger.
SAGAL: No, he wanted it so he could look at men's haircuts.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The man explained to his girlfriend through a river of flop sweat that he couldn't just Google men's haircuts because then you only see pictures of male models. And he wanted to see what normal guys look like - well, really hot, normal guys who promise to be discreet. The boyfriend has since apologized and is now doing everything he can to be a better partner, including setting up some appointments for kissing practice with private tutors he says he met online.
ROCCA: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Bill, did Mo do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Well, sort of. He got six right for 12 more points. He now has 16, which tied Faith for the win.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Wow. Two champions, one shirt between them.
SALIE: (Laughter).
ROCCA: Shirts and skins. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
