MAZ JOBRANI, HOST:
All right. 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: I sure can. Maeve has one, Mo has five and Adam has six.
ADAM BURKE: Wow.
MO ROCCA: Wow.
JOBRANI: Maeve, you're in third place, so you're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court rejected attempts to overturn blank's win in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
MAEVE HIGGINS: Roe v. Wade, baby.
JOBRANI: Wrong, Joe Biden's.
HIGGINS: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: This week...
HIGGINS: I was so sure I knew that. OK.
JOBRANI: Wow. This week, the stock price of home share app blank doubled when it began trading publicly.
HIGGINS: Oh, exactly. I did this recently. Airbnb?
JOBRANI: Airbnb, yes. You got it right.
HIGGINS: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert is a climate change denier who once said wearing a mask gave him COVID. And this week, his press conference was interrupted by blank.
HIGGINS: By the sun.
BURKE: (Laughter).
JOBRANI: If only - by one of his teeth falling out while he was talking, which he...
HIGGINS: Oh, my God.
JOBRANI: Yeah - which...
ROCCA: It was amazing.
BURKE: Yeah.
JOBRANI: ...He then spit into a hanky.
BURKE: Oh, God.
HIGGINS: Oh, that's actually a nightmare that I have.
BURKE: (Laughter).
JOBRANI: Yeah. Here we go. You're going to get this one. On Thursday, pop superstar blank announced her second surprise album of 2020.
HIGGINS: The young girl Bob Dylan Taylor Swift - (laughter).
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: Taylor Swift. You're right. On Wednesday, the unmanned test flight of blank's new experimental rocket ended in a fiery crash.
HIGGINS: Oh, some kind of space company I would think, Maz.
JOBRANI: We'll give it to you. Right, SpaceX.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: You're right. You got space. That was good. On Wednesday...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
JOBRANI: ...A drug company had to issue a recall after their antidepressant was accidentally swapped with pills for...
HIGGINS: Oh, anti. Is there the - you know, the opposite? I guess that would be the worst thing that would happen.
JOBRANI: I'm going to say right...
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: ...'Cause the opposite is erectile dysfunction.
HIGGINS: Oh, pure happiness. Don't I know it, fellas?
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: This is just like how the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was invented. Hey, you got your erectile dysfunction pill with my antidepressants. No, you got your antidepressants in my erectile dysfunction pills. The company has apologized for the mistake, but people who received the mixed-up pills responded, don't worry about it. Either way, things are looking up.
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: Bill, how did Maeve do?
KURTIS: Maeve had four right for eight more points. She now has nine. That is good enough for the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
HIGGINS: Yes. Beat it, fellas (ph).
JOBRANI: Mo, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, President Trump voiced support for a Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn blank.
ROCCA: The election.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: On Tuesday, the House passed a new defense bill, which included dropping Confederate names from blanks.
ROCCA: From military bases.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: After the president's pardon, a judge dismissed the case against former national security adviser blank but advised that this doesn't mean he's innocent.
ROCCA: Michael Flynn.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: According to a new report, 14 designated hate groups applied for and received blanks.
ROCCA: Free Hulu memberships.
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: Almost - PPP loans. After a bump in November, scientists say that 2020 is on track to become the blankest year on record.
ROCCA: Warmest.
JOBRANI: Yes, hottest.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: On Thursday, NASA named the astronauts eligible for the newest mission to blank.
ROCCA: Mars.
JOBRANI: To blank - the moon.
ROCCA: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: I knew that even.
JOBRANI: This week...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
JOBRANI: ...Health officials in Ohio advised Ohioans to avoid traveling to blank.
ROCCA: They hate Indiana with a passion.
BURKE: (Laughter).
ROCCA: So I'm going to say Michigan.
JOBRANI: Wrong - to Ohio. The confusion came after Ohio was added to the Department of Health's COVID-19 travel advisory map, which is the list of states whose infection rates are rapidly spiking. Though the addition caused some confusion, it actually brings Ohio in line with other nearby states whose residents have been avoiding traveling to Ohio for years now.
BURKE: (Laughter).
JOBRANI: Bill, how did Mo do?
KURTIS: Mo had four right for eight more points. He now has 13 and the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
JOBRANI: And, Bill, how many does Adam need to win?
KURTIS: Adam needs four to win.
JOBRANI: OK, Adam. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. On Tuesday, the White House pressed Senate Republicans to include $600 blanks in the new relief package.
BURKE: Stimulus checks.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: On Wednesday, U.S. attorneys in Delaware said they were investigating blank's tax returns.
BURKE: Hunter Biden.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: This week, the U.S. confirmed over 3,000 deaths from blank in a single day.
BURKE: COVID.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: On Thursday afternoon, talk show host blank announced she tested positive for COVID-19.
BURKE: Ellen DeGeneres.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: During matches in Australia, cricket fans will have to deal with seeing ads for deodorant in blank.
BURKE: Braille.
JOBRANI: In the umpire's armpits.
ROCCA: (Laughter) What?
JOBRANI: Thanks to strong solar flares, the blanks may be visible as far south as North Carolina.
BURKE: The aurora borealis.
JOBRANI: The northern lights.
BURKE: Also known as the aurora - (laughter).
JOBRANI: The aurora - yes, so right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
ROCCA: No, that's - the northern lights' drag name is Aurora Borealis.
(LAUGHTER)
JOBRANI: On Monday, test pilot Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the blank, passed away at the age of 97.
BURKE: Oh, the sound barrier.
JOBRANI: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
JOBRANI: According to retailers, the hottest toys of 2020...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
JOBRANI: ...All have one thing in common. They blank.
BURKE: Suck.
JOBRANI: They poop. Step aside, Tickle Me Elmo. This year's hottest toy is I Warned You To Stop Tickling Me Elmo. Retailers say that kids' No. 1 choice for Christmas this year is anything that can go No. 2, with Hasbro's new poops-a-lot toy dog and Crayola's new Poop Silly Putty among the most popular gifts of the year. But if you can't get a hold of one of those, don't worry. Any toy is a poop toy if you swallow it.
Bill, how did Adam do?
KURTIS: He got six right for 12 more points, which means with 18, he is this week's champion.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
JOBRANI: Way to go.
ROCCA: (Singing) It's a great day for the Irish.
(LAUGHTER)
ROCCA: (Singing) It's a great day for a fair.
JOBRANI: Way to go, Adam. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
