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 now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Well, Jessi has one. Yassir has two. Tom has three.
SAGAL: All right, Jessi, you're up first. Fill in the blank. On Monday, Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Trump lawyer blank.
JESSI KLEIN: Giuliani.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the Federal Reserve vowed to keep blanks low through the coronavirus recovery.
KLEIN: Interest rates.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the White House told the Justice Department to stop using privately owned blanks.
KLEIN: Prisons?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, police charged a man for using his blank to quickly take his family to the grocery store.
KLEIN: His car?
SAGAL: No, his ambulance with the emergency lights on. After two weeks trapped underground, 11 miners were rescued in blank.
KLEIN: China.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: At his funeral this week, television host blank's family all wore his trademark suspenders.
KLEIN: Larry King.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man in Australia was granted workers' comp after he...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Strained his back blanking.
KLEIN: Catching a kangaroo.
SAGAL: Bending over to pick up the keys to his company car. The electrician was just about to leave his house to repair a downed power line when he dropped his keys in the driveway. Instead of calling in a professional for the job, the man just bent down to grab them himself and strained his back. That's why OSHA always recommends lifting your set of keys with your toes and not your back.
Bill, how did Jessi do on our quiz?
KURTIS: She had five right for five more points. She now has 11 and the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: All right. Well done. Yassir, you are up next. Please fill in the blank. On Tuesday, the Senate narrowly defeated a GOP bid to dismiss blank's impeachment trial.
YASSIR LESTER: Trump.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, one of the men accused of planning to kidnap the governor of blank pled guilty.
LESTER: Michigan.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: When their car got stuck in the snow in Oregon, public health workers delivering COVID vaccines that were about to expire blanked.
LESTER: Did a drive-through walk-up. I don't know.
SAGAL: Actually, you're right. They just gave out the vaccines to the other stranded drivers.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
LESTER: (Laughter).
SAGAL: So I'll give it to you. On Monday, HBO reported they were in early talks to produce a show based on J.K. Rowling's blank series.
LESTER: "Harry Potter"?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, officials in Japan denied reports that it was planning to cancel the blanks in Tokyo.
LESTER: Olympics?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, police in Britain responded to reports...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Of an illegal rave violating lockdown rules, arrived at the scene and found blank.
LESTER: Children, babies.
SAGAL: No. Instead of a rave, they found a bunch of elderly people waiting in line for the vaccine. The police received a call about an illegal rave at the local Freemasons hall and rushed to the scene, hoping to get there before Skrillex started his set. Unfortunately, when they arrived, they discovered it wasn't a rave. It was just a bunch of senior citizens lined up to get the vaccine. They didn't find anyone rolling on molly, but they did find a sweet old lady named Molly rolling in a wheelchair. Close enough.
Bill, how did Yassir do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Very well. He had five right for 10 more points. He now has 12 and the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: Very well done. All right. How many, then, does Tom need to win this all?
KURTIS: Tom needs five to win.
SAGAL: All right, Tom. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. On Monday, the Senate began working on a power-sharing deal after Mitch McConnell dropped demands to preserve the blank.
TOM PAPA: Filibuster.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a report, the leader of white supremacist group blank was a prolific informer for the FBI and local police.
PAPA: Proud Boys.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, the CDC said it was safe for kids to return to blank so long as precautions were followed.
PAPA: School.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: For the first time in almost a decade, no player was voted into the blank Hall of Fame.
PAPA: Baseball.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, GM announced it would stop producing blank-powered cars by 2035.
PAPA: Gas-powered.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: While attending school remotely...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...A student in England attended class but successfully avoided answering questions for weeks by blanking.
PAPA: By putting a puppet up.
SAGAL: No, by changing his Zoom screen name to Reconnecting dot, dot, dot.
PAPA: Brilliant. Love kids (laughter).
SAGAL: Isn't it good? The kid got out of participating in class by changing his screen name to make it look like his Wi-Fi was out. It was an absolutely genius move, except for the part where you had to hold absolutely still for the duration of the class to make it seem like his screen was frozen. The teacher eventually figured it out. She called to speak to the student's parents. But weirdly, they were, quote, "going through a tunnel right now. No, we might lose you."
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Tom do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Well, he broke the tension. He has five right for 10 more points. He now has 13. That is this week's champion.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: Congratulations. Yay, Tom.
PAPA: I've never won before.
SAGAL: Well, there you are. How does it feel?
PAPA: I'm the Tom Brady of this.
(LAUGHTER) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.