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Lightning Fill In The Blank

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

It's time to move on to our final game, Lightning Fill In The Blank. Each of our players now has 60 seconds in which to answer as many fill-in-the-blank questions as they can - each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you please give me the scores?

BILL KURTIS: Adam and Roxanne each have two. Tom has three.

SAGAL: We have flipped a coin. Roxanne has elected to go first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Monday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania denied blank's request for a recount.

ROXANNE ROBERTS: The Green Party, Jill Stein.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, officials in China said they were concerned about Donald Trump's comments on the U.S. relationship with blank.

ROBERTS: Taiwan.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: GOP lawmakers in North Carolina called a surprise session to try to strip power from the incoming blank.

ROBERTS: Democratic governor.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Sunday, Boeing completed a $16 billion deal to sell 80 jetliners to blank.

ROBERTS: The United States, I think, isn't it?

SAGAL: No, to Iran this time. This week, several newspapers reported that America is on the brink of a serious blank shortage.

ROBERTS: What are we on a shortage of?

SAGAL: Time, Roxanne. We're in a shortage of time.

ROBERTS: No, I'm trying to think what we're in a shortage of - a shortage of peanut butter.

SAGAL: No, a shortage of aerosol whipped cream. Health officials are warning pregnant women to avoid traveling to Brownsville, Texas, after five cases of blank were reported there.

ROBERTS: The Zika virus.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: After a streak of 14 consecutive losses in the annual game, blank's football team beat the Navy, 21 to 17.

ROBERTS: Army.

SAGAL: Yes, who else?

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Police in Ohio, hoping to break up a suspected human trafficking ring, quickly discovered that the ringleader was actually blank.

ROBERTS: A cookie peddler.

SAGAL: No, a grandmother who makes and sells really lifelike baby dolls.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Kathy Cadle is her name. She had been trying to think of ways to get the word out about her craft business of making really lifelike babies for sale. And somebody said, well, why don't you put it on the internet? What bad thing could happen?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Well, the police thought that this woman was selling babies, so they came to check in on it. They found out that, no, she wasn't engaging in human trafficking. She was just the world's creepiest grandma. Bill, how did Roxanne do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Roxanne got five right - 10 more points. She has 12 as a total, and she is in the lead.

SAGAL: All right. Adam, you're up next.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Fill in the blank. Following months of fighting, both sides of the Syrian conflict agreed to the evacuation of blank this week.

ADAM BURKE: Aleppo.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: For only the second time in a decade, the Federal Reserve raised blanks on Tuesday.

BURKE: The interest rate.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Thursday, Donald Trump announced that Ronna Romney McDaniel would likely replace Reince Priebus as head of the blank.

BURKE: The Republican National Party.

SAGAL: Right, committee.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, the Czech Finance Ministry revealed that Cuba offered to repay its $276 million debt to that country with blank.

BURKE: Cigars.

SAGAL: Close, rum. This week, social networking site blank introduced new strategies to curb fake news.

BURKE: Oh, Facebook.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Park officials in Alberta posted an advisory notice this week warning visitors to be on the lookout for blank.

BURKE: Wildlife.

SAGAL: No. Well, close, but specifically car-licking moose.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Apparently, the moose really like the road salt this time of year. The warning released this week advises park guests to, quote, "sound a car horn to deter the moose and regain access to your vehicle" and "do not attempt to push moose away while on foot." Who tries that?

(LAUGHTER)

TOM BODETT: Especially when the moose's tongues get frozen to (unintelligible).

SAGAL: Yeah.

BURKE: Thank you for saying wildlife was a close answer to car-licking moose.

SAGAL: I know, yeah.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Adam do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Four right, eight more points, total of 10, and he doesn't catch Roxanne.

SAGAL: Who can? Well, the question is then, how many does Tom need to catch Roxanne and win?

KURTIS: He needs five to win.

SAGAL: This is for the game, Tom. In what may be the largest hack of all time, blank revealed today that a data breach may have affected over 1 billion of their accounts.

BODETT: Yahoo.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, the Energy Department said it would not comply with Donald Trump's request for the names of all employees who have worked on blank.

BODETT: Global warming or climate change.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Following his own claim that he personally killed suspected criminals, critics of Philippine President blank called for his impeachment.

BODETT: Oh, Duerte (ph), Duterte.

SAGAL: Yeah, Duterte.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Thursday, Labor Secretary Tom Perez announced he was joining the race for chairman of the blank.

BODETT: Democratic National Committee.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: During a flight from Oakland to Kansas City, a Southwest pilot got on the intercom to congratulate the passengers for blanking.

BODETT: For - I'm not - I have no idea.

SAGAL: Drinking all the alcohol on the plane.

BODETT: Oh, wow.

(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: This week, blank accepted the Nobel Prize in Literature by literally mailing in his acceptance speech.

BODETT: (Laughter) Bob Dylan.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: During a winter storm this week, the Oregon Department of Transportation advised that everyone stay off the roads and blank instead.

BODETT: Makes sweet, sweet love.

SAGAL: I'm going to give it to you because...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: ...What they really told people to...

BODETT: I lived in Oregon for a little while.

SAGAL: Yeah. What they really told people to do was Netflix and chill.

BODETT: Yeah, that's...

SAGAL: And whether or not they knew that's what it means, that's what it means. The message was posted on the Oregon DOT's Twitter page saying, quote, "Netflix and chill sounds like a good plan tonight. Avoid driving." Bill, did Tom do well enough to win?

KURTIS: He did.

SAGAL: Hey.

KURTIS: He got six right.

(APPLAUSE)

KURTIS: Fifteen total - he's this week's winner.

BODETT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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