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 he or she can. Each correct answer is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Faith and Helen each have two, and Adam has four.
HELEN HONG: What?
SAGAL: Oh, my gosh. We have flipped a coin, and Helen has decided to go first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, President Trump said he was considering sending 15,000 troops to meet the blank at the border.
HONG: The refugee caravan.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Following another political setback, German Chancellor blank told her party she wouldn't seek re-election in December.
HONG: Angela Merkel.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Rudy Giuliani said that the administration had prepared written responses to special counsel blank's questions for Trump.
HONG: Oh, Mueller.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox beat the LA Dodgers to claim their fourth blank win in 15 years.
HONG: World Series.
SAGAL: Yay.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, notorious mobster and FBI informant blank was killed in prison.
HONG: Oh, Whitey Bulger.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to a report released this week, the blank may be absorbing more heat than previously thought.
HONG: The ocean?
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a shop owner in Belgium prevented a robbery by telling the burglars blank.
HONG: Your mother would be ashamed of you.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: No. Actually, he told them, this really isn't a good time. Could you come back later?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The six armed robbers entered around noon. And the owner quickly explained there really wasn't much money in the store and that they should come back later, so they left. When they came back five hours later, the owner convinced them to leave for a second time. Eventually, the robbers were arrested by undercover officers. Don't worry, though. The group is already planning an escape from prison just as soon as they find out what time is most convenient for the guards.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Helen do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Well, she got six right, 12 more points - total of 14 and the lead.
(APPLAUSE)
HONG: Yes.
SAGAL: All right. Faith, you're up next. Fill in the blank. On Sunday night, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro claimed victory in the presidential elections in blank.
FAITH SALIE: Brazil.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A report released Monday suggested that the White House is planning to impose blanks on all remaining Chinese imports.
SALIE: Tariffs.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee said they were investigating Trump's former chief strategist blank's actions during the 2016 election.
SALIE: Oh, Bannon.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In a change of policy, streaming service blank said it would release three movies into theaters before adding them to their site.
SALIE: Netflix.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Police in Missouri were proud to announce that they had recovered a $4,000 blank stolen from a hospital last week.
SALIE: Inflatable colon.
SAGAL: Yes, indeed.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SALIE: What?
SAGAL: On Wednesday, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that the country's ban on recreational blank was unconstitutional.
SALIE: Marijuana.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Thursday, employees of search giant blank began a worldwide walkout to protest the company's sexual harassment scandals.
SALIE: Google.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a Greyhound bus driver headed to New York covered up the fact that he was lost by blanking.
SALIE: Driving around and saying he was helping people trick or treat.
SAGAL: You're so close. He just basically drove around Cleveland in circles for hours.
SAGAL: Passengers say they knew something was up when they noticed that they had been driving through Cleveland for four hours.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Logically, this could only mean one of two things - either the bus driver was lost and was driving in circles or there had been an accident, and now they were all in hell.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Eventually, the driver found his way, and the bus arrived in New York five hours late, making this the most successful Greyhound trip of all time.
(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Faith do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Faith moves into the lead with seven right, 14 more points - total of 16.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: And how many, then, does Adam Burke need to win?
KURTIS: Six to tie and seven to win.
SAGAL: All right, Adam...
ADAM BURKE: Never going to happen.
SAGAL: This is for the game. On Wednesday, President Trump confirmed that despite promises, there would be no middle class blank passed this year.
BURKE: Tax cut.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, the fiance of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi called on President Trump to be tougher on blank.
BURKE: Saudi Arabia
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, Secretary of Defense James Mattis called for a cease-fire in the civil war raging in blank.
BURKE: Yemen.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, a ban on military drills over the demilitarized zone in blank went into effect.
BURKE: South Korea.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A woman in Alabama was forced to call an emergency dentist this week after blank.
BURKE: Killing her regular dentist.
SAGAL: No, after her Halloween vampire fangs got stuck to her teeth.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, blank unveiled the latest versions of the MacBook Air and iPad Pro.
BURKE: Apple.
SAGAL: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: A dog owner in Oklahoma City is warning her neighbors to please not feed her dog even though it's blanking.
BURKE: Getting married.
SAGAL: No - even though it's pretending to be a stray so it can catch free hamburgers at McDonald's.
BURKE: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Betsy Reyes suspected that her dog Princess might be up to something when she noticed that the pooch had put on a suspicious amount of weight. So she secretly followed the dog to a nearby McDonald's where she found out that Princess had been wandering the parking lot, pretending to be a stray until people fed her hamburgers.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Well, Betsy has now warned the neighbors. She says that the problem will sort itself out, especially now that that dog who plays "Wonderwall" with an acoustic guitar has set up across the street.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Adam do well enough to win?
KURTIS: He came close - five right, 10 more points, total of 14. And that means Faith is our winner this week.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Congratulations, Faith. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.