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 worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: I can. Alonzo and Luke each have three. Maeve has two.
SAGAL: All right. Maeve, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that former Trump campaign manager blank had violated his plea deal.
MAEVE HIGGINS: I want to say Tyler Durden, but I know that's wrong.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: No, it was Paul Manafort.
HIGGINS: Paul Manafort, yeah. Yeah.
SAGAL: After being rebuked by congressional Democrats, blank apologized for her remarks about Israel.
HIGGINS: Ilhan Omar.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the blank rose above $22 trillion for the first time ever.
HIGGINS: The economy.
SAGAL: No, the national debt. After spending 15 years on Mars, NASA announced that the blank Rover had finally died.
HIGGINS: The Mars rover.
SAGAL: I kind of said it was on Mars, so I'm looking...
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: I'm looking for the name of the rover.
HIGGINS: What I would say is I know what you're talking about.
SAGAL: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: You know?
SAGAL: But you don't apparently know the name of the rover.
HIGGINS: Is that relevant here?
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Strangely, yes. I was the Opportunity rover.
HIGGINS: The opportunity to lose this round.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: To show their solidarity, a store in Denver offered a striking teacher their blank.
HIGGINS: Lessons.
SAGAL: No, discounted weed. This week, George Clooney and Brad Pitt signed a letter demanding Oscars for cinematography and editing not be given out during blank.
HIGGINS: "Ocean's Eleven."
SAGAL: No.
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: "Ocean's Twelve."
SAGAL: No, during commercials in the Oscar broadcast. Police were able to arrest three bank robbers...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...After blank overheard them planning their heist.
HIGGINS: Their moms.
SAGAL: No, they were overheard by the Uber driver they had hired to drive them to the bank.
(LAUGHTER)
HIGGINS: He was their getaway driver.
SAGAL: Not quite.
HIGGINS: Their drop off.
SAGAL: They hired this Uber guy to drop - bring to the bank. And on the way, they discussed entry routes, escape plans, which of them would carry the gun. Naturally, as soon as he dropped them off, the driver called the police. The men were arrested as soon as they walked into the bank. It was great news for the bank and its customers, but terrible news for - and this is true - for the other Uber they had called as their getaway car.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Maeve do on our quiz?
KURTIS: One right, total of four points. And she's sitting on four in first place.
HIGGINS: In first place.
SAGAL: For the moment.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: We flipped a coin, and Luke has elected to go next. So, Luke, fill in the blank. On Tuesday, the Senate heard testimony that blank had made little to no change in its nuclear capabilities.
LUKE BURBANK: North Korea.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: For the third time this month, former Trump lawyer blank delayed his congressional testimony.
HIGGINS: Manafort.
(LAUGHTER)
BURBANK: Cohen.
SAGAL: Yes, Michael Cohen.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, the U.S. accused a former Air Force intelligence specialist of spying for blank.
BURBANK: Iran.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Tuesday, retired astronaut Mark Kelly announced he would run for a Senate seat in blank.
BURBANK: Arizona.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a man in Indiana had the opportunity to make some quick cash when he was offered $200 to blank.
BURBANK: Leave Indiana.
SAGAL: No, to not call the police on the guy he just caught robbing his house.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Childish Gambino, Kacey Musgraves and Cardi B were the big winners at this year's blank awards.
BURBANK: Grammys.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A woman in Florida was being criticized after she was caught blanking...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...While riding on the back of a motorcycle.
BURBANK: Sleeping.
SAGAL: No, she was caught shaving her legs on the back of a moving motorcycle.
(LAUGHTER)
ALONZO BODDEN: I hate that I knew that one, and I didn't get that question.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: She was filmed. It went viral. She was wearing just a bathing suit. She was filmed shaving her legs with one hand and holding what looks like a beer in the other while riding a motorcycle. It's actually a pretty impressive feat, not nearly as impressive as the driver of the motorcycle, who was steering the bike with one hand and shaving his back with the other.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, how did Luke do in our quiz?
KURTIS: He got five right, 10 more points.
HIGGINS: Wow.
KURTIS: A total of 13.
SAGAL: All right, that was impressive. So...
(APPLAUSE)
KURTIS: He's in the lead.
SAGAL: How many then does Alonzo need to win?
KURTIS: Well, he needs five to tie and six to win.
SAGAL: All right, Alonzo. This is for the game.
BODDEN: It's tough.
SAGAL: Fill in the blank.
BODDEN: It's tough.
SAGAL: On Monday, a TV news cameraman was attacked at a Trump rally in blank.
BODDEN: El Paso.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week Brock Long, the embattled blank administrator, announced his resignation.
BODDEN: Brock Long, the - you know, I know what you're talking about.
SAGAL: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
BODDEN: I got nothing.
SAGAL: Yeah, the FEMA administrator. On Monday, Utah's Republican-led legislature passed a bill curbing a blank expansion approved by voters in 2018.
BODDEN: Airport.
SAGAL: No, Medicaid expansion. On Tuesday, a wire fox terrier named King won top honors at the blank.
BODDEN: The Westminster Kennel...
SAGAL: Yes.
BODDEN: ...Show.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Westminster Dog Show. According to a new study, drinking two or more beverages with artificial blank a day may increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.
BODDEN: Diet sodas.
SAGAL: Yeah, artificial sweeteners.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Police in Ontario were called to break up a brawl...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...After two women began arguing over blank.
BODDEN: Could you come up with a broader question than something two women would start arguing over?
(LAUGHTER)
BODDEN: I mean, that's a very specific one. Two women in Ontario - would it be Ontario, Canada, or Ontario, Calif.?
SAGAL: Ontario, Canada.
BODDEN: Justin Trudeau.
SAGAL: No, they started fighting. They had a big fight over bingo seats at their retirement home.
HIGGINS: Oh.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: The fight started when the two women, aged 79 and 86, both wanted the same chair for bingo night. Neither was willing to back down. And then somebody threw a punch. And the entire bingo game turned into a bingo brawl, prompting a call to police. No one was injured. When one woman knocked out the other woman's teeth, she simply picked them up and put them back.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Alonzo do well enough to win?
KURTIS: Well, he got three right, six more points - total of nine. But that means Luke is the champion this week.
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.