Lightning Fill In The Blank

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now on to 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, BYLINE: Adam has four, Faith three, Mo two.

SAGAL: All right, Mo, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. Protests erupted after a grand jury decided not to indict a police officer for using lethal force against a man this in blank.

MO ROCCA: Staten Island.

SAGAL: New York, yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A coalition of 17 states filed lawsuits against President Obama following his executive action on blank.

ROCCA: Immigration.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Wednesday, Iran became the most recent country to launch air strikes against blank forces in Iraq.

ROCCA: ISIS.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Officials in Russia said that falling blank prices have begun to push the country into a recession.

ROCCA: Oil.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A Florida man was arrested for leaving - for attempting to leave Walmart with blank shoved down his pants.

ROCCA: A gas grill.

SAGAL: No.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: It's going to be something wacky.

SAGAL: Six pounds of cow tongue. According to the National Retail Federation, sales on blank dropped by 11 percent this year.

ROCCA: On Black Friday.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Residents of New Castle, Pennsylvania are complaining...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ...To city officials that ever since November 1, their town has blanked.

ROCCA: Ever since November 1.

SAGAL: Yes.

ROCCA: Their town and has been just - it has been in...

FAITH SALIE: This is where the lightning round becomes an electrical storm.

ROCCA: No-no no-no. It's been - annexed by New Jersey.

SAGAL: No. Ever since November 1, the town of New Castle, Pennsylvania has smelled like cat pee.

(LAUGHTER)

ROCCA: God, cat...

SAGAL: Residents are upset except for one crazy old lady who always says I don't smell anything.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: The EPA investigated and found no hazardous substances. The mayor admits there's a problem, but reminds residents he did get the whole town free on Craigslist so what do you want? Bill, how did Mo do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Well, procrastination pays off. He got five right, 10 more points, 12 for the lead.

SAGAL: All right. Very good, Mo.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: Faith, you're up next. Fill in the blank. This week, President Obama nominated Ashton Carter to replace Chuck Hagel as the blank.

SALIE: Secretary of Defense.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Almost a thousand buildings were left without power after a major cable failure caused massive power outages in blank.

SALIE: Detroit.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that blank would be legal in Florida starting in 2015.

SALIE: Oh, gay marriage.

SAGAL: Yes.

SALIE: Marriage equality.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A congressional aide for the GOP was forced to resign after writing disparaging remarks about blank's daughters.

SALIE: Oh.

(LAUGHTER)

SALIE: President Obama's.

SAGAL: Yes indeed.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: American Airlines had to ground a flight to Hartford after a woman's blank proved too disruptive.

SALIE: Chocolate farts.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: No, her emotional support pig. After winning an appeal of his lifetime ban from the NFL, running back blank said he was hoping for a second chance.

SALIE: Right. Ray Rice.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Idina Menzel started rumors that there would be a sequel to the hit animated film blank.

SALIE: "Frozen."

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in Amsterdam...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ... Was injured when he was hit by a blank.

SALIE: Flying clog.

SAGAL: So close. He was injured by a scooter that was launched into the air by a pop-up toilet that was emerging from the ground.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Happens all the time. Never saw it coming. So Amsterdam is filled with these underground toilets. And every night, they sort of come out of the ground.

ADAM FELBER: They're vampire toilets.

SAGAL: They are so that people can use them rather than, you know, being in the street. And then they disappear back into the street so people don't try to live in them.

FELBER: Like a vampire.

SAGAL: Exactly. And somebody had parked his scooter right on top of one on them. So it popped up, threw the scooter into the air, and it landed on a guy's head and hurt him. Bill, how did Faith do on our quiz?

KURTIS: Faith got six right for 12 more points. She not has the lead with 15.

SAGAL: Well done.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: All right then. So how many does Adam Felber, a proud son of Long Island, need to win?

KURTIS: An easy six.

FELBER: Easy six.

SAGAL: This is for the game, Adam. Fill in the blank. After a new lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct was filed on Tuesday, comedian blank broke his silence to thank his supporters.

FELBER: Bill Cosby.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for early elections and dissolved blank's Parliament.

FELBER: Israel.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Three founders of the pro-democracy movement in blank were released without charges after surrendering to police on Wednesday.

FELBER: With the Hong Kong thing.

SAGAL: The Hong Kong. Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The CDC reported that due to mutations, vaccinations against the blank virus have become less effective.

FELBER: Flu.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in Texas was arrested for breaking and entering a butcher shop because he blanked.

FELBER: Needed to use the bathroom.

SAGAL: No. He entered - he was caught because he entered the butcher shop, ate a bunch of meat and passed out.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: They found him there. Heavy winds delayed the test launch of NASA's Orion capsule, their first step to land humans on blank.

FELBER: Mars.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Thursday, a spokesman for the University of Texas happily...

(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)

SAGAL: ...Reported that the college had finally discovered what happened to all of their missing blanks.

FELBER: Brains.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, it was reported that a medical research center at the University of Texas had misplaced over 100 preserved brains.

FELBER: Brains.

SAGAL: While scientists at the school were initially worried that the department had been ransacked by a pack of pacifist zombies...

FELBER: Brains.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: ...It turns out the brains had been thrown away 10 years ago. Bill, did Adam do well enough to win?

(APPLAUSE)

KURTIS: He needed six to win. He got 12 points. He has now a total of 16 and he does win.

SAGAL: Yay. Congratulations.

FELBER: I win a broken potato chip.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.