Lightning Fill In The Blank

Transcript

MIKE PESCA, HOST:

Now on to our final game. It's 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 correctly answer. Each correct answer is worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

BILL KURTIS, BYLINE: Amy and Maz each have two. Peter has four.

AMY DICKINSON: Wow.

PESCA: OK. We flipped a coin. Maz has elected to go first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. On Thursday, it was reported that blank was stepping down as head of 21st Century Fox.

MAZ JOBRANI: Rupert Murdoch.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Correct. At the Belmont Stakes on Sunday, American Pharaoh became the first horse in 37 years to win the blank.

JOBRANI: Triple Crown.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Correct. Hundreds of bikers gathered outside a courthouse on Monday to protest the continued detention of gang members involved in the massive brawl in blank.

JOBRANI: Texas.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Waco, Texas. That is right. On Wednesday, the Library of Congress named Juan Felipe Herrera the new blank.

JOBRANI: I don't know. Poet laureate.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: That is correct, poet laureate. According to police, a man who broke into a house in New Mexico blanked before fleeing the scene.

JOBRANI: He went to the bathroom?

PESCA: He baked a potato and then raked leaves.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Citing the ongoing corruption scandal, blank announced they were postponing the bidding for the 2026 World Cup.

JOBRANI: FIFA.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Correct. Eighty years after her disappearance, new footage was discovered this week that showed blank just before her final flight.

JOBRANI: Amelia Earhart.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Correct. A man in Beijing is recovering for minor injuries after he got drunk and blanked.

JOBRANI: After he got drunk and tried to be like a marsupial.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Tried to kiss a snapping turtle.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: The man, who was wandering through an open-air market in Beijing, decided it would be a good idea to drunkenly pick up a live snapping turtle and give it a little kiss. Unfortunately for him, the turtle was looking for a bit more of a commitment and bit down on his lips. But it's like the old saying goes, you have to kiss a lot of turtles before you realize you're remembering the old saying wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Bill, how'd Maz do?

KURTIS: He got six right. That's pretty good. Twelve more points and now has the lead with 14.

PESCA: All right.

(APPLAUSE)

PESCA: Amy, you are next. Fill in the blank. Officials in Texas say the police officer who pulled his gun on teens at a blank has resigned.

DICKINSON: A swimming pool.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Yes. On Thursday, a 17-year-old from Virginia pled guilty to aiding blank.

DICKINSON: ISIS.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: ISIS, yes. On Monday, police investigated a possible robbery at the home of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

DICKINSON: C. Clarke.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Actually, his name is Blank, Arthur Blank.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Stan Wawrinka upset Novak Djokovic to win the blank on Sunday.

DICKINSON: The French Open.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: French Open, correct. Known for his role as Dracula in a hundred or so movies, famed character actor blank passed away at the age of 93.

DICKINSON: Lee.

PESCA: I shall accept it.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Christopher Lee. After a serious police investigation, officials report that the two valuable pieces of art that went missing from the Boston Library were blank.

DICKINSON: They were found.

PESCA: They were found about 80 feet away from where they were supposed to be.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Last month, two valuable prints worth over $600,000 went missing from the Boston Library. The police opened an investigation. Suspects were questioned and eventually the president of the library was forced to resign, but this week, officials discovered that the pieces hadn't been stolen. They were just misfiled, about 80 feet away from where they were supposed to be. Now for context, the paintings were of manila folders, so that explains some of the mix-up.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Bill, how did Amy do?

KURTIS: She got five right for 10 more points, a total of 12. But Maz still has the lead.

PESCA: All right. So Bill, how many does Peter need to surpass Maz?

KURTIS: Five to tie. Six to win.

PESCA: All right. Peter Grosz, this is for the game. You ready?

PETER GROSZ: I'm going to get four.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: That's the spirit. On Tuesday, former House Speaker blank pled not guilty to charges of lying to federal agents.

GROSZ: Dennis Hastert.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Correct. On Wednesday, the EPA took the first steps towards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from blanks.

GROSZ: Airplanes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Airplanes, correct. The first person to show up at a Rick Santorum campaign event in Iowa on Monday was also blank.

GROSZ: The only person.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Yes. Thanks to the $300 million he made for fighting Manny Pacquiao, blank topped Forbes 2015 list of the highest-paid athletes.

GROSZ: Mayweather.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: Yes, Floyd Mayweather. "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time" and "Fun Home" were the big winners at this year's blank awards.

GROSZ: Tony Awards.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

PESCA: The Tonys, right. In an article reporting on a pitcher who could throw from both the right and left side, the East Oregonian newspaper declared, blank pitcher makes debut.

GROSZ: Something about bi - bisexual.

PESCA: Amphibious pitcher makes debut.

(LAUGHTER)

GROSZ: Amphibious. Right, right. Ambidextrous. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

PESCA: Oakland A's new pitcher, Pat Venditte, has a unique skill. He is ambidextrous, meaning he can throw pitches equally well using either hand. He is not however, able to breathe underwater.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Now, for those who are curious, there hasn't been an ambidextrous pitcher in Major League Baseball since Greg Harris in 1995. And there hasn't been an amphibious pitcher since the red-spotted newt won the '78 Cy Young award.

(LAUGHTER)

PESCA: Bill, did Peter do well enough to win?

KURTIS: You know, he did well. He got five right. Ten more points, total of 14, which means that he and Maz are co-champions. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.