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 they can. Each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?
BILL KURTIS: Brian has two. Josh has three. And Amy has three.
SAGAL: All right.
AMY DICKINSON: Woah.
SAGAL: That means, Brian, you're in third place. You're up first. The clock will start when I begin your first question. Fill in the blank. Here we go.
BRIAN BABYLON: All right.
SAGAL: On Thursday, President Biden announced he agreed to a bipartisan group's trillion-dollar blank deal.
BABYLON: Infrastructure.
SAGAL: Exactly.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a woman who pled guilty to participating in the riot at the blank was given three years' probation.
BABYLON: Capitol.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Though finalizing the count could take weeks, early reports indicate that Eric Adams has the lead in blank's mayoral primary.
BABYLON: New York City.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, legendary runner Usain Bolt welcomed his new son into the world, blank Bolt.
BABYLON: Usain.
SAGAL: Thunder Bolt. On Thursday, rapper blank sued Walmart, claiming the company ripped off his shoe designs.
BABYLON: Kanye West.
SAGAL: You bet.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: After accidentally sending out an email that just said...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...Integration Test Email #1 to their millions of subscribers, HBO Max blanked.
BABYLON: They blamed the intern.
SAGAL: That's right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: The mistake went viral, so they had to say something. And what they said was, quote, "it was the intern." No, really. They went on to blame the intern for the last season of "Game Of Thrones," too.
DICKINSON: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Bill, how did Brian do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Well, he had five right for 10 more points. He now has 12 and the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: Oh, very good. All right. We'll arbitrarily choose Miss Dickinson to go next. Amy, you're up next. Fill in the blank. According to health experts, COVID's blank variant is spreading rapidly in unvaccinated areas.
DICKINSON: Delta.
SAGAL: Yes, the delta variant.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In an effort to curb violent crime, President Biden announced a proposal to crack down on gun sellers who fail to run blanks.
DICKINSON: Background checks.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to an assessment from intelligence agencies, blank's government could collapse after the U.S. military withdraws.
DICKINSON: Afghanistan.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Authorities are investigating the cause of a condo collapse in blank on Thursday.
DICKINSON: Near Miami.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A fisherman in Chile was being interviewed on TV about a, quote, "plague of sea lions" when the interview was interrupted by a blank.
DICKINSON: A sea lion.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: In her hearing about her conservatorship on Wednesday, blank spoke passionately about wanting control of her life back.
DICKINSON: Britney.
SAGAL: Britney Spears.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, parents were outraged...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...When a school principal in New York was caught trying to blank.
DICKINSON: Skip school. No.
SAGAL: Start summer break a week early. The principal didn't give any explanation when she sent parents an email informing them there'd be no classes for the rest of the semester. But it's safe to assume that Groupon to Playa del Carmen had a pretty narrow travel window. After receiving several complaints, the principal reversed course, leaving parents proud that they had saved the school year and that their kids said thanks by giving them a cool new nickname, narc - whatever that means.
DICKINSON: (Laughter).
SAGAL: Bill, how did Amy do on our quiz?
KURTIS: Very good - six right, 12 more points. She now has 15 and the lead.
(SOUNDBITE OF APPLAUSE SOUND EFFECT)
SAGAL: All right. How many then does Josh Gondelman need to win this thing?
KURTIS: Well, he needs six to tie, so that means he needs seven to win.
SAGAL: All right, Josh, this is for the game. Let's go. On Tuesday, the GOP blocked the Senate Democrats' blank rights bill.
JOSH GONDELMAN: Voting.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, an appeals court blocked a ruling overturning California's ban on blanks.
GONDELMAN: Automatic weapons.
SAGAL: Yeah, assault weapons.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, a report from Michigan's GOP-led oversight committee said there was no evidence of widespread blank fraud.
GONDELMAN: Voter fraud.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: Following a raid by police, the last pro-democracy newspaper in blank announced they were shutting down.
GONDELMAN: Hong Kong.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: This week, an independent analysis conducted by The New York Times failed to find any tuna DNA in blank.
GONDELMAN: Subway's tuna sandwiches.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: According to the National Association of Realtors, blank prices in 2020 rose to record highs.
GONDELMAN: Home prices.
SAGAL: Right.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: On Monday, Carl Nassib became the first openly gay active player in the blank.
GONDELMAN: NFL.
SAGAL: Yes.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
SAGAL: A group of French soccer fans who flew in to see their...
(SOUNDBITE OF GONG)
SAGAL: ...National team play Hungary missed the game because they blanked.
GONDELMAN: Got too drunk.
SAGAL: No. They flew to Bucharest instead of Budapest.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: It would have been fine, except Bucharest is 500 miles from Budapest and in an entirely different country. Not to worry, though. They will have another chance. They've already booked their tickets to Melbourne for France's game against Austria.
(LAUGHTER)
SAGAL: Bill, did Josh do well enough to win? He did pretty well.
KURTIS: He did better than pretty well. And we should stand and pay our respects because Josh got seven right for a total of 17. And that means he is this week's champion.
SAGAL: Yay.
BABYLON: Congrats, Josh.
DICKINSON: Woo.
GONDELMAN: Thank you.
SAGAL: Yes. If T-Pain were here, he would play that awful noise.
GONDELMAN: (Laughter). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.