Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me on PRE News And Ideas

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Now 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 they can, each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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 is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

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Now, panel, what will be the first big change the new guy makes at Amazon? Faith Salie.

FAITH SALIE: Alexa will change her name to Bill and finally start swearing.

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SAGAL: Peter Grosz.

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Now, panel, what will be the big ad that we do get to see at next weekend's big game? Tom Papa.

TOM PAPA: Filling the Budweiser gap, Taco Bell announces the new Dalmatian chimichanga.

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SAGAL: Jessi Klein.

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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 is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

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Coming up, it's Lightning Fill In The Blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on-air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can always just click the Contact Us link on our website waitwait.npr.org.

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* Now, panel, what'll be the big surprise executive order from Joe Biden? Josh Gondelman.

JOSH GONDELMAN: A compromise with Republicans deregulating the use of malarkey in national parks and wildlife refuges.

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SAGAL: Helen Hong.

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It's time for 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 answer is now worth two points. Chioke, can you give us the scores?

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Now, panel, how will they explain Samantha's absence on the show? Negin Farsad.

NEGIN FARSAD: What happened is that Samantha started wearing cargo pants, and it created an insurmountable division in their friendship.

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SAGAL: Roxanne Roberts.

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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 is now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lightning Fill In The Blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you'd like to play on air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. You can click the contact us link on our website, waitwait.npr.org.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Now, panel, what will be the next big addition to the Capitol building when they finish fixing it up? Joel Kim Booster.

JOEL KIM BOOSTER: An it's-been-this-many-days-since-our-last-coup sign.

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SAGAL: Amy Dickinson.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Now it's time to move 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 they can, each correct answer now worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Finally, there used to be a time when we would fantasize about traveling to other worlds or having superpowers. These days, we just dream about being able to go outside.

BILL KURTIS: Kellee Edwards is living the dream. She's an explorer, scuba diver, adventurer and host of "Mysterious Islands" on the Travel Channel. Peter asked her if she had to give up travel during the pandemic.

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BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME - the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. And here's your host, a man who believes 2021 is the year he starts wearing bow ties - Peter Sagal.

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Thank you, Bill. So it really was a great year - really, at least in one-hour weekly increments or, to be strictly accurate, in certain parts of one-hour weekly increments - usually when we got to talk to somebody cool.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

One of the most interesting people we spoke to this year was somebody we had never heard of before, which was quite intentional on her part.

BILL KURTIS: Jonna Mendez worked in the CIA for decades, rising to become the first-ever master of disguise. Peter asked her if that was a real job title.

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JONNA MENDEZ: A lot of people are amazed at that title. Yeah, we had quite an effort underway in the field of disguise.

BILL KURTIS: Finally, we spoke to a New Yorker whose eyes weren't on Broadway marquees, but whatever might be making a nest on top of them.

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Before becoming a professional birdwatcher and landing a job with the National Audubon Society, Jason Ward was a kid in the Bronx who one day saw a peregrine falcon eating a pigeon.

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BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR News quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. And here is your host, who's going to keep running the crushed ice dispenser on the fridge until he has enough for indoor sledding, Peter Sagal.

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Thank you, Bill. Now, we are celebrating Christmas with the best gift of all - nostalgia. It's free. It's environmentally sensitive. And you don't have to worry about the person who shipped it getting enough bathroom breaks.

BILL KURTIS: By the end of June, we had been locked inside for four months, and we were getting a little punchy, as our guest, Don Cheadle, found out.

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DON CHEADLE: I came out of California Institute of the Arts. And we were involved in comedy, drama, comedia, mime - you know, what have you?

PETER SAGAL: Mime?

CHEADLE: Well, not in college. In high school, I was in a mime show. But that's a whole story.

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Now, panel, what will replace Christmas trees this year? Tom Bodett.

TOM BODETT: Pyramids of empty Amazon boxes. And then we can wipe the British Commonwealth's eye (ph) with the day after Christmas being Unboxing Day.

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SAGAL: Helen Hong.

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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. Bill, can you give us the scores?

BILL KURTIS: Helen has two. Peter has three. And Tom has three.

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MAZ JOBRANI, HOST:

Now, panel, who will be the first American to get the vaccine - Adam Burke?

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MAZ JOBRANI, HOST:

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MAZ JOBRANI, HOST:

All right. 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 is worth two points. Bill, can you give us the scores?

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Now, panel, what will be written on Joe Biden's cast? Faith Salie?

FAITH SALIE: Joe, put your feet up. I got this. XO, Kamala.

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JOBRANI: Jessi Klein.

JESSI KLEIN: I think Major the dog will write, one mistake, and you're getting a cat?