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Lightning Fill In The Blank

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

BILL KURTIS, BYLINE: Brian and Luke have two apiece. Amy has three.

SAGAL: We have flipped a coin, and Luke has elected to go first. Here we go. The clock will start when I begin your first question - fill in the blank. On Wednesday, the FAA lifted its ban on flights to blank.

LUKE BURBANK: Tel Aviv?

SAGAL: Right, to Israel.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Amid safety concerns, McDonalds announced that it has stopped purchasing meat from a supplier in blank.

BURBANK: A place where they sell rotten meat?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Yes. That's right, but specifically it is China. This week, Senator John Walsh of Montana was accused of blanking large portions of his master's thesis.

BURBANK: Plagiarizing.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, U.S. authorities claimed to have arrested over 200 people in crack-downs on the blank.

BURBANK: Oh, the border.

SAGAL: Yes, on the border.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A postal worker in England was forced to abandon her route when she accidentally released blanks from a package she was delivering.

BURBANK: Bees.

SAGAL: Yes, 2,000 of them.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A new study from the University of California San Diego suggests that dogs may be able to feel blank.

BURBANK: Happiness?

SAGAL: No.

BURBANK: Loneliness?

SAGAL: Jealousy, jealousy. Best known for his role in "Maverick" and later "The Rockford Files," actor blank passed away at the age of 86.

BURBANK: James Garner.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: After the word fire began flashing on his dashboard, a man in Britain pulled over and abandoned his car, only to discover blank.

BURBANK: That - that he was on fire?

SAGAL: No. He discovered that the car was just telling him the name of the song on the radio.

AMY DICKINSON: (Laughing) No.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: A man's driving along. All of a sudden...

DICKINSON: (Singing) Fire.

SAGAL: The readout says, fire, fire, fire. He's like, oh my god, pulls over, jumps out. Police officers found him on the side of the road. They said, no, no, no. That was the Adele song you were listening to.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Luke do in our quiz?

DICKINSON: (Singing) Fire.

(LAUGHTER)

KURTIS: Thank you, Amy. Luke had five right, for 10 more points. He now has 12 points and the lead.

SAGAL: All right, very good.

(APPLAUSE)

BRIAN BABYLON: Man.

SAGAL: Brian, you're up next. Fill in the blank. This week, the EU expanded sanctions against Russia, claiming they're partly responsible for the plane being shot down in blank.

BABYLON: Ukraine?

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: President Obama met with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the blank.

BABYLON: The moon landing?

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Tuesday, Iran vowed to spend the next four months eliminating its blank material.

BABYLON: Nuclear.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: On Monday, President Obama signed an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against blank.

BABYLON: Gay people.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A Colorado man who stole $20,000 from a bank in Denver was arrested shortly afterwards because he blanked.

BABYLON: He started gambling in his sleep.

SAGAL: No - because he robbed the bank while wearing a shirt with his name on it.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: With his win at the British Open, Rory McIlroy became the third blank to win three major titles by the age of 25.

BABYLON: Golfer.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in Washington chose to dive out of a moving car to avoid blank.

BABYLON: His car on (singing) fire? No, no, I'm joking.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: No. He jumped - he dove out of the moving car to avoid an argument with his girlfriend.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: According to - cause who has not been tempted? According to police reports, the man and his girlfriend had just been arguing when the man opened the passenger side door and jumped out of the moving vehicle. Say what you will, the man did get the last word in the argument, and that last word was, (yelling) ouch.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Brian do in our quiz?

KURTIS: He got five right, for 10 more points - gives him 12 points. And he is tied with Luke for the lead.

BABYLON: Oh.

SAGAL: Well done.

(APPLAUSE).

KURTIS: And Amy needs five to win.

SAGAL: Well, thank you. I was just about to ask. Amy, you need five to win. Here we go. This is for the game. Fill in the blank. The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to reduce the terms of blank traffickers already spending time in prison.

DICKINSON: Drug.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Washington residents were forced to evacuate their houses as the biggest blank in that state's history continued to spread.

DICKINSON: Wildfire.

SAGAL: Right.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: This week, an Italian court overturned former Premier Blank's sex-for-hire conviction.

DICKINSON: Berlusconi.

SAGAL: Berlusconi.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: The man in California who robbed a burrito joint was arrested later that day when he blanked.

(LAUGHTER)

DICKINSON: Burst in flames?

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: No. When he went went back to the same burrito joint to buy lunch. It was good. Thanks to mobile advertising, social media site blank reached double it's IPO price.

DICKINSON: Oh, Facebook.

SAGAL: Yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: A man in Mississippi attempting to flee a traffic stop ended up running straight into blank while looking for a way out.

DICKINSON: Man in Mississippi, fleeing a traffic stop, running.

SAGAL: Running away from the police. Ran into?

DICKINSON: A police van?

SAGAL: No.

DICKINSON: Police...

SAGAL: He ran into the police academy.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Roger Beasly was stopped for speeding on a street in Biloxi, knew he had cocaine in his pocket, so he decided to run for it. He ran right onto the grounds of the Harrison County Law Enforcement Training Academy. It was the biggest mistake involving the police academy since the last time somebody decided to watch one of the "Police Academy" movies.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, did Amy do well enough to win?

KURTIS: Well, Amy got four right, for eight more points - was just a little short. And that means we have a tie...

SAGAL: A tie.

KURTIS: For the winner Luke and Brian, with 11 points.

SAGAL: Very well done.

(APPLAUSE)

SAGAL: In just a minute, we'll ask our panelists what will be the next, shocking piece of good news to get us through the week. But first, let me tell you that support for NPR comes from NPR stations and Angie's List, connecting consumers with user-reviewed contractors, an online marketplace and concierge support for home improvement services - angieslist.com. The Skoll Foundation, supporting social entrepreneurs and their innovations to solve the world's most pressing problems, at ask skoll.org. And Subaru, featuring the all-new Subaru Legacy. It's not just a Sedan, it's a Subaru. Learn more at the subaru.com. WAIT WAIT ...DON'T TELL ME is a production of NPR and WBEZ Chicago, in association with Urgent Haircut Productions, Doug Berman, benevolent overlord. Phillip Goedicke writes our limericks. Our intern is Smashing Succ-seth Kelly. Our web guru is Beth Novey. Limericks are in turn is this smashing success Kelly. BJ Lederman composed our theme. Our program is produced by Eva Wolchover and Miles Dornboss. Technical direction is from Lorna White. Our CFO is Ann Nguyen. Our production coordinator is Mr. Robert Neuhaus. Our senior producer is Ian Chillag. And the executive producer of WAIT WAIT ...DON'T TELL ME is Michael Lynwood Danforth. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.