Fill Me In (podcast)
Fill Me In
| Fill Me In | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Language | English |
| Updates |
|
| Production | |
| Production |
|
| Audio format | Podcast (via streaming or downloadable MP3) |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 175 |
| Publication | |
| Original release | March 31, 2008 – present |
| Website | https://www.bemoresmarter.com/fill-me-in |
Search Fill Me In (podcast) on Amazon.
Fill Me In is a weekly podcast hosted by Brian Cimmet and Ryan Hecht (referred to collectively as "Ryan and Brian"). The principal focus of the show is analysis of crossword puzzles and other word games, with the central discussion on the New York Times crossword puzzle. Discussions of other puzzles and games has included acrostics, cryptic crosswords, word searches, and logic puzzles. Additionally, segments of various episodes have assessed and analyzed Games Magazine, P&A Magazine, The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, Sporcle, Learned League, and more.
Cohosts Brian Cimmet and Ryan Hecht founded the annual crossword tournament Lollapuzzoola in 2008, and dedicate air time to discussion of that event. Ryan, Brian, Lollapuzzoola, and Fill Me In were all included in David Astle's book "Puzzled: Secrets and Clues from a Life in Words".[1] Cimmet has authored several puzzle books (logic puzzles and word searches), all of which were published by Sterling Publishing. In 2011, Cimmet and Lollapuzzoola cohost Patrick Blindauer were credited as editors of a crossword puzzle published in the New York Times. This puzzle, constructed by Byron Walden, was featured at Lollapuzzoola and subsequently purchased by and published in The New York Times. To date, Cimmet and Blindauer are the only people (other than Will Shortz) to get an editing byline since Shortz became the Times's full-time crossword puzzle editor in 1993.[2]
Series overview[edit]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 45 | March 31, 2008 | March 17, 2009 | |
| 2 | 48 | March 24, 2009 | February 23, 2010 | |
| 3 | 43 | March 9, 2010 | March 13, 2011 | |
| 4 | 38 (in progress) | March 27, 2018 | NA | |
Season 1 (2008-09)[edit]
Inspired by the documentary Wordplay (film), Ryan and Brian decided to attend the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 2008, despite never having been particularly interested in crosswords. They finished the bottom 20% of the standings at that tournament.[3]
In response to that poor showing, they set out to improve their skills at solving (and speed-solving) crossword puzzles. A week after the tournament, they began to write a blog called Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords (now defunct). Shortly after that, they recording the first episode of the then-untitled Fill Me In.
Season 1 concluded with Ryan and Brian visiting the 2009 ACPT, at which Brian claimed first place in the tournament's E Division.[4]
Season 2 (2009-10)[edit]
Season 2 concluded with a rather remarkable surprise at the 2010 ACPT when Ryan won first place in the E Division[5] -- the same prize Brian had won the previous year. Ryan has named this his favorite moment from the history of Fill Me In.
Season 3 (2010-11)[edit]
Text for Season 3
Episode 136, entitled "The podcast of then", was intended as the conclusion of the series. At the time of that show's release (March 13, 2011), there was no indication from either host that there would be any future to Fill Me In.
Reunion Episode (2015)[edit]
On April 7, 2015, following encouragement from fans and friends, Ryan and Brian reunited for a single episode. The strongest encouragement came from Eric Peterson and Jeffrey Krasnick, both long-time followers of the original show, who created a tribute site for Fill Me In called fillmeinagain.com.[6] In this episode, Ryan and Brian began by pretending no time had passed since their last episode (from March 13, 2011), but after a bit, abandoned the ruse, and treated the rest of the show like a "Where Are They Now?" special.
Season 4 (2018- )[edit]
In early 2018, Ryan and Brian decided to relaunch the podcast. In advance of the relaunch, they created a teaser consisting of little more than a single word puzzle. The puzzle consisted of a set of clues, and when the answers to the clues were spoken aloud and in sequence, they collectively sounded like the phrase "Fill Me In is returning."
Popular Segments[edit]
Interviews[edit]
Although most episodes are conversations solely between Ryan and Brian, they have occasionally featured interviews with notable crossword people. Interviewees have included Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Sam Ezersky, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Tyler Hinman, Howard Barkin, Dan Feyer, and joon pahk.
Viewer Mail[edit]
Every week, Ryan and Brian read and discuss emails received from listeners. The emails usually relate to topics from the previous week, though the subjects are not restricted to crossword puzzles.
Thunder Round[edit]
Approximately 20 minutes of each episode (usually toward the end of the show) is dedicated to a review of the previous week of New York Times puzzles. Occasionally, Ryan and Brian will review puzzles from other sources. The format of the Thunder Round is an announcement of the date, the puzzle's constructor, a summary of the theme (if there was one), some banter about the quality of the puzzle, whether the hosts found the solving experience challenging, whether any of the vocabulary used was controversial or questionable, etc.
Contest of Now[edit]
Most episodes feature a weekly contest, usually in the form of a word puzzle or a trivia game. Listeners are invited to submit answers to the contest via email, and one correct answer is chosen the following week as the winner. Common prizes are puzzle books or entry tickets to tournaments or other puzzle events.
Nicknames[edit]
Many people associated with the show (either as correspondents or as social acquaintances of Ryan and Brian) are referenced with assorted nicknames. Some of the nicknames have little or nothing to do with anything factual or relevant about the person. Frequently heard nicknames include:
- Mike Nothnagel, Pen Pal Extraordinaire and Constructor of the Friday Puzzle (and the Oracle)
- joon pahk, Squirrel of Discord (and the Oracle)
- Doug Peterson, Crossword Gentleman and Man About Town
- Amanda Yesnowitz, the Unparalleled Parallel Verse Engineer, a Shining Light to Us All
- Tyler Hinman, [insert kickass nickname here]
- Andrea Carla Michaels ... Does she have a nickname? ... Not yet.
- Peter Gordon, Sextuple Threat; The Commissioner
- Vic "The Gavel" Fleming
Clubs[edit]
Regular listeners to the show are invited as members to fictional clubs, indicating various degrees of commitment to the show. Current clubs include:
- The Quintuple Decker Turkey Club – listeners who have left a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes.
- The Bruce Ryan FMI Mile High Club – Named for one of the podcast's most dedicated listeners, Bruce Ryan (who travels extensively), membership in this club is granted to people who have listened to the show while in an airplane (in the air).
- The Laura Braunstein Ground Level Club of Indeterminate Length – Named for crossword constructor and co-creator of The Inkubator puzzle series, membership in this club is granted to people who have listened to show while in a car, train, or bus.
The Oracle[edit]
Ryan and Brian often ask questions aloud during the show, citing ignorance on the given topic. Some of these questions are directly addressed to "The Oracle". In early seasons of the show, Ryan and Brian bestowed the title of Oracle upon Mike Nothnagel, who would respond (via email) each week with answers to the previous week's questions. Beginning in Season 4, Ryan and Brian offered listeners the opportunity to become the new Oracle (as Nothnagel hadn't replied to several questions). After some debate, the title of The Oracle was given to joon pahk.
The Spreadsheet[edit]
Early in the show's history, Ryan and Brian learned that one of their listeners, Jeffrey Krasnick, had created a spreadsheet on which he tracked every time any non-fictional human was mentioned on the show. As of December 2018, approximately ~2,800 people have been mentioned. Some are regular references (e.g., Will Shortz), and some are one-time mentions (e.g., "that guy who ordered chow mein at a Thai restaurant"). There has been some discussion to convert the spreadsheet to something publicly accessible so other fans can read the data.
Sandwiches[edit]
Throughout the series, Ryan and Brian have made frequent references to sandwiches. It is unclear whether this is an intentional throughline or simply a side topic of great interest to the hosts. Some of the more prominent discussions have included:
- Is a taco a sandwich?
- Is a wrap a sandwich?
- Is a hot dog a sandwich?
- What is a decker? (This topic, spun from a recognition that commonly-named "triple decker sandwiches" may have either three slices of bread or three layers of ingredients, has come up with such frequency that there have been video and audio responses to the "what is a decker?" question. Notably, a video was created by Eric Peterson, and later, an audio re-enactment was performed by two fans for an episode of Fill Me In.)
- Is any ingredient between two pieces of any other ingredient technically a sandwich?
Soup[edit]
Unrelated to the curious fascination with sandwiches, Brian claimed during a Season 1 episode that he didn't know anything about soup. This has led to many recurring discussions about soup, most of which are prefaced with a claim such as "here are some things Brian doesn't know about soup."
Baseball[edit]
Ryan and Brian are big baseball fans (Ryan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brian of the Boston Red Sox). During the baseball season, many side conversations shift to baseball, especially if either of their preferred teams have done anything notable. In 2018, the Red Sox and Dodgers faced off in the 2018 World Series, with the Red Sox winning the series four games to one. On the next episode of Fill Me In (Episode 169, 11/6/18), Brian welcomed guest cohost Angela Halsted, claiming that Ryan was quarantined for his own safety. To date, this is the only episode that was not hosted by both Ryan and Brian.
During the weekly contests, Ryan and Brian use a password to secure the validity of contest entries. The password has most frequently been the name of a baseball player whom one or both cohosts particularly dislikes. For a long time, the password was "Papelbon" (for former Red Sox relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon), and currently, the password is "Darvish" (for former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish).
Music[edit]
Theme Music[edit]
The opening and closing theme music for Fill Me In is called "Jag on a Hank", composed by Brian Cimmet. It was originally written for a never-completed (and never-aired) podcast and later adapted and used for Fill Me In. The music was untitled or simply referred to as "The Fill Me In Theme Music". Sometime in Season Two, during an on-air segment involving anagrams, the hosts made up an anagram for the name Jonah Kagan, and dubbed their theme music "Jag on a Hank". In some episodes, the hosts make reference to an imaginary orchestra playing the theme music, or to the notion that Ryan or Brian might be conducting the orchestra or performing the music live. However, the music has never been performed live, and the only recording of it (which is used in every episode) was computer-generated before the first show aired.
Other music[edit]
There have been other clips of music used with some regularity on the show. During Season Three, Harry Hassell arranged themes from "Jag on a Hank" for assorted woodwind instruments, and recordings of those arrangements were used on Episode 100. During Season Four, two new themes were written by Patrick Fanning to introduce The Quintuple Decker Turkey Club and The Contest of Now. Occasionally other public domain music is used.
Viewer Mail Song[edit]
The music that introduces the Viewer Mail segment each week is jocularly titled "The Viewer Mail Song", and it consists of Ryan snapping his fingers four times and chanting the phrase "Viewer Mail, opening it up." This music is performed live on the show. It has been performed by Ryan in all but two episodes.
List of Episodes[edit]
Season 1 (2008-09)[edit]
- 1. Untitled (3/31/08)
- 2. Untitled (4/7/08)
- 3. Untitled (4/8/08)
- 4. Untitled (4/12/08)
- 5. Untitled (4/15/08)
- 6. Untitled (4/21/08)
- 7. Untitled (4/29/08)
- 8. Untitled (4/29/08)
- 9. Untitled (5/5/08)
- 10. Return of the good(ish) sound quality. (5/12/08)
- 11. Ground beef and moderate anger. (5/19/08)
- 12. Long distance submarines (5/28/08)
- 13. Gotta buy a pole (6/3/08)
- 14. Nicknames, vowels and Vanna White (6/10/08)
- 15. We remain nameless, and yet we forge ahead. (6/16/08)
- 16. Six puzzles for the price of seven. (6/23/08)
- 17. Longer than it needs to be. (That's what she said.) (6/30/08)
- 18. The crossing of two fruits. (7/4/08)
- 19. No time! No puzzles! (7/14/08)
- 20. Broken microphone and all. (7/29/08)
- 21. We have a caller! (8/12/08)
- 22. The period goes inside the quote. (8/18/08)
- 23. Want some snacks? (8/24/08)
- 24. Put a sock in it. (2x) (8/29/08)
- 25. Brian goes to plaid. (9/9/08)
- 26. Now with sprinkles of smartness! (9/29/08)
- 27. Can't we leave one open, professor? (10/13/08)
- 28. Except it might be #029, but we lost the old #028, so this is now #028. (10/27/08)
- 29. Election day results – pancakes or tacos? Which would you pick? (11/5/08)
- 30. Life as a Monday – an interview with Andrea Carla Michaels (11/10/08)
- 31. You Be The Judge. (11/25/08)
- 32. Oh Canada (12/2/08)
- 33. Interview-less, and thus, title-less. (12/9/08)
- 34. The Song of the Volga Boatmen. (12/16/08)
- 35. Slice this open and cry! (12/22/08)
- 36. Rhymes with puzzle. (12/29/08)
- 37. Pie-thagorean Squares (and other math that doesn't exist) (1/12/09)
- 38. (Part 1): Too Much to squeeze in there.; (Part 2): Beating a dead horse. (1/19/09)
- 39. Jonesin' for Podcasts (1/26/09)
- 40. Jell-O in a box (2/11/09)
- 41. The Cold Open (2/17/09)
- 42. [Insert kickass title here.] (2/24/09)
- 43. Season Finale – The 2009 ACPT (3/3/09)
- 44. We met him at a bar ... on a Saturday ... (3/11/09)
- 45. Finally, the final finale. (3/17/09)
Season 2 (2009-10)[edit]
- 46. Season Two "Prem-yah" (3/24/09)
- 47. Nicknames, and their relative deservedness. (4/1/09)
- 48. Aaaaand ... (4/7/09)
- 49. The Contest (4/13/09)
- 50. Thunder vs. Lightning (4/20/09)
- 51. Hooray! It's our milespone episode! (4/28/09)
- 52. Would you like to sponsor our lack of sponsorship? (5/5/09)
- 53. Something old, something new, something borrowed ... and a buzzer. (5/11/09)
- 54. Take your lederhosen and get out of here! (5/18/09)
- 55. We're on Abe Vigoda time. (5/25/09)
- 56. Numquam uidi iniquius certationem comparatam ... (6/2/09)
- 57. Please find us Christina Applegate. We think you're awesome. (6/9/09)
- 58. Hey people who don't listen to us – why aren't you listening? (6/15/09)
- 59. Reduced to a PG-13 rating (now without nudity, foul language or humor) (6/23/09)
- 60. There's a bobcat in our bag. (6/30/09)
- 61. Unedited, unplugged, unlistened. (7/7/09)
- 62. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, an anagram thereof. (7/14/09)
- 63. If you were a flute, what kind of animal would you be? (7/21/09)
- 64. The Peter Gordon Show (7/28/09)
- 65. Nom nom nom (8/4/09)
- 66. Try being nicer. (8/11/09)
- 67. Jab rhymes with cab and lons rhymes with Fonz. (8/18/09)
- 68. Breaking news – Lollapuzzoola is finally over! (8/25/09)
- 69. The Oracle, The Innovator, the Math Teacher of Xan Vongsathorn's Sister. (9/1/09)
- 70. Buon giorno, Gionata Papelbuono! (9/8/09)
- 71. I'm in a ukulele band. (9/15/09)
- 72. ... and Bingo was his name-o. (9/22/09)
- 73. A small break from daily doctrination. (9/29/09)
- 74. And if you went to Vassar, we'll say your name next week. (10/6/09)
- 75. [They may go up in a plane.] (10/13/09)
- 76. The dictionary is the enemy of the podcast. (10/20/09)
- 77. The Phillies super cream cheese monkey a*s suck. (10/27/09)
- 78. A random sort of thing. (11/3/09)
- 79. Go to Connecticut, take a right, and just keep going. (11/10/09)
- 80. This one night, Charlize Theron tickled my stomach. (11/17/09)
- 81. Shut that damn bouzouki up! (11/24/09)
- 82. It started as a stick, but then I called it a podcast. (12/1/09)
- 83. In which you'll wish Ryan had never started with the whole Thor thing. (12/8/09)
- 84. I am the music; you are the circus. (12/15/09)
- 85. Mohammed and Crosscan, leaders in their own way. (12/22/09)
- 86. We call this one "Happy New Year, everyone!" (1/5/10)
- 87. Please forgive us, for we did not know that Venkatasubramanyan rhymes with bunion. (1/12/10)
- 88. Plantinum limb and addled gain gives the bird (9). (1/19/10)
- 89. Remember when Episodes 87 and 88 were issued on vinyl? (1/26/10)
- 90. This episode has been placed in your capable hands. (2/2/10)
- 91. Superbowl Tuesday! (2/9/10)
- 92. ACPT – Here we come! (2/16/10)
- 93. Season Finale – the 2010 ACPT (2/23/10)
Season 3 (2010-11)[edit]
- 94. Season Three Premiere! (or, "What in the world is 'zambezi and oat'?") (3/9/10)
- 95. This is the gloaming. (3/16/10)
- 96. Relese the Kraken! (3/23/10)
- 97. The most ginormous thirty-eight minutes you'll ever hear. (3/10/10)
- 98. Pump up and air out. (4/6/10)
- 99. Ease on down, ease on down the road. (4/13/10)
- 100. Lifetime! (4/20/10)
- 101. Does it involve running? (5/4/10)
- 102. One step below adequacy. (5/11/10)
- 103. No tangents ... Go! (5/18/10)
- 104. Now my new fork has fallen. (5/25/10)
- 105. My baton is more legitimate than yours. (6/1/10)
- 106. Happy birthday, Solomon of "The Stare." (6/8/10)
- 107. The drug of the puzzle world is the "a-ha moment." (6/15/10)
- 108. Featuring "Jag on a Hank" – unplugged. (6/22/10)
- 109. In case you ever wondered what would happen if Ryan wasn't available… (7/6/10)
- 110. Your extrapolation is not my failure. (7/13/10)
- 111. Insalvageable. (7/20/10)
- 112. Context, no context (7/27/10)
- 113. Would you please take the vuvuzela home and practice? (8/3/10)
- 114. ROFLCOPTER – Franklin's stealing third! (8/10/10)
- 115. A complete success, for the most part. (8/17/10)
- 116. PICKLES SINGS! (9/7/10)
- 117. Pick one – baldness or dementia. (9/14/10)
- 118. An acronym of an anagram. (9/21/10)
- 119. Office hours are on Wednesday afternoon. (9/28/10)
- 120. Gression. (10/12/10)
- 121. In which we reune with Studio A. (10/19/10)
- 122. We're throwing muffins in the kitchen. (10/26/10)
- 123. It's the all-vowel show (including the 'enwah'). (11/3/10)
- 124. We are experts in ramen noodles. (11/9/10)
- 125. We've figured out how hereditation works. (11/16/10)
- 126. "Alphabological and Others" by Pat Sajak. (11/23/10)
- 127. Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative. (11/30/10)
- 128. A power of two. (12/14/10)
- 129. Inuktitut syllabics. (12/27/10)
- 130. Fifty-three Fridays. (1/4/11)
- 131. Palindrome! (1/11/11)
- 132. Is there something in your box that you didn't order? (1/25/11)
- 133. How did you learn about the word 'plethora'? (2/7/11)
- 134. I have done zero preparation for this episode. (2/10/11)
- 135. Have a goat. (2/27/11)
- 136. The podcast of then. (3/13/11)
Reunion Episode (2015)[edit]
- 137. The coincidence of language. (4/7/15)
Season 4 (2018- )[edit]
- 138. Take two (3/28/18)
- 139. We're sorry, Peter. (4/3/18)
- 140. Ciao, Ragazzi! (4/17/18)
- 141. Big crunch, intense (4/24/18)
- 142. The Water Wall (5/1/18)
- 143. Suddenly, See More (5/8/18)
- 144. Basketball and silence (5/15/18)
- 145. Isn't this all about a sandwich in Connecticut? (5/22/18)
- 146. I'm slow, I'm busy, I'm tired ... (5/29/18)
- 147. 30% Overdone Silkscreening (6/5/18)
- 148. I don't know how the other legs work. (6/12/18)
- 149. The cleverness of interlocking words. (6/19/18)
- 150. A bowl of liquid with stuff in it. (6/26/18)
- 151. The good name of quality scansion. (7/3/18)
- 152. We've abandoned TWO cars on the highway. (7/10/18)
- 153. The original marshmallow sandwich. (7/17/18)
- 154. The purest form of the hunt. (7/24/18)
- 155. A taco is no different than a peanut butter bender. (7/31/18)
- 156. There is a big difference between a plate and a pizza (8/7/18)
- 157. The number one cream cheese delivery system. (8/14/18)
- 158. People coming together to do something positive. (8/21/18)
- 159. Semantic shift happens. (8/28/18)
- 160. You were silent, and then you just agreed with me. (9/4/18)
- 161. We're off to do the podcast ... (9/11/18)
- 162. A starburst of hooray (9/18/18)
- 163. An isotope of toast. (9/25/18)
- 164. We are bootylicious. (10/2/18)
- 165. When were refrigerators? (10/9/18)
- 166. How do you pronounce it, "mauve" or "mauve"? (10/16/18)
- 167. Understand the concept rather than arguing the semantics. (10/23/18)
- 168. This is Ryan Hecht. He's alive. (10/30/18)
- 169. Puzzlegirl doesn't want to talk about sandwiches. (11/6/18)
- 170. That's a long time to listen to the crinkling of cellophane. (11/13/18)
- 171. Take him away, boys! (11/20/18)
- 172. How does it feel to want? (11/27/18)
- 173. I know English; I know nothing else ... or six French things that don't revolve. (12/4/18)
- 174. What, there are only three beasts and a title? (12/11/18)
- 175. You must velvet the beef. (12/18/18)
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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