Fill Me In Again: Recent Episodes
Ryan Hecht and Brian Cimmet
Hi Eric and Jeffrey, I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to let you know that I was talking with Ryan Hecht the other day, and we were both so honored by your FILL ME IN website. In fact, we were so moved, we created a small surprise for you. Well, not very […]
Some have said it’s the end of an era. We think it’s just something we decided not to do anymore. Original blog post on the Wayback Machine
Wednesday is Wednesday, even if the podcast is up 14 hours late. Original blog post on the Wayback Machine
Being busy and being away from home are two separate concepts yielding two separate results. Original blog post on the Wayback Machine
Recaps! News! The future! All we need now is something interesting to talk about. Original blog post from the Wayback Machine
Brian doesn’t know the difference between Monday and Tuesday. Also, freaky dreams infect our audience. Original blog post on the Wayback Machine
Ryan has a singing face. And pie and ice cream co-exist on a plate. Photographic evidence exists.
Pie and ice cream taste great together, but that doesn’t make them inseparable. Also, more things Brian doesn’t know about pie.
This week, things are triple-checked, double-crossed and the whole show is one singular sensation.
Big things happened this week, but we didn’t participate in any of it. But we were in the same room again for the first time in two months, so that was celebratory. For us.
Come visit Brian in Syracuse. But sign up first, so he doesn’t go home early and forget about you.
Writing this little blurb three months after airing the episode, we have no idea what this one is about.
It’s been a three-week hiatus, but we haven’t been cancelled, contrary to everything CBS says about us.
With the exception of an inexplicable and unstoppable chirping, Lollapuzzoola seemed to happen, more or less.
It’s our annual pre-Lollapuzzoola episode. Typically, this means we have no useful content (because we’re frantically preparing for the ‘zoola), but it also means we’re weirder than usual (same parenthetical reason).
Big news is afoot. We’d suggest that you listen to find out — but if you’re reading this, you probably either already know or never cared.
Well, it’s better than last time. We’re still 300 miles apart, but now the internet works again.
Brian’s in Maine. Ryan’s on vacation. Not a single conversation happens between them. It’s really horrible. Enjoy!
We learn about puzzle hunts and Winston Breen, courtesy of an interview with Eric Berlin.
The arguments continue, and the irreconcilable differences in puzzle practice are… well, kind of irreconcilable.
It’s that Season Three surge, where the two main characters begin to fail in their relationship. Where will this lead?
In an effort to make up for last week’s uselessness, Brian talks really fast, and it kinda freaks Ryan out a bit.
What the episode title lacks in specificity is exceeded only by what the episode itself lacks in content. It’s fun, yes. Crossword-y? Not this time.
This show has everything. Regular segments, special guests, oddball sound effects, poetry written just for us — it’s maybe the greatest episode of the greatest podcast in the history of everything. Lifetime!
It’s our first travelling episode as we record the show from Brian’s car. We might sound a little like our heads are in a toilet, but we promise, it’s just a Honda Fit.
A tribute to sneakers we wore almost 20 years ago is somehow enough of a thing to make it into the title.
We cheat a bit and use old material without telling you. Only about six seconds, but still.
Our pronunciation is kept in check, but Ryan still doesn’t know the past tense of “babysit.”
One exhausted host and one not-yet-awake host attempt to present thirty-five minutes of humor. Hilarity ensues.
It’s the start of a new podcast season, and we are back with new and old segments alike.
It’s our season finale, and ACPT wrap-up. You’ll never guess the twist ending that no one saw coming. Even now that it’s happened, it’s difficult to believe.
Pre-ACPT interviews with Tyler, Trip, Francis, Dan and Howard, 13 minutes with Will Shortz, a double thunder round, and holy crap, the big weekend is moments away!
Interviews are back! We talk about puzzle, chicken and Mad Magazine with Patrick Merrell.
Welcoming Ryan back from Costa Rica, we immediately begin discussing things he doesn’t understand, like cryptic crosswords. Yes, still.
It’s a contest within a contest, plus we solve one more clue in Ryan’s cryptic crossword.
One of our New Year’s resolutions is to actually talk about more puzzles. This episode lives up to that. Will the next one live up to this one?
Welcome to 2010! We offer our 2009 Year In Review, and name several people as Best Of without offering them a single prize. That’s how we do it!
The original Winner of the Contest becomes part of his own legacy. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Episode 85 of Fill Me In. This is going to be our last episode of 2009, so it’s got a little extra of a few favorite Fill Me In features, including: mediocre sound quality Viewer Mail that no […]
A whole bunch of names, and Ryan has very firm opinions about something that no one ever really wanted to argue with him in the first place.
All baseball players play baseball, and Ryan loves baseball — but Ryan does not love all baseball players.
Brian is censored, Ryan narrates a film trilogy and more complaints run rampant with regards to out-of-the-language French.
Beef stew and a battle royal between all the Greeks and Romans that Fill Me In has to offer.
Our roving reporter reports on Pleasantville (the tournament-hosting town, not the movie), and Ryan and Brian offer a special musical performance.
With 50% of the hosting team overseas, the podcast faces a major obstacle in bringing entertainment to the (minuscule) masses.
We receive some awesome Viewer Mail, and confirm a surprising connection between two of our fans.
It’s the Lollapuzzoola Recap episode. If you were there, you know what happened. If you weren’t, you got some ’splainin’ to do.
The largest Viewer Mail bag to date, we return to the Vongsathorn family, and the Crossword Tip of the Quartermonth discusses quote puzzles.
Brian and Ryan are labeled as “mean.” Sad, not entirely accurate, but not entirely inaccurate either.
We’ve got a picture of a bunny nibbling on something and a bit of music that may or may not be protected by copyright.
We’ve got an interview and the World’s Worst Crossword Puzzle courtesy of constructor/editor and sextuple-threat Peter Gordon.
For some reason, terrible audio quality (not as bad as early in Season One, but weirdly metallic and outer-spacey). It’s still a good show, though.
Soup is a little too prevalent, we think. But we offer a rare segment: The Crossword Tip of the Quartermonth.
We worry about the future of the second Sunday puzzle. We still have a petition up, but it’s looking a little thin.
It’s Brian’s 36th birthday, and he dreams about a podcast interview with Christina Applegate.
Recap of the L.A. tournament with Doug Peterson. Also Tyler Hinman calls in with a new contest.
Discussions of other puzzle features (Wired magazine, the One Day University) and another Fill Me In themed puzzle comes our way.
The beginning of the Thunder Round, as well an interview with Elissa Grossman, coordinator of the Los Angeles Crossword Tournament.
We recap the Boston Crossword Tournament (yes, we competed!) and take a photograph of a huge, dead rodent.
We’re trying to begin Twittering. Also, we want new listeners to understand what we do. It’s all schtick, kids.
It’s more cut footage from Episode 43. We think of these last two episodes as the bonus features on the DVD box set.
Delaying the start of Season Two, we put up an episode comprised almost entirely of interview footage cut from Episode 43. This one is all about Merl Reagle.
Despite being the so-called finale of Season One, this is where at least one of us (Brian) thinks the show began to take off. Before this, too much rambling nonsense. After this, plenty of rambling nonsense, but also occasional structure. This episode is super-sized, but it’s a fun recap of the 2009 tournament. Lots of […]
It’s a tough-to-hear interview with Tyler Hinman. He’s a genius, so it’s worth struggling through the bad audio.
We recorded way too much, and split it into two episodes. And we interview a couple of favorite constructors, Barry C. Silk and Doug Peterson.
We recorded way too much, and split it into two episodes. And we interview a couple of favorite constructors, Barry C. Silk and Doug Peterson.
Two new downloads for our viewers, including the amazing sheet music form of the Viewer Mail Song.
Another interview, this time with Vic Fleming. Also, at the time, we mis-numbered this as Episode 32.
We receive a live phone call during the episode. This is definitely a highlight. Probably our first highlight.
We didn’t know it then, but the pre-cursor to the Thunder Round happened here. 26 puzzles in four minutes.
We announce our first tournament. We also post our very first crossword construction. It’s not very good.
Amanda gives our podcast a name, and “Fill Me In” is born. It only took sixteen episodes.
…because that’s how it sounds. Brian works away from home a lot, so some episodes were recorded via Skype. This was the first attempt.
Our first titled episode. We still haven’t titled the show, but the episode has a name.
Another partial week. “Zambezi and oat” appears for the first time. Also Viewer Mail becomes “Viewer Mail.”
NYT puzzle recap, 3/24-3/30. Includes what has become an audio catchphrase, “Have we started?”