Ryan and Brian Do Crosswords

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Fill Me In

Fill Me In is a weekly podcast program, in which we (Ryan Hecht and Brian Cimmet) talk for about 30-40 minutes about a variety of subjects, some of which occasionally include puzzles.

When we first started the podcast in April 2008, we spent almost the entire show discussing each of the New York Times crossword puzzles that week in great detail. We analyzed clues, themes, crowed with pride over no-Googling a Tuesday and complained at great length that Saturdays should be all but excised from human existence.

As the show has progressed and grown, we’ve improved our sound quality, we’ve gotten into a more organized routine, we’ve featured interviews with crossword celebrities, and we’ve allowed some other nonsense and banter to mix into the show. We still spend time on the weekly puzzles, but also devote parts of the show to other aspects of the puzzle world and community as well as the inevitable “two nerds with microphones” banter and repartee.

We’ve put this page together to help new listeners get caught up and join in the fun without either having to listen to everything we’ve done so far or feeling left out of the game. So here’s some basic stuff and a little glossary to help you know what’s going on.

YOUR HOSTS

  • Brian Cimmet (left, at computer) is originally from Maine, and now lives in New York City with his wife Toni and their two cats (Jack, the Adorable and Blueberry, the Insane). He works as a pianist for theater and other venues in New York and around the country. He is a Gemini and incapable of turning down an opportunity for a great sandwich.
  • Ryan Hecht (right, giggling) grew up in Los Angeles, and now lives in New York City with his wife (Kathryn) and their two cats (Arizona, the One Who Pees and Brooke, the One We Can Never Find). While pursuing the valiant career of a New York actor, he works a completely soul-sucking job where his favorite activities include translating PDF files into Word documents without the aid of OCR.

THE SHOW

Since the podcast has been perpetually evolving, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what to expect in any given episode. However, there have a been a few features and segments that pop up from time to time, at least with enough frequency to merit inclusion here.

  • Viewer Mail | In an effort to validate ourselves, we invited our listeners to write in with their thoughts and comments on… well, anything. While this began slowly, it has increased steadily, and now this segment comprises a great portion of each week. As a result, many of our throughlines and ongoing stories stem from discussions we have with our audience through email.
  • Nicknames and Titles | Through our first several episodes, we kept referring to people we knew, and in an effort to not alienate our audience, we kept reminding them (and us) who these people were. The one that seemed to come up in each of our first six or seven episodes was Dan Feyer, who won the C Division at the 2008 ACPT. Every time we said his name, we followed it with why he was important: “Dan Feyer, Winner of the C Division.” A few more people became regular characters in our discussions, and we didn’t want them to feel left out. Now it’s beyond our control.
  • Lollapuzzoola | In the summer of 2008, we hosted our first crossword tournament. About thirty contestants showed up and solved puzzles constructed by Dan Feyer, Ashish Vengsarkar, Mike Nothnagel, Barry C. Silk and Doug Peterson. Howard Barkin took home the first place trophy. In August 2009, we hosted Lollapuzzoola 2: Son of Puzzoola, with puzzles constructed by Mike Nothnagel, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Doug Peterson, Todd McClary and Peter Gordon. Keep an eye out for August 2010, and the inexplicable name we give our next tournament.
  • The Arc of Season Two | In an effort to give us a goal for the show, we decided to try and become constructors ourselves. Ryan was successful in creating a grid of black and white squares, and housing one entry (ROCK BAND DRUM SET). Brian has created many puzzles, and submitted two to the New York Times. As of now, he’s still waiting to hear, which probably means they’ve been thrown away.
  • Crosscan’s Spreadsheet | Our most dedicated listener is Crosscan, without a doubt. For reasons we will never fully understand, he decided one day to make a spreadsheet that tracks every time we mention anyone on the show. We say your name — you get a point on the spreadsheet. Write to us. We’ll say your name. It’s what you want, isn’t it?
  • The Thunder Round | In the early days of the podcast, we spent most of each episode recapping the week in puzzles. Because this became repetitive after a while (how many ways are there to say that a Monday puzzle was relatively easy?), and because we started getting interested in more things (e.g. Viewer Mail), we gradually spent less and less time every week on the puzzles. When we realized that there were a couple episodes that featured ZERO time on puzzles, we decided to find a reasonable balance. A fast-paced back-and-forth seemed like a fun idea, and The Thunder Round was born. Each week features a different sound clip in conjunction with the thunder. If you have a suggestion for a sound clip, please let us know.
  • Contests | We now offer a weekly contest (most weeks). It’s usually a word game of some sort, much like the games played on Will Shortz’s NPR program. Several of our listeners have generously donated puzzle books of varying sorts for us to give away as prizes.
  • Interviews | From time to time, we include an interview in the podcast. Past subjects have included Brendan Emmett Quigley, Patrick Blindauer, Andrea Carla Michaels, Vic Fleming and Peter Gordon.
  • Questions and Answers | When we talk about things that confuse us, we can either pretend we know what we’re saying, or ask you, the viewers, what we don’t already know. For a while, Mike Nothnagel always seemed to know the answers to our questions. We have had other oracles offer their knowledge as well. If you hear a question in a podcast and you know the answer, please write to us.
  • Crossword software for your cell phone | We had a long-running situation with trying to obtain quality crossword solving software for our respective cell phones. Stephen Grant of Magmic Games has a wonderful product available for certain phones — but not Brian’s.
  • What is wet and soft and not squishy? | This lasted way too long. We can’t even remember any more how it began, but for a while it seemed we were desperate to find something that was wet and soft but not also inherently squishy. At least one nickname came as a result of this debate (Neville Fogarty, Squishy Defeated).
  • How To Pronounce Xan Vongsathorn’s Name | This was a six-week miniseries (Episodes 55-60) within the podcast. We studied and shared our knowledge for how to pronounce this rather tricky name.
  • Ways Brian Is Wrong About Soup | This segment is most likely defunct, since it caused too much grief with one of our dedicated listeners.
  • Fiction With Thomas Heilman | Only about half of what he says is true.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If there’s something that you don’t understand about our show, please write to us. We will most likely read your email on the show (and you get onto Crosscan’s spreadsheet), we will try to answer your question, and we will add your question and the answer to this F.A.Q.

  • Why is it called “Viewer Mail”? Is there a video I can’t see? | No, there is no video. In an early episode, one of us inadvertently referred to our audience as “viewers,” and it stuck. Shortly thereafter, Ryan created the famous “Viewer Mail Theme Song,” and there was no turning back.
  • Do you discuss anything else in the puzzle world besides the week’s New York Times crosswords? | Sometimes. We only commit to solving the New York Times puzzles on a daily basis, but we both spend plenty of time on other puzzles as well. And certainly, if there’s a puzzle-related event, we try to find out as much as we can and share the information with our audience.
  • You’ve done a ton of episodes. How can I get caught up? | Well, you can listen to everything. Or you can just skip most of Season One, and pick it up with our recap of the 2009 ACPT (which is where we started to find what little stride we have). That’s Episode 43. Or you can just start with the most recent one instead.
  • Where did you get that theme music? | Brian wrote it.
  • Do you consider yourselves experts? | Sure. Ryan is an expert at hating certain baseball players who have made his life as a Dodger fan an absolute train wreck. And Brian is an expert at proper sidewalk etiquette (and believes that 98% of New Yorkers have no idea what they’re doing).
  • I want a nickname! | That’s not a question. But the truth is — nicknames seem to just happen. When we try to force them, they never seem to stick. So write in, talk to us, join our community here, and eventually, the nickname will find you.

EPISODE GUIDE

This is as brief a recap of every episode of Fill Me In. Obviously, we haven’t included everything from each episode, but maybe it’s enough to pique your interest.

  1. Untitled (3/31/08) | NYT puzzle recap, 3/24-3/30. Includes what has become an audio catchphrase, “Have we started?”
  2. Untitled (4/7/08) | The week in NYT puzzles; Rolos will never be the same.
  3. Monday Mini Episode (4/8/08) | We tried a 5-minute format. It didn’t work so well.
  4. Untitled (4/12/08) | A partial week of puzzles. We hadn’t yet fallen into the weekly program we are now.
  5. Untited (4/15/08) | Another partial week. “Zambezi and oat” appears for the first time. Also Viewer Mail becomes “Viewer Mail.”
  6. Untitled (4/21/08) | The first (failed) contest began here.
  7. Untitled (4/29/08) | The contest went unsolved, so it continued. Another week in puzzles.
  8. Untitled (4/29/08) | Another attempt at a mini episode. Another failed attempt.
  9. Untitled (5/5/08) | We screwed up the sound quality (worse than in the first eight episodes).
  10. Untitled (5/12/08) | Sound quality returns to the D- level we offered before.
  11. Ground beef and moderate anger. (5/19/08) | Our first titled episode. We still haven’t titled the show, but the episode has a name.
  12. Long distance submarines. (5/28/08) | …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.
  13. Gotta buy a pole. (6/3/08) | More Skype, but a little better. Also, we fake having a sponsor.
  14. Nicknames, vowels and Vanna White. (6/10/08) | The whole premise of nicknames evolves further.
  15. We remain nameless, and yet we forge ahead. (6/16/08) | Still better with the long-distance sound. More nicknames show up.
  16. Six puzzles for the price of seven. (6/23/08) | Amanda gives our podcast a name, and “Fill Me In” is born. It only took sixteen episodes.
  17. Longer than it needs to be (that’s what she said). (6/30/08) | More puzzle recaps, as always. Nothing really new, to be sure.
  18. The crossing of two fruits. (7/4/08) | We announce our first tournament. We also post our very first crossword construction. It’s not very good.
  19. No time! No puzzles! (7/14/08) | Desperate for anything, we try the 5-minute format one more time.
  20. Broken microphone and all. (7/29/08) | We didn’t know it then, but the pre-cursor to the Thunder Round happened here. 26 puzzles in four minutes.
  21. We have a caller! (8/12/08) | We receive a live phone call during the episode. This is definitely a highlight. Probably our first highlight.
  22. The period goes inside the quote. (8/18/08) | The voice of Madeleine Kahn. And we’re getting psyched for Lollapuzzoola!
  23. Want some snacks? (8/24/08) | It’s our Lollapuzzoola recap episode.
  24. Put a sock in it. (8/29/08) | Problems arise with the Viewer Mail Theme Song.
  25. Brian goes to plaid. (9/9/08) | Oh, crap. More long-distance horribleness. The microwave serves as our timer.
  26. Now with sprinkles of smarterness! (9/29/08) | Our first real interview, and it’s with Jim Horne, blogger extraordinaire.
  27. Can’t we leave one open, professor? (10/13/08) | Another interview, this one with Patrick Blindauer.
  28. Except it might be #029, but we lost the old #028, so this is now #028. (10/27/08) | We upgrade to two microphones. What are we, a real show?
  29. Election day results — pancakes or tacos? Which would you pick? (11/5/08) | Interview with Dan Feyer. And we talk about who just got voted into the White House.
  30. Life as a Monday — an interview with Andrea Carla Michaels. (11/10/08) | The title says it all. Well, all except “Nikolai.”
  31. You be the judge. (11/25/08) | Another interview, this time with Vic Fleming. Also, at the time, we mis-numbered this as Episode 32.
  32. Oh Canada. (12/2/08) | It’s a group interview with Dave Macleod and Barbara Olson, constructors from Canada.
  33. Interview-less, and thus, title-less. (12/9/08) | We get a personalized puzzle from Episode 31 guest, Vic Fleming.
  34. The Song of the Volga Boatmen. (12/16/08) | Brian and Ryan have totally different approaches to solving a Saturday puzzle.
  35. Slice this open and cry! (12/22/08) | A chat with the editor of the Onion’s crossword, Ben Tausig.
  36. Rhymes with puzzle. (12/29/08) | Two new downloads for our viewers, including the amazing sheet music form of the Viewer Mail Song.
  37. Pie-thagorean Squares (and other math that doesn’t exist) (1/12/09) | Ryan invents new math.
  38. [Part I] Too much to squeeze in there. / [Part II] Beating a dead horse. (1/19/09 and 1/20/09) | 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.
  39. Jonesin’ for Podcasts (1/26/09) | An interview with Matt Jones of Jonesin’ Crosswords.
  40. Jell-O in a box. (2/11/09) | We begin to get jazzed up for the 2009 ACPT.
  41. The Cold Open. (2/17/09) | That title means something in television comedy, we think. On our show, not so much.
  42. [Insert kickass title here.] (2/24/09) | It’s a tough-to-hear interview with Tyler Hinman. He’s a genius, so it’s worth struggling through the bad audio.
  43. Season Finale – The 2009 ACPT (3/3/09) | 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 interviews with lots of people, including Will Shortz.
  44. We met him at a bar… on a Saturday… (3/11/09) | 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.
  45. Finally, the final finale. (3/17/09) | It’s more cut footage from Episode 43. We think of these last two episodes as the bonus features on the DVD box set.
  46. Season Two “Prem-yah.” (3/24/09) | Our fascination with Jai Alai is in full swing. What’s a goykachea?
  47. Nicknames, and their relative deservedness. (4/1/09) | We’re trying to begin Twittering. Also, we want new listeners to understand what we do. It’s all schtick, kids.
  48. Aaaaand… (4/7/09) | We recap the Boston Crossword Tournament (yes, we competed!) and take a photograph of a huge, dead rodent.
  49. The Contest. (4/13/09) | Via Twitter, we offer our first podcast contest.
  50. Thunder vs. Lightning (4/20/09) | The beginning of the Thunder Round, as well an interview with Elissa Grossman, coordinator of the Los Angeles Crossword Tournament.
  51. Hooray! It’s our milespone episode! (4/28/09) | Discussions of other puzzle features (Wired magazine, the One Day University) and another Fill Me In themed puzzle comes our way.
  52. Would you like to sponsor our lack of sponsorship? (5/5/09) | Recap of the L.A. tournament with Doug Peterson. Also Tyler Hinman calls in with a new contest.
  53. Something old, something new, something borrowed… and a buzzer. (5/11/09) | The spreadsheet is born. Unbelievable.
  54. Take your lederhosen and get out of here! (5/18/09) | We may have finally settled into a format — 35ish minutes long, and available every Tuesday morning. Let’s see how long that lasts…
  55. We’re on Abe Vigoda time. (5/25/09) | Xan Vongsathorn’s name is a vongsathorn in our side.
  56. Numquam uidi iniquius certationem comparatam… (6/2/09) | We’re starting to play with sound effects. Uh-oh.
  57. Please find us, Christina Applegate. We think you’re awesome. (6/9/09) | It’s Brian’s 36th birthday, and he dreams about a podcast interview with Christina Applegate.
  58. Hey people who don’t listen to us — why aren’t you listening? (6/15/09) | Lollapuzzoola 2 is in the developmental stages.
  59. Reduced to a PG-13 rating (now without nudity, foul language, or humor) (6/23/09) | We worry about the future of the second Sunday puzzle. We still have a petition up, but it’s looking a little thin.
  60. There’s a bobcat in our bag. (6/30/09) | Mostly the standard segments — viewer mail, Xan Vongsathorn, contests.
  61. *Unedited, unplugged, unlistened… (7/7/09) | Soup is a little too prevalent, we think. But we offer a rare segment: The Crossword Tip of the Quartermonth.
  62. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, an anagram thereof. (7/14/09) | In honor of Bastille Day, we interview Brendan Emmett Quigley.
  63. If you were a flute, what kind of animal would you be? (7/21/09) | 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.
  64. The Peter Gordon Show (7/28/09) | We’ve got an interview and the World’s Worst Crossword Puzzle courtesy of constructor/editor and sextuple-threat Peter Gordon.
  65. Nom nom nom (8/4/09) | 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.
  66. Try being nicer. (8/11/09) | Brian and Ryan are labeled as “mean.” Sad, not entirely accurate, but not entirely inaccurate either.
  67. Jab rhymes with cab and lons rhymes with Fonz. (8/18/09) | The largest Viewer Mail bag to date, we return to the Vongsathorn family, and the Crossword Tip of the Quartermonth discusses quote puzzles.
  68. Breaking news — Lollapuzzoola is finally over! (8/25/09) | It’s the Lollapuzzoola Recap episode. If you were there, you know what happened. If you weren’t, you got some ’splainin’ to do.
  69. The Oracle, The Innovator, The Math Teacher of Xan Vongsathorn’s Sister. (9/1/09) | We receive some awesome Viewer Mail, and confirm a surprising connection between two of our fans.
  70. Buon Giorno, Gionata Papelbuono! (9/8/09) | With 50% of the hosting team overseas, the podcast faces a major obstacle in bringing entertainment to the (minuscule) masses.
  71. I’m in a ukulele band. (9/15/09) | Old stories brought back and completed! Old friends discovered in new places!
  72. …and Bingo was his name-o. (9/22/09) | We play games with our audience whether they are listening or not.
  73. A small break from daily indoctrination. (9/29/09) | Our roving reporter reports on Pleasantville (the tournament-hosting town, not the movie), and Ryan and Brian offer a special musical performance.
  74. And if you also went to Vassar, we’ll say your name next week. (10/6/09) | Ryan flies solo for almost two minutes without crashing the plane.
  75. [They may go up in a plane.] (10/13/09) | Beef stew and a battle royal between all the Greeks and Romans that Fill Me In has to offer.
  76. The dictionary is the enemy of the podcast. (10/20/09) | Brian is censored, Ryan narrates a film trilogy and more complaints run rampant with regards to out-of-the-language French.
  77. The Phillies super cream cheese monkey a*s suck. (10/27/09) | At least one of the two hosts has some strong feelings about Pennsylvania baseball.
  78. A random sort of thing. (11/3/09) | Holy crap, Mike Nothnagel looks like Jack Shea. All that and  more.
  79. Go to Connecticut, take a right, and just keep going. (11/10/09) | We recover from getting hacked, and as a prize, suffer through the hardest puzzle ever.
  80. This one night, Charlize Theron tickled my stomach. (11/17/09) | Brian actually goes on vacation; Ryan goes on mental vacation.
  81. TBA (11/24/09)