Saying no more. Just filling in the little holes (9,2)

'saying' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being present participle verbs.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'no more just filling in the little holes' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'no' could be 'o' (resembles 0 - 'no' can mean 'zero') and 'o' is found within the answer.
'just' could be 'but' (but can mean 'just' or 'only') and 'but' is present in the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?