Wordplay

Question: What do ex-President Bill Clinton, documentarian Ken Burns, satirist Jon Stewart, Yankees pitcher Mike Messina and pop duo the Indigo Girls have in common? Answer: They’re all inveterate crossword puzzle addicts, and they’re all profiled in Wordplay, a documentary film dedicated to exploring the mindset of people who share that addiction. Though it’s not as good a film for word geeks as the 2002 documentary Spellbound, it’s still an engrossing look at a subculture of problem solvers and word worshippers. Will Shortz, puzzle editor for The New York Times, is the reigning king of crosswords, and the ostensible star of the film. Back In 1978, he started a crossword puzzle championship competition that convenes annually at a Marriott Hotel in Ohio. Puzzle fanatics from all over the country meet to compete, and the film captures the spirit of the competition and the nature of those players, ranging from a 20-year-old college student to octogenarians who have been engaged in the competition since before that kid was born. As with most successful narrow-interest documentaries, this one turns out to be about more than just its ostensible subject. Writer/director Patrick Creadon’s film provides insight into people and their varying personalities, and that’s perhaps the biggest puzzle of them all.