Posted: 09/24/2006

Wordplay

(2006)

by Aaron Riccio

It was inevitable that Will Shortz, the crossword editor of the New York Times (and uber-puzzler), would become the subject of a documentary. Not only is he the herald of what is called “the gold standard of crosswords,” but he’s a proud major in the little-studied field of enigmatology. If this funny-looking man of the mustache is the “Errol Flynn of crossword puzzles,” then this film, Wordplay, is his Captain Blood. It is a film studded with celebrity cameos (if you consider Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, and the Indigo Girls to be celebrities) and with the adult versions of those adorably quirky spellers from Spellbound.

It is a film as solidly constructed as any New York Times crossword, complete with a themed gimmick (in this case, a split-screen that lets you solve clues along with the “professionals” of the crossword championships). In fact, it is so solid that people like Jon Stewart, with their exuberant showmanship (“Bring it, Shortz! Bring it!”) wind up being the crudest parts of the film. A good documentary gives you a glimpse into the lives of real people, like long-time puzzler Ellen Ripstein, or crossword whiz Trip Payne. And while the whole movie may only serve to stress a point about the accumulation of useless knowledge, it also shows a tightly knit community of people who find solace on a gridded, symmetrical page.

Though at first filmmaker Patrick Creadon is overanxious to hook viewers with stars like Bill Clinton, he eventually leads us through a nice procedural of crossword creation, courtesy of Merl Reagle, who cooks up a “wordplay”-themed puzzle on the spot. Then, with the rules established, the action (so to speak) cuts to the annual crossword convention that Shortz founded, as a way of gathering the community. This part of the footage is like that of any convention—strange to those who are outsiders, but familiar to anyone who has ever wished to fit in. And though these are the elite—the people who pride themselves on their 2:02 completion times—Clinton adds one nugget of wisdom: “Nearly anybody can learn anything that they need to know.” Like sports, mental games can be prepared for, as well, and one of the film’s focal characters is an up-and-coming 20-year-old named Tyler Hinman.

The presentation of the timed tournament and the explanation of its rules are as sleek as ESPN poker coverage, and the film, devoid of any fancy camera-work or special graphics, seems as human as the people in it, jerky frames and all. Granted, the film occasionally lapses into asides that are pointless to any but the truly dedicated puzzlers—pen or pencil, for example (I use pen)—but the atmosphere is warm and inviting, even if the subject is for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Crossword puzzles may be “something that figures into the basic need to figure something out,” but Wordplay is just a fun little behind-the-scenes peek at how people preoccupy themselves. And that’s as okay as apple pie.

Aaron Riccio is a film and theatre critic living in New York City. Check out his blog here.

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