Product Details

• Actors: Will Shortz, Ken Burns, Jon Stewart, Merl Reagle, Tyler Hinman
• Directors: Patrick Creadon
• Writers: Patrick Creadon, Christine O'Malley
• Producers: Christine O'Malley, Michael Creadon, Patrick Walsh
• Format: Dolby, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Ifc
• DVD Release Date: November 7, 2006
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000HLDFR2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,390 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Wordplay" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The linguistic ballet of the crossword puzzle and the obsessive minds that wrestle with them are a source of delight in the charming documentary Wordplay. Though there's no story, the movie has a definite hero: Will Shortz, the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle, universally acknowledged as the pinnacle of crosswords. Shortz comes across as clever but modest; though he's at the top of his particular world, he retains a bemused perspective on that world's limitations. Though speckled with celebrities from former President Bill Clinton to the Indigo Girls, the most engaging interviews are with puzzle creator Merl Reagle (who gives a fascinating on-screen demonstration of how he starts making a puzzle) and the witty and garrulous commentary by the former public editor for the Times, Daniel Okrent. Like many recent documentaries, Wordplay is built around a competition: The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, an annual event started by Shortz and embraced by people who have devoted an alarming amount of their brain space to filling squares with letters. Though the movie is not as emotionally involving as Spellbound--still the ne plus ultra of nerdy documentaries--Wordplay's window into its particular subculture will be enjoyable to non-crossword fans as well as committed puzzleheads.--Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Witness the inner workings of Will Shortz, NY Times Editor and NPR Puzzle Master, and his brilliant, entertaining and often hilarious contributors as well as surprising celebrity fans. Wordplay takes us through the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament where almost five hundred competitors battled it out for the title "Crossword Champ" and showed their true colors along the way.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The World of Crossword Puzzles Explored - Good Stuff August 12, 2006

By John R. Linnell

For me, crossword puzzles have been a casual thing, I might find one in the airline magazine on a flight and work on it to pass the time or my wife, who is a much more avid fan, might have left a partially finished one about, which I will pick up and see if I can find some answers.

Those who appear in this movie find crossword puzzles to be anything but casual. And this is not about just any crossword puzzle. This is the "gold standard." The NYT crossword puzzle. You may genuflect if you wish.

As the movie unfolds we hear how the NYT graduates the difficulty of its puzzles from Monday to Sunday. We learn how they are constructed, how they are made more difficult, what the rules of puzzle building are and how crossword puzzles infect and afflict those who are addicted to them. Celebrities from Ken Burns to Jon Stweart are utilized in cameo pieces, some of which are very entertaining.

This all culminates in the Marriott Hotel in Stamford, CT where the World Crossword Puzzle Championship takes place every year in March. We meet some of the contestants, we are shown how the tournament is organized and the friendships it has engendered during the years it has been held and as the days pass we get to the "A" finals where three finalists try to solve a puzzle against time on large easels set up at the front of the room which will really draws you in to the genre.

Whether crossword puzzles are your thing or not, this is an entertaining and interesting movie to see. It did not encourage me to increase my crossword puzzle activity, but it sure gave me a deeper appreciation of what those who are hooked on it go through. There is something in this movie for everyone.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Inspiration! September 25, 2006

By Pink Plumeria

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Crossworders-quel subculture! I had no idea that this world was out there, this competitive bunch of crossworders, but I must say that I am indeed a better person for now knowing! The movie begins by introducing the audience to a group people who are the key players in an annual crossword competition held/hosted by Will Shortz, editor of the NYT crossword puzzle. In following these different people (literally from all walks of life-a homosexual, a mid-west family man, a college student, a single female) the audience almost becomes a part of their group. It was absolutely warming, to say the least (Ellen Ripstein has got to be one of my all-time favorite characters!). Oddly enough, rules of the crossword puzzle are given, and the difficult nature of actually solving one, especially the NYT, is revealed. After leaving the theatre I was determined to solve one (I am embarrassed to say that I started small and have finally solved a Monday puzzle, and am coming close to a Tuesday! It really is a new way of thinking!); it has been a really long road! Aside from being really well made, Wordplay was also salted with cameos from icons of American society such as Bill Clinton, Ken Burns and Jon Stewart. To watch them work on these puzzles was great-as well as putting their pants on one leg at a time, they (sometimes) struggle with the crossword puzzle too!

What a great documentary, and how fun to watch. In an age of vulgar and ridiculous entertainment, there is a shining example of entertainment revolving around a group of inteligensia. Bravo, and two enthusiastic thumbs up!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo! October 14, 2006

By John Martin

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have seen many hundreds of movies in my lifetime, and I must say, this is very close to being my favorite.

It is not a giant movie... it is a small documentary about one interesting subculture. While there are plenty

of famous people in the movie and that makes it more entertaining, the real heroes are ordinary people,

and the movie makes them all lovable when it could just as easily have mocked them. I am not

the least bit interested in doing crossword puzzles, but this movie is about a community,

both virtual and real, from all walks of life, that loves to do puzzles, and the movie made

me like *them*.

The movie uses brilliant visualizations to show puzzles being constructed and solved. Several

reviews in newspapers have mentioned the wonderful cover of a Talking Heads tune by Shawn

Colvin at a key point in the movie... I echo that. You will not be able to get it out of your head

after you see the movie.

I would not expect a documentary about crossword puzzles to make me laugh out loud and

cry in a theatre, but in fact it did both.