STREAM ANYTIME with Prime Video from $5.99

FREE delivery Wednesday, January 4. Details

Arrives after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or SMS.

In Stock.

[{"displayPrice":"$7.00","priceAmount":7.00,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"00","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"5ErIp8ZQAD9N7wsflOJPVSvO%2BIoRRR6c9QzDApWKAINhddhvwy4RfHnHmQIDo577LI3d9O6rPyTVCeHYaadR%2BmCs7be6sNK4zo%2B7E7geXlViGY4Rcp1hStEMBYP4M3JINHiQwe4BrCIK6hlbooIIlTgelS0EccxdsbxsJ%2Bo%2BDgA9Ru638XYSCg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$6.56","priceAmount":6.56,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"6","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"56","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"TqTQqkIZGBxJgb%2BvAiPHSX9yC23is3N%2B9RfH0fXxWAOjg3MHTMs3OIkEudun6%2B4KjUpKYePS3L7b2%2BbSIoNOpx6Pgkaw6UGXeWK3n1h1SJuf4KLju9LbawmZXZtBFZG%2BDhpLYEJXUR2fEEbaLCpulBYAYqM8QBo6u%2BUAKk1BNf5E8NcUqbvtRHZtIW0oXsJ1","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$7.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Secure transaction

Ships from

DiscountEntertainment

Sold by

DiscountEntertainment

Details

Ships from

DiscountEntertainment

Sold by

DiscountEntertainment

Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2023

Has many cosmetic blemishes on case such as writing, but works correctly!

FREE delivery Wednesday, January 4 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Arrives after Christmas. Need a gift sooner? Send an Amazon Gift Card instantly by email or SMS.

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$7.00 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by Four Knights and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$3.01
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Green Street Books-Employment for Adults with Special Needs

Added

Not added

$3.97
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: newtownvideos

Added

Not added

$4.69
+ $4.38 shipping

Sold by: holiday688books

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available
To view this video download Flash Player

Wordplay

Will Shortz (Actor), Ken Burns (Actor), Patrick Creadon (Director, Writer) Rated:

Format: DVD

251 ratings

IMDb7.4/10.0

-10% $7.00

Was: $7.78

Additional DVD options

Edition

Discs

Price

New from

Used from

DVD
November 7, 2006

"Please retry"

—

$7.00

$3.01

$1.49

DVD

"Please retry"

—

$9.98

$7.99

DVD
November 7, 2006

"Please retry"

—

$20.04

Watch Instantly with

Rent

Buy

Wordplay

$3.99

$5.99

Enhance your purchase

Frequently bought together

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

by Will Shortz DVD
$7.00
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by DiscountEntertainment.
by Will Shortz Paperback
$13.99
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Will Shortz
16
Paperback
39 offers from $1.60
24
Paperback
9 offers from $37.04
Adrienne Raphel
119
Hardcover
80 offers from $1.69

Product Description

Wordplay is a journey into the world of Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor at The New York Times. Known to millions as National Public Radio's "Puzzle Master," Shortz has spent his entire lifetime studying, creating, and editing puzzles, and has built a huge following along the way. Meet Shortz's diehard fans - including President Bill Clinton, Senator Bob Dole, "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart, filmmaker Ken Burns, the Indigo Girls, and Yankee ace pitcher Mike Mussina - and discover why over 50 million Americnas do crossowrds every week.

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches; 4 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Patrick Creadon
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Dolby, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 34 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ November 7, 2006
Actors ‏ : ‎ Will Shortz, Ken Burns, Jon Stewart, Merl Reagle, Tyler Hinman
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, Spanish
Language ‏ : ‎ Unqualified, English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Ifc
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000HLDFR2
Writers ‏ : ‎ Christine O'Malley, Patrick Creadon
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #81,433 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #2,939 in Documentary (Movies & TV)
- #10,349 in Comedy (Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews:
251 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		72%
4 star		17%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Pink Plumeria

Pure Inspiration!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 26, 2006

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!

20 people found this helpful

Helpful

Keith R. Douglas

How could a documentary on crossword puzzles be entertaining?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

So you occasionally tackle a crossword puzzle and perhaps have never really thought about how they are constructed or what is involved in producing one each and every day.

Did you know that there are contests for solving crossword puzzles?

Perhaps you recognize the name Will Shortz, or maybe like me, from time to time you attempted a New York Times crossword puzzle without noticing his name as the editor.

This video takes us behind the scenes of crosswords in the United States. I was extremely surprised to find that I enjoyed watching it, and can still remember much of the video. I have a son-in-law who has been an editor for most of his life, and he loved it. I predict that anyone who cares about words, their usage, definitions, misuses - most writers - players of Words with Friends and certainly those obsessed with crossword puzzles will love this movie.

Shot in a documentary ENG (electronic news gathering) style with decent production value considering the obvious use of hand-held cameras. If you enjoy words, or are looking for a gift for someone who does, buy this DVD. Looks fine when upconverted on a Blu-ray disc player to an HDTV.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

James H. Mica

Word nerds in paradise!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

The movie is a documentary about crossword puzzles, crossword puzzle makers and crossword puzzle solvers. It focuses on Will Shortz, the puzzle editor for The New York Times and the annual competition he started back in the 1970s. On the way to the competition you meet the folks who construct the puzzles and those who take great joy in solving them. And the solvers range from former US Presidents to major league baseball players to pop music stars to Jon Stewart. Believe me, watching Stewart plowing into a puzzle is worth the price of admission in itself.

The less famous players are folks who can do annagrams on the fly, have sets of unabridged dictionaries, and can do the Times Sunday puzzle in four minutes or so. These are folks who have marvelous talents but are short of people skills. They're the ones who were bullied in the playground, but they have found something they can take pride in. And the film's makers treat them with respect and kindness.

There is bonus material in which some famous puzzle makers show how they go about constructing these challenges.

The film has much wit and real respect for the talents of its subjects.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Martin

Bravo!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 14, 2006

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.

19 people found this helpful

Helpful

baxbox

Wordplay is wordwork

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

A lover of crossword puzzles, I'm so glad this movie was recommended to me, and I will do the same for others. This fun movie shows that puzzles are created by intelligent, imaginative and witty people, who have to follow the rules of puzzle making. The finished puzzle is submitted to the crossword puzzle editor, who does in fact edit it before publication. The most enjoyable scenes are of the contests, which begin with close-ups of participants - their backgrounds, tricks they use, etc. and then the suspense of the contests. You find yourself rooting for a particular person and share the agony/ecstacy of each round in the contest. Some players have won 1st, 2nd, 3rd places consistently. A 3rd place winner yearns for 1st place, and after many years, he....does he get it, or not? Check it out

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Mrs. D. Moncrieff

5 letters G,R Something Something Something

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

A great documentary about a subject I didn't think would hold my interest for very long on the Big Screen(perhaps its just sour grapes on My part,given how terrible I am at Crosswords) but it did.The speed in which some of these Hardcore Word Worshippers complete their daily fix is Mind Boggling and when it comes to these guys entering the Championships you suddenly not only find yourself more drawn in than you were before but actually cheering on a player that You want to see win.An Excellent Doc.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Fine

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

In German but fine

R. Geretschlaeger

Fun for word nerds

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on October 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

A very enjoyable peek into the world of crossword puzzlers, and especially the subculture surrounding the NY Times puzzles. Anyone involved in any aspect of puzzling and competitions will recognize the archetypes and sympathize with one (or many) of the players. Great fun.

Sue C

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

excellent

See all reviews

Other Sellers on Amazon

Image Unavailable

Wordplay

Enhance your purchase

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product Description

Product details

Videos for this product

Wordplay

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries