Review of Wordplay (2006) by Jamie B — 03 Jul 2006

I suck at doing crossword puzzles, but ever since I saw this movie I've felt compelled to start trying to do them again anyway. I'm slow from the get-go and the only way I ever actually finish is to guess at the last few empty squares before authoritatively putting my pen down. Ta da! Yes, I use pen, not as any sort of statement of confidence but just because I like pens best. When I screw up, which I do often, I just write the correct letters right on top of the old ones only thicker and darker. Sometimes I change my mind more than once; today the "A" in "rabbi" ("Hasidic teacher") changed back and forth from an "A" to an "E" so many times it ended up as just a big black blob. Turns out "rebbe" is a synonym for "rabbi". Who knew?

[i]Wordplay[/i] is a documentary featuring a bunch of freakishly fast crossword puzzle geeks who are way, way better at solving them than I am. It centers around their annual tournament in Stamford which serves as both a competition and a nerdy family reunion of sorts. We meet several of the high-ranked puzzlers, an eccentric word-focussed lot prone to the spontaneous spouting of anagrams. As one guy points out, Dunkin Donuts easily transforms into Unkind Donuts. I wonder how, in my many trips to the local fried dough emporium, have I never bothered to notice this.

We also meet Will Shortz, the founder of the tournament and editor of the "gold standard" New York Times puzzle. The affable Shortz chuckles as he reads us selections from a pile of hate mail sent by Times puzzle fans complaining about the diabolical nature of some of his latest creations. There are also interviews with some celebrity puzzle addicts, including a trash-talking Jon Stewart, and an insightful Bill Clinton.

This movie is entertaining from start to finish, culminating in the surprisingly compelling tournament finals in which three contestants stand on a stage in front of a roomful of spectators racing to solve identical oversized puzzles. Trust me, it's way more interesting than it sounds.

This is the third nerdular documentary about word-based competitions I've seen in recent years, the other two being [i]Spellbound[/i], about some spelling bee kids and [i]Word Wars[/i], about a bunch of Scrabble-heads. I think it might be time to grab a camera and make a little movie of my own before someone else beats me to it. I've already got the title: [i]Jumble-aya. [/i]Pretty good, huh?