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Wordplay Reviewed by Rich Drees
Now director Patrick Creadon takes us inside the world of the crossword puzzle, giving us a tour of its creators, adherents and the man who seems to oversee this world, Will Shortz. For those who don’t know him through his weekly puzzle segment on NPR’s Sunday Morning Edition – Will Shortz is the puzzle editor for The New York Times. Always fascinated by puzzles and mental games, Shortz attended Indiana University, where he was allowed to create his own major Enigmatology or puzzle creation. In this case, Shortz is very much the self made man, almost willing himself into his job editing the crossword puzzle for the Times. As we are taken through the routine of Shortz job, we meet the like of Merl Reagle. Reagle is a crossword constructor from Florida and is the best in the business.
Creadon manages the extraordinary feat of taking a pursuit like solving crossword puzzles, which takes place mostly in the mind, and translates it to a visually interesting film. Highlighted rows and columns of cubes fill with animated letters as clues are read out. Another section cleverly weaves footage of several celebrities all working the same puzzle.
The film climaxes at the 28th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, a competition which Shortz helped to found. Creadon manages to wring much drama out of the weekend long event. Will former champion Trip Payne regain his crown or will it be usurped by 20-year-old up-and-comer Tyler Hinman? Or do we root for Al Sanders who has made it to the final round five out of the last six years but has yet to clinch the title? One just might be amazed at the amount of tension generated from trying to solve a crossword. |
Much in the same way sports fans carry volumes of statistics and
trivia about their favorite teams in their heads, I find that my own
brain is chockablock full of informational nuggets about various
films. But for all that knowledge, I don’t have the lateral thinking
ability required to successfully be able to play the “Seven Degrees
Of Kevin Bacon” game that seemed to fascinate everyone a few years
back. Rather than let my lack of skill at the mental game frustrate
me – after all most of my friends who are good at the “Seven
Degrees” game steadfastly refuse to challenge me to a round of
Trivial Pursuit – I instead choose to admire their luck at being
wired to think in the way needed for the game. It’s that same sense
of admiration I feel towards the folks who do crossword puzzles,
combining vocabulary skills with the a chess grandmaster-like
ability to analyze several ever-expanding options before committing
to an answer.
But the real meat of the movie is its look at those folks who have
made solving crosswords their hobby. They come from all walks life
and can even include such celebrities as Bob Dole, former President
Bill Clinton, comic Jon Stewart and musicians the Indigo Girls
amongst their numbers. While some of these people may have their
eccentricities, he treats them respectfully, never letting things
devolve to a Trekkies (1997) level of mockery. All of these
people are well immersed in the crossword puzzle world and can
almost unfailingly identify the creator of a puzzle by simply
looking at its clues and construction. Conversely, some of their own
names are also known among puzzle enthusiasts for their own acumen
at solving crosswords.