Wordplay
If you have ever been curious about the distinct draw of a hobby and been fortunate enough to spend time with one of its most passionate and articulate practitioners you have an idea of what watching Wordplay feels like. But only an idea. For his documentary, Patrick Creadon culled representatives from every aspect of the creation and completion of crosswords. He then assembled the various aficionados’ testaments into a thorough summary that manages to be neither redundant nor monotonous.
The documentary covers the construction of crossword puzzles, their history and the people who play them. The film starts with the construction of the puzzle. Naturally, it focuses on Will Shortz: the New York Times editor of the crossword section, a puzzle contributor to NPR, and the director of the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which he founded in 1978. Ever since he was a child, Shortz has been bewitched by puzzles, and admirably, he found a way to make a career out of them. Since this is not a standard career pursuit, he constructed his own path through college by majoring in “Enigmatology,” a course of study he created at the University of Indiana.
In 1993, Will Shortz began editing the crossword section for the New York Times. As editor, he creates puzzles and manages the submissions of approximately 110 other puzzle constructors. Shortz values their contributions because he could not create one everyday. Moreover, the variety of contributors makes for diverse voices and themes within the Times’ crossword section. I believe it is also because he has such a strong passion for the puzzle and a real desire to share it with others that he wants more people to get involved.
To represent the puzzle constructors in his documentary, Creadon chose Merle Reagle. It is easy to see why. The man is bright, quirky and charismatic. All the things a strong crossword puzzle should be. The documentary allows us to sit down with him while he constructs a puzzle. We soon find out that crosswords are extremely difficult to create as they are confined within tight regulations invented by Margaret Farrar, the reluctant yet influential first editor of the Times’ crossword section. One sixth of the diagram must be black squares. All the squares must be interlocked, “no islands of words.” There can be no two-letter words. Finally, the puzzle must have the same arrangement of black squares upside down as it does right side up. “Constructing a puzzle,” Reagle informs us, “is a game of percentages: you want to keep your odds as open as possible for words.” Each chosen letter limits the number of options available for the next, and when I think of this I cannot help but picture Luke Skywalker stuck in the famous trash compactor. If this alone sounds overwhelming, Merle utterly astounds us by developing a theme within the puzzle’s formidable constraints.
Creadon enlivens the film with interviews from a variety of personalities. John Stewart brings a humor and even physical aggressiveness to what might seem a rather quiet and still task. The Indigo Girls and Bill Clinton articulate the puzzle’s implications. Beyond a hobby, the act of completing a crossword can provide insight into our mental workings. For the Indigo Girls crosswords debunk the veracity of writer’s block, since they prove that if you sit with a clue or vague intimation long enough, the answer or idea will eventually manifest itself. For Clinton crosswords display an approach to tackling large complex problems and demonstrate that we can often do what we might not think possible at first.
On top of the puzzle’s history, construction and nature, Wordplay introduces us to the key players, who have proven their capacities at Shortz’s annual crossword tournament. The documentary offers glimpses into their personal lives. As a result, we get a strong sense of who they are and naturally choose our favorite in the competition. They all want to win at the coming tournament, yet they share a communal respect and bond that borders on the familial. The film’s last section covers the tournament and delves into its meaning for the contestants. One particularly moving montage is done alongside a cover of the Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place,” which is about feeling at home.
The film’s coverage of the tournament focuses more on its social aspect than on its competitive side, which could disappoint some. Yet, the final two stages of the tournament, as one participant comments, could not have been scripted better by Hollywood.
The documentary’s graphics and inventive technique also deserve a quick mention. By partitioning the screen into 3 boxes through which we can see the puzzle’s squares, its clues and the players at work, Wordplay manages to draw its viewer into something that might not be exciting to watch or even comprehensible another way.
The feature commentary, performed by Shortz, Creadon, and Reagle, provides more information on the characters and crossword puzzles as well as a few good laughs. The featurette on “unforgettable puzzles,” clues us into the creative capacities of the crossword constructors. Besides these, the special features are insignificant. As for an overall score, the film deserves an A, since it provides unexpected insight, developed characters, an entertaining pace and a feel for a world we might never have encountered.
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