If you've seen the documentaries Spellbound (about spelling-bee champs) or Word Wars (about Scrabble players), then you're familiar with types of people who show up in Patrick Creadon's Wordplay, an affable, lightweight documentary about crossword puzzle aficionados. Like the spellers and the Scrabblers, the puzzlers are nerdy and eccentric and obsessive, but ultimately easy to identify and empathize with.
The real star of Wordplay is New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, who is treated as something of a god by Creadon. It doesn't come off as irritating because Shortz is seen that way by pretty much every puzzle fan, including the celebrities, top players and fellow puzzle designers who populate the rest of the film. He's also an engaging presence who provides the uninitiated an easy entrée into the world of Down and Across.
Puzzle-solving is a solitary pursuit, and Creadon often struggles to make it cinematic. The entire second half of the film is devoted to the annual crossword tournament in Stamford, Connecticut, and it's tough to wring much tension from people huddled over pieces of paper you can't really see. Creadon uses big graphics of lit-up puzzle grids to give a bit of interactivity to the scenes of people solving puzzles, but the competition lacks the excitement of a spelling bee, at least until the finals, when contestants solve puzzles on dry-erase boards, and a droll commentator provides play-by-play. The tournament sequence works thanks to its personalities, including frat boy Tyler Hinman, who defies many of the puzzler stereotypes and takes the tournament by storm.
Creadon exhibits more wit and subtlety in describing the evolution of a puzzle, as we see puzzle creator Merl Reagle create a puzzle based on the film's title, go through his creative process and submit it to Shortz—and then watch as crossword-loving celebrities crack open the Times and solve the same puzzle. It's an elegant illustration of the craft and appeal of crosswords, and the film's best moment.