Film

Wordplay

Name: Wordplay
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2006
Cast: Will Shortz, Merl Reagle, Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart, Tyler Hinman

Patrick Creadon's giddy little documentary follows the annual scramble to solve The New York Times crossword faster than anyone else, anchored by puzzle master Will Shortz and a cast of gloriously eccentric constructors and solvers. It's warm, funny, unexpectedly tense, and makes wordplay feel like a genuine spectator sport. Perfect for anyone who's ever finished a puzzle and felt smug about it.

TMDb rating

7.0

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This is basically Wordplay's older sibling - Jeffrey Blitz follows eight kids into the National Spelling Bee with the same blend of tension, tenderness and unlikely comedy that made this style of documentary catch on.

But The subjects are children rather than adult hobbyists, so the pressure reads as more painful than playful at times.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters2007

Swap crossword grids for a Donkey Kong machine and you get the same underdog-versus-the-establishment thrill, complete with a gloriously theatrical villain and real suspense over a 1981 arcade cabinet.

But Messier and meaner than Wordplay - the drama tips toward soap opera, and its truthfulness has been seriously disputed since release.

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The nearest thing to a cousin film: obsessive word-game players road-tripping to the National Scrabble Championship, shot with the same fond, funny eye for eccentricity that makes tournament nerds so likeable.

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The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Dungeon Masters2008no page yet

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Science Fair2018no page yet

A more contemporary spin on the same formula - teenagers from around the world converging on one enormous science competition, filmed with genuine hope and plenty of nervous-parent comic relief.

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Same tournament shape and civic warmth, just traded crosswords for ballroom dance - New York schoolkids competing with an earnestness that's genuinely moving as it builds toward the final.

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Jiro Dreams of Sushi2011

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But Slow and contemplative rather than tense - there's no ticking clock, no tournament, just quiet mastery.

Trekkies1997

The same generous curiosity toward a subculture outsiders love to mock, applied to Star Trek conventions instead of crossword tournaments - funny, weirdly touching, never condescending.

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Man on Wire2008

One of the great documentaries about a single, ridiculous, beautiful obsession - a Frenchman's illegal high-wire walk between the Twin Towers, shot with real suspense and love for people who do impossible things.

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Chess Fever1925no page yet

Same species of gentle, ordinary person so possessed by a game of pure logic that regular life falls away - Wordplay just found its own Will Shortz nearly a century later.

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Akeelah and the Bee2006no page yet

Same structural DNA as the crossword tournament - underdog, coach, countdown clock - reimagined as fiction, showing how deliberately Wordplay's real story already resembles a screenplay.

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