Wordplay is a 2006 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed by Patrick Creadon

Patrick Creadon

Patrick Creadon is an American documentary filmmaker, best known for the documentary film Wordplay. A profile of New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz, Wordplay premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and became the second-highest grossing documentary of that year...

. It features Will Shortz

Will Shortz

Will Shortz is an American puzzle creator and editor, and currently the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times.-Early life and education:...

, the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle

Crossword Puzzle

For the common puzzle, see CrosswordCrossword Puzzle was the second to last album made by The Partridge Family and was not one of the most popular albums. It was released in 1973 and did not produce a U.S. single. This album was finally released on CD in 2003 on Arista's BMG Heritage label...

, crossword constructor Merl Reagle

Merl Reagle

Merl Reagle is an American crossword constructor. Since 1985, he has constructed a puzzle every Sunday for the San Francisco Chronicle ; it is now also published by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, The Plain Dealer...

, and many other noted crossword solvers and constructors. The second half of the movie is set at the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is a crossword-solving tournament held annually in late February or early March. Founded in 1978 by Will Shortz, who still directs the tournament, it is the oldest and largest crossword tournament held in the United States; the 2009 event attracted nearly...

 (ACPT), where the top solvers compete for a prize of $4000.

The movie focuses on the following crossword solvers:

• Ellen Ripstein: editor
  Editing
  Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
  
   living in New York City
  New York City
  New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
  
   and 2001 ACPT champion. She is also known for her baton twirling.
• Trip Payne
  Trip Payne
  Norman "Trip" Payne is an American cruciverbalist living in Florida who has published over 4,000 crosswords and variety puzzles.-Early life and education:...
  
  : professional puzzlemaker living in South Florida and three-time ACPT Champion. He held the record as the youngest champion after winning the tournament in 1993 at the age of 24.
• Tyler Hinman
  Tyler Hinman
  Tyler Hinman is a crossword solver and constructor and a five-time winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament . He won the tournament for the first time as a 20-year-old in 2005 and by 2009 had won five consecutive titles, a feat unprecedented in the 32-year history of the tournament...
  
  : student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
  
   in Troy, New York
  Troy, New York
  Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
  
  . At the 2005 ACPT, he challenged Trip Payne for the title of youngest champion ever.

• Jon Delfin: pianist
  Pianist
  A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
  
   living in New York City and seven-time ACPT champion.
• Al Sanders: project manager at Hewlett-Packard
  Hewlett-Packard
  Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
  
   in Fort Collins, Colorado
  Fort Collins, Colorado
  Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
  
  . He is a frequent finalist at the ACPT.

The movie contains appearances by many celebrity fans of the Times puzzle, including Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, Bob Dole

Bob Dole

Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...

, Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...

, Ken Burns

Ken Burns

Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...

, Mike Mussina

Mike Mussina

Michael Cole Mussina , nicknamed Moose, is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He played for the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees ....

, Daniel Okrent

Daniel Okrent

Daniel Okrent is an American writer and editor. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, for inventing Rotisserie League Baseball, and for writing several books, most recently Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.-Education and...

, and the Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...

.

Wordplay features a theme song, "Every Word," written and performed by Gary Louris

Gary Louris

Gary Louris is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band The Jayhawks, and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the departure of Mark Olson; he is often credited with the band's subsequent move from...

 of The Jayhawks

Jayhawks (band)

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and rock band that emerged from the Twin Cities music scene during the mid 1980s. Their country rock sound was influential on many bands who played the Twin Cities circuit during the 80s and 90s like Uncle Tupelo, The Gear Daddies and The Honeydogs...

. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuIMu25VNGwhttp://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/06/02/gary_louris/ The Wordplay DVD features a music video of "Every Word."http://www.wordplaythemovie.com/

External links

• WORDPLAY site for Independent Lens
  Independent Lens
  Airing weekly on PBS through ITVS, the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens introduces new drama and documentary films made by independent filmmakers. Past seasons of Independent Lens have been presented by hosts Angela Bassett, Don Cheadle, Susan Sarandon, Edie Falco, Terrence Howard, Maggie...
  
   on PBS
  Public Broadcasting Service
  The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
  
  
• An Interview with Patrick Creadon, the Director of Wordplay