CROSSWORDS: WordPlay

wordplay

Movie Descriptions and Quotes

  • "WordPlay focuses on the man most associated with crossword puzzles, NYT puzzle editor and NPR Puzzle Master Will Shortz. Director Patrick Creadon introduces us to this passionate hero, and to the inner workings of his brilliant and often hilarious contributors, including syndicated puzzle creator Merl Reagle.

    Along the way, the film presents interviews with celebrity crossword puzzlers such as Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Jon Stewart, Ken Burns, Mike Mussina, and the Indigo Girls, who reveal their process, insight and the allure of the game.

    In addition to deconstructing this uniquely American institution, WordPlay takes us through the [2005] American Crossword Puzzle Tournament where almost five hundred competitors battled it out for the title "Crossword Champ" and showed their true colors along the way."     ~'www.wordplaythemovie.com' and ACPT
  • wordplay"Discover a world that thinks inside the box. A wildly entertaining documentary about crossword puzzles, the people who make them and the people who love them." ~Internet Movie Database (IMDb); see also: Wikipedia, PBS: Independent Lens
  • [comparing Wordplay with I.O.U.S.A.] "A movie about crossword puzzles is an easier sell than a movie about the national debt." ~Patrick Creadon, Director
  • clinton"Watching President Clinton solve the puzzle while he answered our questions during the interview was incredibly cool." ~Christine O'Malley, Producer
  • "And there's word-choice rules. You can't use -- usually -- bodily functions in puzzles, you know. 'Urine' would bail me out of a corner, I mean, a million times a year. Same with 'enema.' 'Enema' -- talk about great letters." ~Merl Reagle
  • shortz"Every time I see the film, my palms get itchy and I start to sweat. Of course I know the outcome and I've seen it five times, but it gets so exciting." ~Will Shortz
  • [driving by a Dunkin' Donuts shop] "Dunkin' Donuts... put the D at the end, you get Unkind Donuts... which I've had a few of, in my day." ~Merl Reagle
  • stewart[solving a puzzle] "Come on, Shortz! Bring it!" ~Jon Stewart
  • "I am a [NY] Times puzzle fan. I will solve, in a hotel, a USA Today, but I don't feel good about myself when I do it." ~Jon Stewart
  • burns"I don’t smoke, I don’t drink coffee, and I don’t need to have a drink at the end of the day. What I do need is to solve the crossword, every day, in ink." ~Ken Burns
  • "I've always been intrigued by the letter 'Q'." ~Norman (Trip) Payne

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