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Playing on Thursday, March 30 at 7:15 PM at Enzian* - Purchase tickets
Playing on Sunday at April 2, 5:00 PM at Regal - Purchase tickets

WORDPLAY
USA, 2005, 90 MIN
DIRECTED BY PATRICK CREADON
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2nd US SHOWING
Are you a word nerd? Former President Clinton, Jon Stewart, the Indigo Girls, and Ken Burns are. Their idol is a guy named Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword puzzle editor who is also heard on NPR. Crossword puzzles, the people who create them, and the people who love them are the focus of this smart, funny, and incredibly entertaining documentary, and Shortz is the pastime’s key figure. Using his career as a jumping off point—from his love of puzzles as a boy to the creation of his own major at Indiana University (“enigmatology”), through his stewardship of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament—WORDPLAY breezily engages the viewer. But the film really takes off with the amusing yet suspenseful footage of the annual championship competition, as we get to meet an ingratiating assortment of quirky contestants whose love of words and games is paramount. Fine recent films have explored the worlds of spelling bees, scrabble tournaments, children ballroom dancing, and even whistling contests, but this cleverly constructed, completely engrossing portrait of an American institution goes to the head of the class.