By: E&P Staff One of the hits of this year?s Tribeca Film Festival in New York has an unlikely subject and star: It?s a documentary that features New York Times crossword wizard Will Shortz.
The film, ?Wordplay,? which was also an official selection of the 2005 Sundance Festival, will get a national release in June.
It was directed by Patrick Creadon. He was able to interview such crossword fans as ?Daily Show? host Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, the Indigo Girls, baseball pitcher Mike Mussina, Ken Burns and Sen. Bob Dole.
In the tradition of the spelling bee film, ?Spellbound,? he shot the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT., where 500 compete for a title, under the direction of Shortz.
Clinton reveals that that he became an avid crossworder while in the White House. "Half the time," the admits, "I do these things just to see what people are thinking about."
In the film, Jon Stewart calls Shortz "the Errol Flynn of crossword puzzling.? He also reveals that doing the Times crossword at the end of the day, winding down with his wife, is vitally important to him.
"I'll do a USA Today crossword if I'm in a hotel, but I don't feel good about myself afterwards," Stewart testifies. But he adds: "Bring it on, Shortz!"
Creadon told one interviewer, ?In fact, Stewart proposed to his wife by calling Will Shortz to make a puzzle for her. How much more essential to someone?s life can you get??
Shortz is also known to millions as National Public Radio's "Puzzle Master" and the film reveals that he has spent his entire lifetime studying, creating, and editing puzzles.
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