Often brilliant yet ends up falling just a couple letters short of truly being a championship film.

| Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 27, 2020

Diverting though Wordplay may be, when it moves into tournament-mode, the film suffers from the essentially undramatic nature of this solitary "sport."

| Feb 4, 2020

Mines suspense out of what seems to be the most mundane of entertainments, the crossword puzzle, and makes it more thrilling than any football game ever was.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 6, 2019

A poignant inside look into the world of crossover puzzles of the NY Times.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 25, 2011

As pleasant and good-natured as Wordplay is, it's not exactly potent stuff"

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 17, 2010

If the movie emphasizes anything, it affirms that common-interest societies like this ... all survive by sharing the traits of community, devotion, and mutual dedication.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 8, 2010

Patrick Creadon's documentary about the New York Times crossword puzzle's creators and fans is a positively joyful movie that will appeal even to audiences who have little affinity for the mind-bending puzzles.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 23, 2009

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Similar in structure to the recent movie Spellbound, Wordplay is a fun documentary about an American institution and national habit.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 8, 2008

This movie is done so well that even if you're like me and don't do crossword puzzles, you'll still be entertained.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 30, 2006

Director Patrick Creadon has turned crossword puzzling into a spectator sport.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 30, 2006

Boy, was I wrong. There's more palm-sweating suspense in one minute of this baby than in all of The Omen.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 24, 2006

A five-letter synonym for this movie: Zzzzz.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 14, 2006

Where Wordplay wins is not so much in the contest footage, but in its interviews with average, everyday crossword puzzle junkies.

| Nov 12, 2006

Intriguing, surprising and stimulating, Wordplay is much more than a documentary about a crossword tournament. Anyone who is remotely interested in the English language will be fascinated

| Nov 10, 2006

Wordplay gave me new respect for the intelligence of those who solve them well, and admiration for those who create them.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 6, 2006

Their world of puzzles is like an alternate universe and this film offers a window into it.

| Original Score: B | Oct 24, 2006

Even though these puzzles are mapped out with utmost precision -- and even though logic is an extremely useful tool for solving them -- they're still, somehow, objects of intrigue and mystery.

Full Review | Oct 7, 2006

A wonderful little documentary that seems fascinated with humanity.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Aug 30, 2006

isn't the nail-biter that the 2003 spelling-bee documentary 'Spellbound' was (but) Creadon and editor Doug Blush successfully build suspense and find unexpected drama and comedy in the competition.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 18, 2006