Nope, you're still a bunch of geeks: "Wordplay"

What is it with these word savants? Not long ago, we had the book "Word Freak" and the movie "Word Wars," both about competitive Scrabble players. Now comes "Wordplay," about the guy behind The New York Times crossword puzzles, his cronies and his devotees -- from the famous (Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart, Ken Burns) to the, shall we say, obsessive/awkward/kill-myself-if-I'm-caught-with-them-in-an-elevatoresque.

If I recall correctly, "Wordplay" was somewhat acclaimed as a documentary, and it is entertaining to watch these folks rant and rave about how much the NYT crossword and its master, Will Shortz, mean to them and the universe in general. Sure, who wouldn't want to watch Clinton or Stewart do the same puzzle, each offering commentary in his own distinctive way?

Also kind of cool was to see exactly how one of these puzzles comes together, courtesy of one of Shortz's stable of "constructors." You learn not only what the rules of puzzle layout are, but how these guys have a bunch of arrows in their quiver when it comes to making words fit with others. Essentially, it all starts with a theme, and from there you just have to fill in the blanks. Sounds simple, but I admit, there's both an art and a science to it.

Of course, this movie wouldn't succeed without a climax -- in this case, the annual crossword competition in lovely Stamford, Conn. We see the wily veterans and the young guns, including a truly dorky college student. Sure, he seems well-adjusted enough on the surface; heck, he's even a frat boy! But I find it interesting that we never saw him with a girl even once in this movie. I mean, why even pledge, dude?

That said, the contest has enough drama and provides a fitting rendezvous for the various characters to wrap the movie up in a nice package. It helps that the movie's running time checks in at less than 90 minutes. Come to think of it, that's how long it takes me to do the crossword. In USA Today. For kids.