Wordplay provides background on the crossword's mass appeal (attributed in large part to The New York Times), documents how puzzles are submitted to the paper and edited by Will Shortz, and interviews celebrities such as Bill Clinton, Mike Mussina and Jon Stewart on their routine.

The stars, however, are the otherwise unknown masters of their domain, wordsmiths who rip through crosswords in a fashion that takes the game to another level. Call it passion. Call it obsession. Call a doctor.

I've always said that any contest is compelling if the stakes are high enough. That's what draws us to American Idol, high-risk (and high-reward) game shows like Deal or No Deal and tournament poker. We need real winners and real losers, not just participants happy to be there. Often, that great stake is monetary. Here it's the more abstract justification of practicing hours a day for years, unlike, say picking a briefcase with a dollar amount in it.

This film does a good job bringing out the human emotion that's a necessary ingredient to making us care about something we ordinary would tune out. A crossword tournament? Who gives a shit? But here it works.

Some notes:

• Best part was Clinton brazenly doing his Times crossword in felt-tip pen, and kicking ass at it. I know I'm not the only one who was wondering how Dubya would fare.

• Jon Stewart was hilarious, throwing out barbs to Shortz as he solved in a Sharpie. And, at least once, regretting it.

• Mussina's bit was worthless. Mentioned some kind of metaphor about completing a puzzle and completing a game. Yawn.

• As he was in Ken Burns' Baseball documentary, Daniel Okrent was the star non-participant. Insightful and personable. You can tell he's usually the smartest guy in the room.

• Ric Burns talked about crosswords being the fabric of New York City or some shit. So over the top, it was funny.

• Could have used a lot more discussion about strategy and odes to some common answers, like a four-letter word for "lyric poems of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature." Answer: O-D-E-S. Would have liked to have seen a crossword Hall of Fame, maybe first-ballet inductees for A-L-T-O, T-E-N-O-R, O-B-O-E and even things that aren't music-related.

• I'm all for hobbies and passions, but balance is required, unless you want to be known only as "the crossword guy." Ellen Ripstein shot back at critics, saying, "Oh yeah, what are you the best in the country at?" Good stuff, but you also see her clumsily twirling a baton in Central Park, later walking in the rain with a busted umbrella. They may know synonyms of fashion but they don't know how to dress well. They may know 12 ways to say wit, but can't deliver it. But if they're happy, they're happy, and that's cool.

Wordplay Links:

• Wordplay Rewiews on Metacritic — Gets a pretty good score of 73 out of 100, when media reviews are aggregated. I agree with one of the user reviews who would have liked something more substantive. It was light and fun, but this audience isn't one to dumb down to. Interesting to see there's a comment from a guy named "Paul K." Not me.

• BestCrosswords.com — Free Java-based crossword puzzles to complete online. Red-letter flags tell you when you're wrong, and your score will go down as a result. Find more by searching Google.

• Tyler: The Director's Cut — LiveJournal blog of the youngest, and maybe most normal-acting, top competitor in the tourney.