Ordinarily I don't go in for a lot of PBS or documentaries, but when your girlfriend doesn't have cable you make due with what you have. Case in point, last week Clare and I were hanging out and came across Wordplay on channel 11 (PBS in Chicago). Surprisingly, I had heard of this particular documentary.
Wordplay is about the culture surrounding crossword puzzles, the New York Times version in particular. They talk to Will Shortz, the editor of the NYTimes crossword, as well as creators, and solvers. Everything culminates in the yearly competition in Stamford, which seriously competes with Trekkie conventions on the nerdiness scale. Anyway, it's a good movie and I definitely recommend checking it out.
The surprising thing about the movie though, is that it rekindled my interest in crosswords. Luckily enough we get the New York Times at work, so I have access to the mother of all puzzles. There's something cathartic about folding up the paper and filling in the blanks. You also get this strange sense of satisfaction or pride by filling it out in pen as well. It's proven to be a great respite from the workday, especially since things are only going to get busier till the end of the year.
So now, Clare and I go through the crosswords. I'll e-mail her the NYTimes version or bring it with me from work. It's a good time, or at least as good a time as one can have without cable.
