Word Play

Calling all crossword puzzlers and Scrabble fans!

You know who are — you can’t get enough word play. You do crossword puzzles on the train, play games of Scrabble in cafes or in the park, or on Scrabulous. Maybe you’ve read Marc Romano‘s Crossworld or Stephen Fatzis‘ Word Freaks, recent books on the worlds of competitive crossword puzzling, and Scrabble, respectively.
But whether you’re a hardcore word player, or have only a passing interest, you probably love — or at least appreciate — anagrams: the beauty, the wit, the puzzling satisfaction of how it all fits together. In that case, here’s a great little film for you: POV’s latest entry in the Online Short Film Festival, Ars Magna, by Cory Kelley. The seven-mintue gem, presented in glorious full-screen flash (just click the little black full-screen icon at the bottom of the player), is a little loving tribute to one man’s obsession with his ars magna, anagrams.
Watch it now, and let us know what you think!

Looking for more word play? Check out the word-lover’s website mentioned in the film, Wordsmith.org. And if this little short merely whets your appetite for more word-play docs, take a look at Wordplay, by Patrick Creadon, a funny, affectionate ode to the New York Times Crossword Puzzle, or Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo‘s Word Wars, about the “tiles and tribulations” of competitive Scrabble. Both are zippy and fun. You can test your anagramming skills while watching, unscrambling the words as the characters on screen do. Do you have any other favorite books, sites or docs on the subject? Let us know — post a comment below!