Medicine has shown that alcoholism is a genetic disease, and I wonder if crossword puzzle addiction is the same. Both my father and my paternal grandmother are crossword fanatics, solving the local newspaper puzzle daily.

One of my father's most treasured gifts is a copy of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language that he received when he graduated from high school. He now has a copy of the new fourth edition that he frequently reads in bed. My grandmother, with an eighth grade education, will regularly finish the crossword puzzle in the Chillicothe Gazette in less than twenty minutes, although she does complain a bit about the computer and Internet clues and words. Given that, it is no surprise that eventually I would be bitten by the crossword bug.

Sudoku was my gateway drug, unless you count the logic puzzles that thrilled me in junior high. I was happily filling out the Sudoku puzzle in the local newspaper one day last fall when my eyes strayed over to the crossword puzzle clues. "I know that one," I thought, and that is when it all began.

Compared to the puzzle solvers in Wordplay, I am a late bloomer. Most of them have been solving puzzles of some sort since they were young children. However, they are also not your average crossword puzzle enthusiasts, since most of them are highly ranked puzzle solvers and constructors.

The documentary opens with a few scenes from the 28th Annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut (March 11-13, 2005). From there, the viewer is introduced to New York Times puzzle editor, Will Shortz. Shortz is also well known to NPR listeners as the Puzzlemaster for Weekend Edition Sunday. He provides some background on the New York Times crossword puzzle, as well as how he came to be the puzzle editor.

It quickly becomes apparent that while the documentary may be about crossword puzzles and puzzle enthusiasts in general, the New York Times puzzle is the central focus, mainly because this is the puzzle of choice for those who appear in the film. As Times puzzle fan and Daily Show host Jon Stewart puts it, "I will solve — in a hotel – a USA Today [crossword puzzle], but I don't feel good about myself when I do it."

In addition to talking to celebrity fans like Stewart, musicians Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, and Bill Clinton, the documentary producers delve into the creation of a crossword puzzle, as shown by constructor Merl Reagle. Reagle briefly shares the rules and conventions of puzzle constructing in the film, and expands on them in greater detail in the companion book.

Like many new puzzle solvers, I was surprised to learn that one of the conventions of puzzle construction is that the puzzle must be rotationally or diametrically symmetric. This is both an aesthetic element, as well as a challenge for constructors to be creative. There are other rules and conventions besides that one, and learning about them has come in handy with my own puzzle solving.