Wordplay again

I like to pop into the Rotten Tomatoes page for Wordplay every now and then, scoping out the latest reviews. What I hadn't noticed before was assorted stills strewn throughout the page amid the reviews. Why, look! There's that picture of Ellen (who, by the way, is an inveterate Wordplay Googler, so her LiveJournal's a great place to check for the latest) and Francis! There's Al Sanders! There's Stella in her crossword PJs, chatting with Trip (also a good source of Wordplay updates) and Tyler whilst Patrick Creadon cinematographizes. There's Jim Jenista! And there's the guy with the French-foreign-agent mustache, Will Shortz.

This weekend, when the film opens in Chicago (and about 45 other cities), I'll probably hit up fandango.com, moviefone.com, or movietickets.com to buy tickets in advance. Yes, it's highway robbery the way they charge an extra buck per ticket, but I love-love-love being able to bypass the line at the box office and walk straight to the ticket-taker with a piece of paper printed at home. If you're a fellow queue-loather and not overtly thrifty, try it out. (But not yet—as of this writing, the showtimes for June 23 and beyond aren't listed.)

Wordplay picked up a little free publicity courtesy of an NBC affiliate in San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland, which broadcast an interview with the "Crossword King" (their words!), constructor Byron Walden. See the video here.

There's a new look at the Wordplay site, and Ellen made them fix all those typos. (No more contestant "identifaction" cards—and we'll disregard the fact that the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament doesn't issue photo IDs.)