Some movies touch us, make us laugh, cry, act, sleep, whatever. However, rarely does a movie speak to me.

Wordplay, an IFC documentary about the New York Times crossword puzzle, its keeper and a contest for crossword enthusiasts did just that. However, I mean this literally.

When I sat down to watch this movie early Sunday morning, like at about 2 a.m., I had taken a muscle relaxer because I had gotten a terrible night cramp the night before, and it left my leg muscles uber tight and sore.

So, I started this movie featuring the great Will Shortz, the NYT puzzlemaster, with the intent of watching it but understanding it might put me right to sleep. Besides, I have never fancied myself a puzzler, somebody who does crosswords.

However, crosswords are something smart people do, and in a way they're something that can help keep the ol' brain fresh, even making a soul a bit smarter along the way. Builds vocabulary. Problem-solving skills.

So, I've always been a tad envious of those who can sit down and do the entire NYT Sunday crossword, for example. Those people are a ton smarter than me. No doubt. Bill Clinton does them, and those who know me that's tantamount to an edict that I should be doing them.

Still, I'm watching this movie, smirking at what a geek this Will Shortz fellow is. I mean, he went to Indiana University and majored, essentially, in puzzles. They called it enigmatology. Apparently, at IU, they have this thing (a tradition?) where students can literally major in anything they want.

Man, to think I could have majored in beer.

Nevertheless, about halfway through the documentary, which was very good I should note, Shortz explains that in his estimation the groups of people who should be best at crosswords, based on his experience are musicians and computer programmer types.

OK. I'm awake. And, I'm thinking to myself, "You have to be kidding me."

I should note that I've been a musician since I was three and a novice-to-moderately skilled computer geek since I was about 24.

Shortz went on to explain that the ideal crossword puzzle enthusiast actually would be a piano player because piano players read music in a way that's analgous to how a tough puzzle should be attacked. I'm paraphrasing, and I should reinforce the fact that I was on a muscle relaxer. I could have hallucinated this entire movie.

The movie followed one crossword enthusiast, a pianist, who spends his day sightreading music. I should admit that I suck at sightreading. Give me a lead sheet on anything pop, jazz, R&B, country, etc., and I can play it. Make it anymore difficult than a lead sheet, requiring that I sightread note for note, and I cannot do it worth squat.

So, perhaps Shortz means that crosswords are meant for those types of piano players -- the ones who can sightread.

Nevertheless, I like online games, so before I invest in a NYT subscription, I decided to try my hand at the online USA Today crossword puzzles.

Damn, I'm addicted. They have a little clock you can use to time yourself, which is apparently the carrot dangling in front of puzzlers, to be able to knock them out as quickly as possible.

Well, I'm not very good yet by any means. I've only done three, but my time has improved with each one, and I suspect that I will obsess over these for the next several weeks. For the record, my first puzzle took me about 40 minutes to do.

Told you I sucked.

However, I did each of the next two in under 24 minutes, and my goal is to be able to knock these out in about 10 minutes or less each day. If I can get that good, I'll give the NYT puzzles a try with the hope of proving its puzzlemaster right.

By the way, lest I forget, this was really a solid documentary. It's smart, and it's actually compelling.

Post-post note: I did my fourth puzzle of the day, and this one only took me 13:38, which bests my previous best by nearly 11 minutes. This does not bode well for my social life.