The Art of Wordplay — 2009
The Best of 2009 from the Wordplay photo gallery
The Heleleikeoha falls, also known as the Blue Pool, in Hana, Hawaii. (Eros Hoagland for The New York Times)
William Safire in 1968. (Patrick Burns/The New York Times)
An osprey flying to its nest off the coast of Maine. (Herb Swanson for The New York Times)
Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are. (Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times)
Aqaba, Jordan’s relaxed port on the Red Sea, where women swim at public beaches. (Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times)
Coffees at Ritual Roasters in San Francisco. (Jessica Brandi Lifland for The New York Times)
Hedgehog cactus thriving at the summit of Guadalupe Peak in Texas. (Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times) 
Björn Borg after defeating John McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1980. (Adam Stoltman/Associated Press (Everett Collection))
From left, Bill Irwin as Vladimir, Nathan Lane as Estragon, John Glover as Lucky and John Goodman as Pozzo in “Waiting for Godot” at Studio 54 in New York. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in the 2002 film “Frida,” directed by Julie Taymor. (Peter Sorel/Miramax)
Kavya Shivashankar, 13, at the 2009 National Spelling “Spell-off” in Washington. (Larry Downing/Reuters)
Michael Jackson. (Russell Boyce/Reuters)
A pear tree in Brooklyn. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times)
A seahorse on display at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. (Mary Katz for The New York Times)
Guys in eye-searing suits: from left, Craig Bierko as Sky Masterson, Oliver Platt as Nathan Detroit, Tituss Burgess as Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Steve Rosen as Benny Southstreet in the musical “Guys and Dolls” at the Nederlander Theater in New York. (Sara Krulwich/The New York Times)
An egg made in 1898 by the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Faberge. (Michael Kappeler/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
A polar bear near Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. (Paul J. Richards/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images) 
A golden orb spinner garden spider at work in the garden. (Matt Roth for The New York Times)
Barbara Stanwyck in the 1948 film Sorry, Wrong Number. (Hal Wallis Productions)
A slender loris. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
The former presidents George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush, in 2003. (Associated Press)
Woody Allen during a performance with the New Orleans Jazz Band in 2008. (Jacek Turczky/European Pressphoto Agency)
The Golden temple in Amritsar, India. (Narinder Nanu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)
John Travolta, right, and Christopher Walken, in “Hairspray.” (David James/New Line Cinema)
The jaguar mother Kiara plays with her baby in Berlin in 2007. (Marcel Mettelsiefen/European Pressphoto Agency)
Rose Mary Woods, secretary to President Richard Nixon, in 1973. (Associated Press)
Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in “The Avengers.” (BBC America)
Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in the 1951 film “The African Queen.” (Everett Collection)
President-elect Barack Obama at a rally on election day in Chicago. (Damon Winter/The New York Times)
Groucho Marx in the 1933 film Duck Soup. 
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” (Paramount Home Entertainment)