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The Bee Keeper: A conversation with Sam Ezersky (Engr ’17), the editor of The New York Times’ buzzy word game | VIRGINIA Magazine

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Sam Ezersky (Engr ’17) double majored in mechanical engineering and economics—but his passion has always been puzzles. He sold his first crossword to The New York Times when he was in high school and landed a job there after graduating from UVA. Now, he runs Spelling Bee, the Times’ daily word game that challenges players to make as many words as possible from a set of seven letters. Millions of players take on the challenge. Ezersky spoke to Virginia Magazine about the popularity of Spelling Bee during the pandemic, his best puzzling tips and the key moment on Grounds that kicked off his career. He also crafted a custom UVA-themed anagram puzzle to challenge your mind—and your UVA knowledge. How did you become the Spelling Bee editor? I have been into crosswords and other word puzzles for genuinely almost as long as I can remember. I’ve been solving them or similar puzzles since I was 5, 6 years old. On long car rides, a normal person might be playing on their Game Boy, which I also d

The Bee Keeper: A conversation with Sam Ezersky (Engr ’17), the editor of The New York Times’ buzzy word game | VIRGINIA Magazine The Bee Keeper A conversation with Sam Ezersky (Engr ’17), the editor of The New York Times ’ buzzy word game By Sam Grossman Issue Winter 2022 Sam Ezersky (Engr ’17) double majored in mechanical engineering and economics—but his passion has always been puzzles. He sold his first crossword to The New York Times when he was in high school and landed a job there after graduating from UVA. Now, he runs Spelling Bee, the Times ’ daily word game that challenges players t

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