Sam Ezersky | |
|---|---|
 Ezersky at the 2024 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament | |
| Born | May 29, 1995 [1] Pikesville, Maryland, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2012–present |
| Known for | Editor of The New York Times Spelling Bee |
Sam Ezersky (born May 29, 1995) is an American puzzle editor and crossword constructor who is the editor of The New York Times Spelling Bee. He has worked for the New York Times games department since 2017.
Ezersky was born in Pikesville, Maryland, outside of Baltimore. He became interested in puzzles at a young age, solving his first Fill-In puzzle when he was only five or six. [2] [3] He began constructing crossword puzzles and submitting them to newspapers by age 14. When he was 16, he published his first crossword, which ran in the Los Angeles Times on March 25, 2012, and when he was 17, his first New York Times puzzle, a collaboration with Vic Fleming, appeared on July 28, 2012. [4] [5]
Ezersky graduated in 2017 from the University of Virginia, where he double-majored in mechanical engineering and economics—and, for two years, wrote a weekly crossword puzzle for the Cavalier Daily . [4] [6] [7] In 2016, when New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz was in town for a commencement speech, Ezersky, then still in college, had him over to his house to talk puzzles. Ezersky kept in touch afterwards and interned for Shortz that winter.
Ezersky was hired right out of college, in 2017, as an assistant puzzle editor for The New York Times, where he helps review and edit crossword submissions to the newspaper. [3] [5] As of March 2024 [update] , he has also published 55 of his own crosswords in the Times. [8]
Ezersky became the editor of the Times's daily online Spelling Bee game at its launch in 2018. [2] [9] The game has amassed an online following known as the Hivemind, which constantly reacts to Ezersky's decisions to include or exclude words from the game. [10] [11] [12]
Ezersky also edits the newspaper's Letter Boxed game, which debuted in 2019. [13] [14]
A crossword is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of clues. Each white square is typically filled with one letter, while the black squares are used to separate entries. The first white square in each entry is typically numbered to correspond to its clue.
William F. Shortz is an American puzzle creator and editor who is the crossword editor for The New York Times. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in the invented field of enigmatology. After starting his career at Penny Press and Games magazine, he was hired by The New York Times in 1993. Shortz's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is the country's oldest and largest crossword tournament.
The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT) is a crossword-solving tournament held annually in February, March, or April. Founded in 1978 by Will Shortz, who still directs the tournament, it is the oldest and largest crossword tournament held in the United States; the 2023 event set an attendance record with more than 750 competitors.
The New York Times crossword is a daily American-style crossword puzzle published in The New York Times, syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals, and released online on the newspaper's website and mobile apps as part of The New York Times Games.
Crosswordese is the group of words frequently found in US crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation. The words are usually short, three to five letters, with letter combinations which crossword constructors find useful in the creation of crossword puzzles, such as words that start and/or end with vowels, abbreviations consisting entirely of consonants, unusual combinations of letters, and words consisting almost entirely of frequently used letters. Such words are needed in almost every puzzle to some extent. Too much crosswordese in a crossword puzzle is frowned upon by crossword-makers and crossword enthusiasts.
Merl Harry Reagle was an American crossword constructor. For 30 years, he constructed a puzzle every Sunday for the San Francisco Chronicle, which he syndicated to more than 50 Sunday newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Seattle Times, The Plain Dealer, the Hartford Courant, the New York Observer, and the Arizona Daily Star. Reagle also produced crossword puzzles for AARP: The Magazine and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Henry Hook was an American creator of crossword puzzles, widely credited with popularizing the cryptic crossword in North America. With Henry Rathvon and Emily Cox, he wrote the crossword for the Boston Globe.
Manny Nosowsky is a U.S. crossword puzzle creator. A medical doctor by training, he retired from a San Francisco urology practice and, beginning in 1991, has created crossword puzzles that have been published in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other newspapers. Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, has described Nosowsky as "a national treasure" and included four Nosowsky puzzles in his 2002 book Will Shortz's Favorite Crossword Puzzles. Since Shortz became editor of the Times crossword in November 1993, Nosowsky has published nearly 250 puzzles there, making him by far the most prolific published constructor in the Times. Nosowsky is frequently chosen to produce puzzles for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.
Lollapuzzoola is a crossword-solving tournament held annually on a Saturday in August. Founded in 2008 by Brian Cimmet and Ryan Hecht, it is the second-largest crossword tournament in the United States, and the only major tournament in New York City. The term "Lollapuzzoola" was coined by Amanda Yesnowitz, as a play on the Lollapalooza music festival. Lollapuzzoola 17 took place on August 24, 2024, and was cohosted by Brian Cimmet, Brooke Husic, and Sid Sivakumar.
Matt Gaffney is a professional crossword puzzle constructor and author who lives in Staunton, Virginia. His puzzles have appeared in Billboard magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Beast, Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles, GAMES magazine, the Los Angeles Times, New York magazine, the New York Times, Newsday, The Onion, Slate magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Washingtonian Magazine, The Week, and Wine Spectator.
David Steinberg is a crossword constructor and editor. At 14, he became the then second-youngest published constructor in the New York Times, and at 15, the youngest published constructor in the Los Angeles Times and the youngest known crossword editor ever for a major newspaper.
Bernice Gordon was an American constructor of crosswords. She created puzzles for many publications after beginning her career in the early 1950s, and holds the record as the oldest contributor to The New York Times crossword puzzle. A 1965 Times puzzle she wrote is credited as the first rebus puzzle, fitting an exclamation point into a single square. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2014, just a few weeks after the 100th anniversary of the crossword. Her last puzzle was published in the Los Angeles Times on December 2, 2014.
Joel Fagliano is an American puzzle creator. He is known for his work at The New York Times, where he writes the paper's Mini Crossword. On March 14, 2024, Fagliano became the interim editor of The New York Times Crossword due to editor Will Shortz being on medical leave.
Erik Agard is a crossword solver, constructor, and editor. He is the winner of the 2016 Lollapuzzoola Express Division, the 2018 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), a frequent contributor to the New York Times crossword puzzle, a crossword constructor for The New Yorker, the former USA Today crossword editor, and a former Jeopardy! contestant. He is currently a crossword editor at Apple News+.
The New York TimesSpelling Bee, or simply the Spelling Bee, is a word game distributed in print and electronic format by The New York Times as part of The New York Times Games. Created by Frank Longo, the game debuted in a weekly print format in 2014. A digital daily version with an altered scoring system launched on May 9, 2018.
Patrick D. Berry is an American puzzle creator and editor who constructs crossword puzzles and variety puzzles. He had 227 crosswords published in The New York Times from 1999 to 2018. His how-to guide for crossword construction was first published as a For Dummies book in 2004. One of the most revered constructors of his time, Berry has been called the "Thomas Pynchon of crosswords".
Mike Shenk is an American crossword puzzle creator and editor. He has been the editor of the Wall Street Journal crossword puzzle since 1998. He is considered one of the foremost crossword constructors of his time.
Wyna Liu is an American puzzle creator and editor of the New York Times game Connections.
Letter Boxed is an online word puzzle video game created by Sam Ezersky and published in 2019 on The New York Times Games. It was the third game published in the puzzles section on the New York Times website after the Crossword and Spelling Bee. Originally created as part of an effort to attract new subscribers, Letter Boxed is one of a suite of casual games that has become an important revenue driver for the company, and for which "The New York Times has attained the reputation for having fun, quick and easy daily games."
The New York Times Games is a collection of casual print and online games published by The New York Times, an American newspaper. Originating with the newspaper's crossword puzzle in 1942, NYT Games was officially established on August 21, 2014, with the addition of the Mini Crossword. Most puzzles of The New York Times Games are published and refreshed daily, mirroring The Times' daily newspaper cadence.