At some point during the early days of the pandemic, it felt impossible to get on social media without coming across Wordle's rows of green, yellow, and gray boxes. When it was released to the public in October 2021, the word game quickly became part of people's daily routines. Eventually, the New York Times acquired the puzzle as part of its suite of word games, including the infamous Sunday crossword. When the paper needed an editor for their new game, they turned to Ann Arbor word nerd Tracy Bennett, who was already working as an associate puzzle editor. On this episode of the pod, we talked to Bennett about Wordle's mass appeal and how she landed her dream job creating puzzles for a living. 

GUEST: 

Tracy Bennett, Wordle editor for the New York Times 

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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