Sam Ezersky

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.

Early life and education
Ezersky was born in Pikesville, Maryland, outside of Baltimore. He became interested in puzzles at a young age, solving his first Fill-In puzzle at age five or six. He began constructing crossword puzzles and submitting them to newspapers by age 14. At 16, he had his first published crossword run in the Los Angeles Times on March 25, 2012, and at 17, his first New York Times puzzle on July 28, 2012, a collaboration with Vic Fleming.

Ezersky attended the University of Virginia, where he wrote a weekly crossword for the Cavalier Daily for two years. While in college in 2016, when New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz was in town for a commencement speech, Ezersky had him over to his house to talk puzzles and kept in touch afterwards, interning for him later that winter. He double majored in mechanical engineering and economics and graduated in 2017.

Career
Ezersky was hired 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. , Ezersky has had 55 crosswords published in the Times.

Ezersky became the editor of the Times daily online Spelling Bee game at its launch in 2018. The game has amassed an online following known as the Hivemind, which produces constant reactions to Ezersky's decisions to include or exclude words from the game.

Ezersky also edits the newspaper's Letter Boxed game, which debuted in 2019.