Longtime crossword enthusiast Tracy Bennett spent 20+ years at The New York Times as a copy editor before moving into the coveted puzzles department in 2020, and then rising to Wordle's editor in 2022. Does she love her new job? Of course she does.
She shared her story with Insider, giving insight on what it's like to work on the viral word game:
With the current version of Wordle, we can't add words — we can only remove and reorder the words John Wardle [the game's original creator] had programmed. We remove words if they're too obscure or have a derogatory secondary meaning.
…When I first got started ordering the words, I made them "drive" and "feast" on the day before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving.
I have an attraction to beautiful-sounding words and quirky words like "angst" and "glyph." I have one word coming in February that's a really hard, luck-based word.
…Eventually, I'll be able to add words to the list. I want to add "bling," which I predict might make a stir, and words that will create more representation in the game like "latke" which is Yiddish.
Read her entire story: I'm the Wordle editor. People complain about the words and recognize me on the street — but I wouldn't trade this job for anything. (Digg)
