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.

• Tracy Bennett had worked as a copy editor for over 20 years and constructed crosswords as a hobby.
• She applied to be an associate puzzle editor at The New York Times in 2020 and got the job.
• In November 2022, the Times announced Bennett would be the editor of Wordle, the viral word game.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tracy Bennett, a 58-year-old associate puzzle editor of the New York Times and editor of Wordle who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Before I became an associate puzzle editor at The New York Times in 2020, I'd thought puzzles would always just be a hobby for me.

I had a day job as the manager of the copy-editing department at a mathematics journal. I'd been working there for more than 20 years and managed 17 people.