This month we are featuring our youngest constructor yet – WashU student Rena Cohen (she/her). Rena is studying psychology, Spanish, and applied linguistics, and she’s originally from Bloomington, IN.
Rena! Thanks so much for letting us feature you in our Constructor Spotlight. You’re the youngest constructor we’ve featured so far! Will you tell us more about your undergrad studies and any career goals?
I’m still exploring my career options. I’ve always been interested in learning about how our brains work – especially when it comes to language, language learning, and puzzles. I am very much a planner, so I would love to have a definitive career path to share here, but I’ll just have to see where my interests take me.
You have plenty of time! You’re also involved with crosswords at Washington University, correct?
Yes, I co-founded a daily mini crossword as a freshman. It runs in the university’s newspaper, Student Life, and I am the editor of StudLife crosswords. If anyone is interested, they can read about StudLife crosswords in this article:
I care a lot about introducing other students to the world of crosswords and teaching them the basics of construction. My dream is to someday get a full-sized crossword published by my club, JASA-style. (Here’s a NYT article where you can learn more about JASA).
Crosswords have provided me with a wonderful community of fellow wordplay lovers here at WashU. Prior to starting the club, crosswords were always a solo thing for me. I love sharing my passion with other people my age and making an impact on campus through our puzzles.
How did you get into crosswords?
I’ve always loved puzzles and word games. I submitted my first puzzle to the Times at age nine after my dad took me to see Will Shortz give a talk at IU. Looking back, that initial submission had a long way to go, but the editors were incredibly encouraging and supportive.
At the time, Daniel Larsen held the record of being the youngest constructor ever published in the NYT – he also happened to be from Bloomington and was two grades ahead of me! For a while, I wanted to beat his record. It ended up taking me quite a bit longer, but after years of rejections, I started having some success with puzzles in the LAT and USA Today.
And now you’ve had seven puzzles in the NYT (in just over a year!), and you are constructing a puzzle for the ACPT. Can you give us a glimpse into creating a puzzle for the largest crossword tournament in the country? (Don’t worry – no spoilers!)
My ACPT puzzle was originally accepted to the New York Times as a daily puzzle, and I was honored to have it be repurposed for ACPT. It feels a little surreal seeing my name next to so many highly regarded constructors.
Over the years, I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the crossword world, but I’ve met very few of them in person. This will be my first year attending ACPT, and I’m very excited to meet other constructors and crossword enthusiasts.
I can’t wait to solve it! Besides the NYT, where are you published?
I’m published in the Los Angeles Times, Apple News+, Universal, Science News, and more.
Did you have a mentor?
I connected with Kate Chin Park at the end of 2021 through the Crossword Puzzle Collaboration Directory. She has been an invaluable resource for me, especially early on. She guided me through mastering the basics, and to this day she’s always willing to look at any theme ideas I have, which I’m very grateful for.
In spring 2024, I participated in the NYT DCC Fellowship. I primarily worked with Christina Iverson, who mentored me through the process of making my first NYT puzzle. Even after the fellowship, she has generously continued to give me guidance and feedback on puzzles. The fellowship was such a cool experience overall – getting to work with Christina and the other NYT editors felt like a dream come true.
How do you come up with your constructing ideas?
I wish I had a formula for how to make inspiration strike! I see wordplay as a lens through which you can see the world. If I search for a theme for long enough, I start to see connections between words and phrases that I didn’t before. This doesn’t always happen quickly, and sometimes ideas occur to me when I least expect it.
What kinds of connections are you looking for? How do you know when something has potential?
It’s different every time! Sometimes, it feels like a sudden burst of inspiration, and by the end of the night I have a full theme set. Other times, I’ll have phrases that felt like they had potential sitting in my notes app for months that never quite evolve into anything.
Outside of crosswords, I love language translation, and some crosswords feel like translating a concept into crossword form (like my NYT debut, POLYGRAPH). For other puzzles, it’s all about unexpected groupings – like pretzel shapes (9/2/25, NYT), which was inspired by the ampersand-shaped pretzels they handed out during freshman orientation! Sometimes it’s about listening for interesting phonetics or double meanings.
It sounds like you have an ear (or an eye) for themes. Is that your favorite type of crossword to construct?
Yes – themed puzzles all the way! I’ve dabbled in themeless construction, but to me, there’s nothing as satisfying as figuring out a perfect theme set. Coming up with a new theme feels like you are uncovering a hidden connection in the world.
I also try to infuse my puzzles with references that other people my age will understand. In the past, I’ve heard peers say they think crosswords are too hard or just aren’t for them, but I am determined to show them that crosswords can be for anybody.
Share some of your greatest hits with us!
I am really proud of the themes in my NYT debut (10/3/24) and in my first NYT Sunday (1/18/26). I am also proud of my first LAT puzzle’s EGO BOOSTS theme (3/31/23) – it’s such a pleasant theme, and I always want to embed positive references in my puzzles to leave solvers feeling happy.
Any favorite clues?
Here are a couple new takes on common words I was proud of:
- [Cookies that can illustrate phases of the moon] for OREOS
- [Molecule that might be modeled with Twizzlers and gummies in biology class] for DNA
And a personal reference I was happy to include in my Family Game Night NYT bonus puzzle:
- [Midwest city that hosts Gen Con (the largest tabletop game convention in North America), familiarly] for INDY.
What advice do you have for new constructions?
I truly believe that anyone can learn how to construct a crossword puzzle. The best thing you can do is solve other puzzles. It’s also incredibly helpful to find a mentor. In my experience, crossword constructors are very generous with their time, and having a crossword community makes the whole process much more meaningful.
Any advice you received that stuck with you?
Early in my crossword journey, I sent a grid to Kate Chin Park with a number of standout words I was really excited about. At the time, I was willing to ignore the weak fill in the rest of the grid (EOE, SAE, and DRYS, to name a few). She gave me the advice that your puzzle is only as good as its weakest words. From that point on, I started holding my grids to much higher standards, which made a big difference in my development as a constructor.
What do you like to do when you’re not crossword-ing?
I love spending time with friends and family, going on walks, and (of course) all sorts of puzzles and word games. I started my first 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle over the summer and almost finished it before going back to school. My family was kind enough to let it take up the dining room table all fall so I could finish it over winter break.
Another long-term passion of mine is Spanish and working with Spanish-speaking immigrant communities. I first got involved when I was 12 as a welcome host for a Venezuelan girl my age. This experience inspired an extensive Spanish-learning journey, and amidst continued involvement in the Spanish-speaking community I became fully English/Spanish bilingual.
In high school, I interned with the City of Bloomington’s Latino Outreach Division – a role I found extremely meaningful. I translated for clients, volunteered at food bank events in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, and organized our annual Holiday Assistance Program.
When I was a senior applying to college, I realized our district had very few Spanish-language resources about the process. I decided to create a Spanish-language guide to the college application process that we were able to send out to our district’s high schools and publish on our website. This project was super meaningful for me, as I felt I was able to use all my years of learning Spanish to help fill a gap in our community.
In college I’ve continued to pursue this passion through getting involved with the International Institute in St. Louis and volunteering at adult ESL classes.
What role do you hope Spanish will play in your future? Do you see any room for it in your crossword life?
I would love to explore creating Spanish crosswords or other Spanish word games! I don’t currently have a Spanish-language wordlist (though I am on the lookout for one), but expanding Spanish-language puzzle offerings is certainly a future goal of mine. There is a word for crosswords in Spanish – crucigramas – but I’ve found that crosswords aren’t as much of a cultural phenomenon in Spanish-speaking countries as they are in the U.S. – at least for now!
Rapid-Fire Round:
Project(s) to shout out:
My WashU crossword page (games.studlife.com) and some upcoming midi crosswords in the NYT!
Constructing or solving?
Solving for relaxation. Constructing for a satisfying brain workout.
Go-to emoji?
😅
Favorite food?
I love pesto pasta, poke bowls, and all sorts of salads. Ice cream is my go-to dessert.
Favorite Spanish media?
Podcasts: “Radio Ambulante” – and “Hola Bloomington,” our local Spanish-language podcast (I’ve been a guest a few times!)
TV: A couple of Netflix series I’ve enjoyed recently are Machos Alfa and Paquita Salas. People always ask me if I’ve seen Money Heist. I saw a season of it, but it’s too tense for my taste!
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Jess Rucks is a crossword constructor and play therapist. She is delighted to combine her love of learning about others with her love of crosswords for DCL’s Constructor Spotlight.