Across and down, it’s VCU’s Collin Drown in the New York Times crossword

By Sian Wilkerson

As one of the world’s many cruciverbalists (hint: a 14-letter word for a designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles), Collin Drown knows the power of a well-designed clue. The Virginia Commonwealth University student has been both solving and crafting crosswords for years.

But this past summer, Drown’s hobby took him further than he ever could have dreamed when he debuted as a constructor (11 letters; an individual who designs and builds crossword puzzles) in a Sunday edition of The New York Times.

Seeing his name in the storied publication on July 12 “was very surreal,” said Drown, a doctoral student in the VCU School of Education. “I think I saw it as a pipe dream for a while. I would joke that [as far as] accomplishments in general, you know, it’s all downhill from here.”

His 138-clue puzzle was an uphill challenge for solvers. The title was “Slight Adjustments,” and the puzzle’s pun theme revolved around italicized clues that suggested, rather than defined, slights or insults. Drown’s editor was the revered NYT puzzle master Will Shortz.

Drown’s interest in crosswords began in high school, following in the footsteps of his mom, Connie, an avid puzzle-solver.

“I always enjoyed logic games, things that let you think spatially in different ways. I love language and literature and writing, so crosswords scratch that itch, but then also the more technical, mathematical side as well,” he said. “It hits both of those areas, and I like anything that exists in both of those realms.”

When he isn’t busy with crosswords, Drown is working toward his Ph.D. in education with a concentration in research, assessment and evaluation. He is also part of the School of Education’s Centroid Applied Machine Learning Lab, studying the intersection of artificial intelligence and social science research.

Drown’s research delves into how current and future generations are interacting with and adapting to AI tools, and the psychological effects of such coexistence. He hopes to teach at the university level.

“I just love being in environments of learning,” Drown said. “[Being] around really smart, interesting people is appealing to me long-term.”

Prior to coming to VCU, the California native received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary in 2022 and his master’s from Texas A&M in 2024. He worked at Hampton University in the student counseling center, developing a bereavement support program for students.

Since being published in the NYT, Drown has connected with other constructors, who have offered both wisdom and feedback as he crafts new puzzles.

Being published “definitely wasn’t a long-term goal of mine,” he said. “It was just, hey, why not try this thing?”

Drown sent in his first batch of puzzles “not thinking much of it, and happened to get one of my first couple accepted,” he said. “Now I’m just trying to keep that rolling and see how many I can get in.”

He won’t have to wait long: Drown has two more puzzles slated for publication, the first of which will appear early next year.

While Drown’s constructing proficiency has improved with experience, his bigger puzzles can still take 40 to 50 hours to complete. And for every puzzle he completes, there are five or six more that hit a dead end.

The constructing experience is largely “about brute force,” he said, “putting the time in and [being] willing to hit your head against the wall for hours until something works.”

Despite the long hours and occasional frustration, Drown’s cruciverbalist commitment carries the day.

“When you find an activity that can be incredibly tedious but you still persist and are continuing to do it every week, that’s probably a good sign that it’s something you’re actually into and passionate about,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed having something that I’m actually willing to put the time in, and struggle through.”