Try This Crossword Designed for Hawkeyes by Puzzle Pro Sally Hoelscher

Across

Down

Across

1	Putting to work
6	Inform of danger
10	Porch
11	Adidas competitor
12	Symbolic center of the University of Iowa Campus
14	Stretch across
15	Sleep study subject
16	Nondairy milk option
18	www.uiowa.edu, for example
19	University of Iowa athletes
22	"Just a ___" ("Be right with you")
23	Anger
24	Shoe spike
26	Epic tale
30	Gold-domed Iowa City landmark located on the 12-Across
32	Word after film or pinot
33	Love dearly
34	East, in Spanish
35	Hurdle for a doctoral student, informally

Down

1	Org. that might deliver care packages to UI students
2	Pedometer unit
3	Scottish island known for its abbey
4	"Ask me later. I'm watching the 19-Across!"
5	Transcript fig.
6	___ speed (sci-fi pace)
7	Iowa or Rochester in Iowa City, e.g.
8	Choir platforms
9	Pertaining to birth
13	Provide food for a tailgate party, say
17	Japanese dog breed
19	Greetings
20	"I crushed that midterm!"
21	Appropriate response to "Do you root for the 19-Across?"
22	Pastry served with clotted cream
25	One of 2,106 for the University or Iowa campus
27	Tiny bit of matter
28	Hiker's snack mix
29	Brewery offerings
31	Lobbying org.

Ready to check your work? See the answers!

PHOTO COURTESY SALLY HOELSCHER

Clues consume most of Sally Hoelscher’s (95PhD) waking hours these days—along with themes and grids. Whether she’s shopping for groceries or heading out West on a road trip, the former pharmacologist is constantly thinking about puzzles.

“I have a mantra to always be brainstorming,” says Hoelscher, who is a crossword constructor for several publications, including USA Today. She found herself immersed in this world after a varied career as a practicing pharmacist, University of Iowa adjunct professor of pharmacology, and freelance writer.

She still draws upon her knowledge from those roles when she’s building crosswords—a passion first sparked at her kitchen table in Iowa City. Working on a New York Times puzzle one day, she suddenly began pondering its provenance.

“I’d never before thought about who makes these crosswords, and I wondered if I could,” says Hoelscher. “It turns out the answer is yes.”

The Missouri native, who earned an undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Drake University and a doctorate in pharmacology at Iowa, has loved puzzles since childhood. She began researching the creation process and submitted a few beginner puzzles to The New York Times.

“I have a mantra to always be brainstorming.” —Sally Hoelscher

Despite some initial rejections, Hoelscher persevered, and her first and only New York Times crossword went to print in February 2020. She recalls driving to Hy-Vee with her husband to buy the paper early in the morning. That puzzle now lives in a frame on her wall. “Seeing it was such a thrill,” she says.

After that, Hoelscher was hooked. She dove deeper into the online crossword-constructor community and began creating puzzles for USA Today, Universal, and others. She also published a crossword blog for USA Today—Sally’s Take on the USA Today Crossword—that now has become a personal project, and she’s one of the editors of an indie publication, Lil AVCX, which publishes 78 medium-sized puzzles per year.

When she’s not producing puzzles, Hoelscher mentors aspiring constructors and coordinates the Midwest Crossword Tournament. She is the co-founder and co-director of this new annual event, which she and a fellow puzzler established in 2024 as a companion to the nation’s oldest and largest crossword competition, the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, in Connecticut.

This past fall, their Chicago-based tournament featured crosswords from several renowned regional constructors and attracted nearly 370 solvers, including Hoelscher’s adult daughter.

“People come together and just spend the whole day solving puzzles,” says Hoelscher. “It feels like a family reunion for nerds, and I absolutely love it.”