6 Across
By Laura Sievert-Hesseltine (04BA), Illinois
2026 Write Now Winner - Adult (University of Iowa Alumni)
From my crooked frame, I watch Professor Engle and four earnest young writers wrestle with the New York Times crossword. They puzzle the clue: “Eighteenth-century satirist.”
I'm Jonathan Swift—badly sketched, perhaps, but long-established enough to have earned my own place on the wall in this venerable workshop of perpetual revision.
One student studies my face for several thoughtful seconds before saying, “I'm leaning toward Voltaire.”
Fascinating strategy: consult the answer, then ignore it.
I consider peeling myself off the wall and fluttering dramatically to the floor in literary protest, but the thumbtacks, as ever, refuse to cooperate.
