We would like to congratulate everyone who applied to the 2019 Crossword Hobbyist Crossword Scholarship. With an outpouring of clever, personal, and well-crafted crossword puzzles, we knew this would be a hard selection.

In the end, our scholarship committee had to consider each and every clue and answer to make a decision. While we could only award one scholarship, we felt it fitting to give mention to those who also made excellent puzzles. We loved learning more about the interests and aspirations of our applicants.

Without further ado, we present to you the 2019 Crossword Hobbyist Crossword Scholarship winner, finalists, and semi-finalists. We highly encourage you to solve each of their crossword puzzles.

Winner – Nicholas Mussman, “Legends of the Grid”

Nicholas Mussman is a recent graduate of James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for the fall semester, he plans to major in Business Management.

An accomplished student and President of the National Honors Society, Nicholas recently achieved an award at his school, the 12 Season Award, which he has been working diligently toward since freshman year. He was also involved with soccer, wrestling, lacrosse, theater, and other extracurriculars throughout his time at Conant. 

With fond memories of playing scrabble with his father from a young age, Nicholas developed a passion for words and games that extended into his winning entry. Drawing inspiration from key cruciverbalists past and present, keen crossword aficionados will recognize the ‘Legends of the Grid’ that Nicholas incorporated into his puzzle. Congratulations, Nicholas!

To learn more about Nicholas and solve his winning puzzle, visit our interview with him.

Finalists

Raistlyn Camphuysen, “Brain Surgery”
Raistlyn is a graduating senior at Richland High School in Texas and is headed to Brigham Young University in the fall to study Nursing. With a passion for reading and writing her own stories and poetry, Raistlyn is an accomplished student who served as the President of her school’s National Honors Society and of her SkillsUSA class for health science.

At the age of 11, Raistlyn suffered a brain bleed that required surgery to remove a collection of malformed blood vessels, called a cavernoma. This surgery opened Raistlyn up to the healthcare field at a young age and we are inspired by her dedication to pursue a career helping others with similarly challenging health issues. Best of luck at BYU, Raistlyn!

Eythen Anthony, “Horror Films”
Eythen is enrolled at Emory University where he intends to study Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology so that he can research diseases of the brain. Eythen has been heavily involved in his school and community as a member of the Key Club, National Honors Society, Rho Kappa, Mu Alpha Theta, Quiz Bowl, and the Boy Scouts of America. With a passion for watching and analyzing movies, Eythen incorporated his love for film into his puzzle’s theme and hopes to work on writing screenplays in his spare time in the future.

Chelsea Schmidt, “Workin’ Man”
Chelsea is entering her first year at PIMA Medical Institute, where she will be returning to college to pursue a secondary degree to become a Veterinarian Technician. Her hobbies include writing poetry and other creative works, pencil drawing, kayaking, and motorcycling. As a first-time crossword maker, she loved the brain-tease building a puzzle offers and knows this won’t be her last!

Semi-finalists

Raigan Fischetti, “The Way People Act”
Breanna Gentner, “Plant Puns & Cultural Links”
Rosalind Liang, “Outer Space”
Erin Rhee, “NHL”
Katie Painter, “Game Night”
Hannah Mathis, “Cartoons!”

Thank you to all of our applicants and to those who shared our scholarship with others for making this a wonderful second year of our scholarship program. We look forward to solving more puzzles next year!