Juliana Pache, creator of blackcrossword.com, releases her first book, “Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora,” highlighting Black history and culture in crossword puzzles.
Bollywood Fever: It all began a couple of years ago when Juliana Pache found herself stuck on a crossword puzzle, stumped by a reference she didn’t recognize. This experience sparked a thought: what if crossword puzzles included more clues and answers reflecting the subjects she was familiar with—Black history and Black popular culture?
When Pache couldn’t find such a puzzle, she decided to create one herself. In January 2023, she launched blackcrossword.com, a website that offers a free mini-crossword puzzle daily. On Tuesday, she took her mission a step further with the release of her first book, Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora.
The timing of Pache’s venture is significant, nearly 111 years after the first crossword appeared in a New York newspaper. In recent years, there has been growing discussion about representation in crossword puzzles—from who constructs them to the words and clues used. There’s a push to expand the definition of “common knowledge” to be more inclusive.
“I had never made a crossword puzzle before,” Pache, 32, admitted with a laugh. “But I was like, I can figure it out.” And figure it out, she did.
Made ‘With Black People in Mind’
Each puzzle on Pache’s site includes at least a few clues and answers related to Black culture. The tagline on the site reads, “If you know, you know.”
Her book is filled with puzzles similar to those played by around 2,200 daily users of her site—each grid comprising five lines of five spaces. Pache aims for at least three clues in each puzzle to reference aspects of Black cultures from around the world.
A native of Queens, New York, with family roots in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, Pache had specific goals when she started this project. Her primary aim was to create something that Black people would enjoy.
“I’m making it with Black people in mind,” she explained. “And if anyone else enjoys it and learns from it, that’s a bonus, but it’s not my focus.”
Pache also seeks to showcase the diversity within Black communities and cultures through her clues and words, encouraging people from different parts of the African diaspora to learn about each other.
“I also want to make it challenging, not just for people who might be interested in Black culture, but for people within Black culture who might be interested in other regions,” she said. “Part of my mission is to highlight Black people from all over, Black culture from all over. And I think that keeps us learning about each other.”
What, Really, Is ‘General Knowledge’?
On the surface, crossword puzzles may seem like just a game, but the knowledge required to solve them reflects broader cultural assumptions about what is considered “general” and “universal” knowledge. Michelle Pera-McGhee, a data journalist at The Pudding, explored this idea in a 2020 project that analyzed crossword puzzles from major media outlets over the decades.
The project found that men were disproportionately more likely to be featured in crossword clues and answers than women, and white people more than racial and ethnic minorities. This discrepancy highlights the question: “What are the things that we decide we all should know?”
Efforts are underway to make crosswords more accessible and representative. The New York Times, for example, recently launched a fellowship for puzzle constructors from underrepresented groups. Other puzzle creators have developed puzzles aimed at LGBTQ+ communities, women, and broader cultural references, much like what Pache is doing.
“It is really cool to see our culture reflected in this medium,” Pache said.
Pera-McGhee added that encountering unfamiliar references in a puzzle can also be a positive experience. “It’s kind of enriching to have things in the puzzle that you don’t know about,” she said. “It’s not that the experience of not knowing is bad. It’s just that it should maybe be spread out along with the experience of knowing. Both are kind of good in the crossword-solving experience.”
Also Read Other Articles, Napakiak Faces Third Storm in a Week After Severe Flooding Catches Residents Off Guard
Pakistani Man Arrested for Cyber Terrorism Linked to Misinformation That Fueled U.K. Riots