When I — a crossword beginner — do the Aug. 14 puzzle on Blackcrossword.com , I briefly fumble on one clue: “Turner from Tennessee.
” The four-letter (and now obvious) answer is Tina . Later, when I crack open Juliana Pache’s book Black Crossword : 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora, I instantly recognize the answer to the clue for puzzle three, five down, which says “Private Dancer,” a song I’m familiar with. I know quickly that the answer is also Tina.
“What you’re describing is how your brain is making new associations. Things are being worded differently and you’re now able to make those connections faster,” Pache explains later. She’s the entrepreneur and creator behind Black Crossword.
For nearly a decade, she’s been an avid crossword player, gaining her interest in the game by watching her co-workers compete. In January 2023 , she created blackcrossword.com, and now, her new book Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora extends the concept, allowing players to exercise the brain’s knowledge of Black diasporic concepts, places, and celebrities.
Some of these words you’ve heard, and others you will get to know. In Pache’s book, we’re thinking Black. The pages inside Black Crossword: 100 Mini Puzzles Celebrating the African Diaspora feature puzzles and clues that touch on hip-hop, African spiritual deities, and popular phrases within Black households.
“Blackness is at the center, that’s what m.