by Leonard Williams
AK Press
10/26/2021, paperback
SKU: 9781849354332
Black Blocks, White Squares presents fifty-one themed crossword puzzles featuring radical ideas, history, and movements. Ranging from slightly to substantially challenging, they are built around noteworthy quotations, invoke notable thinkers and books, or allude to key words and concepts. Some of the puzzles use wordplay or grid art to illustrate important ideas or events, exploring a range of orientations and activities in contemporary political activism.
Leonard Williams has created puzzles for major newspapers and crossword sites that both gratify and enlighten puzzlers. Each one is constructed according to the prevailing standards of American-style crosswords. You won't need a political science degree to solve these grids, but you'll probably learn something new. The book includes solutions as well as "Constructor's Notes" explaining the ideas behind each puzzle. A perfect gift and conversation starter!
About the Author:
Leonard Williams is professor emeritus of political science at Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana. He taught courses in political theory and American politics, with his research focusing on political ideologies. His academic work on anarchist theory has appeared in several journals and in Anarchism: A Conceptual Approach (which he co-edited with Benjamin Franks and Nathan Jun). His crosswords have appeared in such venues as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Andrews McMeel Universal, Fireball Crosswords, and GAMES Magazine.