In other words, he’s a cultural gatekeeper — one with a certain agenda. “We do our best to make sure all kinds of folks can enjoy the puzzles and hopefully see themselves in them,” Agard says.

Below are the best pop culture jigsaws to gift this year, all of which have 500-1,000 pieces to keep them busy all season long.

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 ...