TL;DR: In Cruzadinha BLA, each word can have up to three layers of clue. Layer 1 is the direct definition. Layer 2 frames the context. Layer 3 arrives almost explicit. All of it goes through an automatic validator that rejects anything out of tone, and through a final human review before reaching the app.
The good clue does not give the answer. It invites you to arrive at it.
That is the starting point. When you open a common crossword, the clue is technical: "Brazilian writer", "red fruit", "capital of Brazil". It fits, solves, forgets. When you open a BLA crossword, the clue is a phrase: "A Brazilian writer from Rio who wrote Dom Casmurro", "Red of June, from the classic pie", "the city designed by Niemeyer". It fits the same. It teaches more.
Some words ask for help. The one-layer clue only works for whoever already has the cultural context. Whoever read Machado de Assis gets "A Brazilian writer from Rio who wrote Dom Casmurro" in three seconds. Whoever never read him may need a hint that opens the way without handing everything over.
That is what layers are for. The first one is the standard clue. You tap it, and the second appears with a small puff effect. Tap again, and the third arrives. Each tap is a choice of yours: keep going alone or ask for more help.
Examples (each layer up to 80 characters): MACHADO turns into "A Brazilian writer from Rio who wrote Dom Casmurro", then "A realist from the late 19th century", then "You know him, the one with the small moustache". MAÇÃ (apple in Portuguese): "A classic red fruit", "The witch's favorite", "The one from Snow White". BRASÍLIA: "The city designed by Niemeyer", "Capital inaugurated in 1960", "The heart of the Central Plateau". OUTONO (autumn): "The season that comes after summer", "The time of falling leaves", "Between March and June in the Southern Hemisphere".
Not every word needs three layers. Colors, fruits and animals stay at one. The three layers exist for words that gain with context: culture, literature, history, places.
Before any clue reaches the app, it goes through an automatic validator. A script runs over all clues, one by one, and checks hard things: maximum 80 characters per layer, no em dash or en dash, no informal "tu" in Portuguese, no emoji, no starting with "que" ("Who wrote Dom Casmurro" becomes "Carioca who wrote Dom Casmurro" in the Portuguese original), no giving the first letter of the answer, no repeating a word from the answer itself, no alcohol, drugs, violence (a hard rule), no names from an internal block list.
When a clue fails any rule, the validator drops it and the clue goes back for rewrite. It does not reach the app until it passes. The archive JSON is not even generated if there is a violation. It is a hard gate, intentional.
Pull quote: It is not a machine working alone. It is an editor with a machine behind.
After the validator, the human review. Ivan Grycuk reads every clue out loud, one at a time. If it fits the voice, it stays. If it does not, it goes or gets rewritten. Almost every clue passes, sometimes adjusted. Some turn into a joke, others become an invitation, others into the right phrase that was missing.
The result is an archive with 92 crosswords at 11×11, plus 98 daily Minis at 5×5, plus 52 Big Sundays at 15×15, with every clue audited line by line. Every word unique across the entire app. Nothing repeats.
When you play, you are not just filling in a grid. You are reading prose in pieces of 80 characters. In each clue, someone thought about the word, about how to present it, about how to keep the way open without handing the answer for free.
It is a care that takes time. It is a care that shows when you compare two crosswords side by side: the common one and the BLA one. The difference is not in the grid. It is in the phrase that opens each word.
Common questions. Does every clue have three layers? No. Not every word gains with context. Fruits, colors and animals usually stay at one. Culture, literature, places and historical figures go up to three. How do I open a new layer? Tap the clue that is currently showing. The next layer appears with a puff effect. Tap again to see the third one, if there is one. Is the BLA clue generated by AI? The clue goes through both machine and human. The automatic validator rejects what is out of pattern. The final review is done by Ivan Grycuk, reading each clue out loud. AI helps with speed. The voice is editorial, human, decided. What does the validator consider out of tone? A clue above 80 characters, with an em dash, with informal "tu" in Portuguese, with emoji, starting with "que", giving the first letter of the answer, repeating a word from the answer, or touching alcohol, drugs or violence.
Cruzadinha BLA is on the App Store, free. Download at https://apps.apple.com/app/cruzadinha-bla/id6769588425, or open the app page at https://bla.vc/apps/cruzadinha.
