Is their a cooperative crossword app?

May 2, 2020 3:31 PM

I'd like to do the crossword with someone else each using our own devices. Is there an app where we can work on a crossword puzzle together? Would be good if it was compatible with one/some of the popular puzzles (free or subscription) - Crossword Fiend's list. iOS or on the web?
posted by bluefly to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

The New York Times app lets you do this but, infuriatingly, only syncs when you close the puzzle. So you have to coordinate which of you is working on it when, as if you had a single copy of the newspaper you were mailing back and forth — you can't just chip away at it together, as if you were editing a Google Docs document at the same time.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:34 PM on May 2, 2020

Response by poster: Oh, I would like the simultaneous aspect. I wasn't sure if the NYT had it; thanks for reminding me and confirming no nwp. We'd like to chat on speakerphone, drink tea, and type over each other's work as an approximation of what we would do IRL in the olden days scribbling over the other's answers at a cafe.
posted by bluefly at 3:47 PM on May 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

Per the Verge, The New Yorker has coop-crosswords:

https://www.newyorker.com/crossword-puzzles-and-games

Otherwise Reddit suggests two other apps:

* Sqaures.io
* downforacross.com
posted by jpeacock at 4:01 PM on May 2, 2020 [3 favorites]

For UK-style crosswords this has all The Guardian's currently listed crosswords available in co-op mode.
posted by ambrosen at 5:44 PM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

The UK Guardian has brought out its own puzzle app (iOS and Android) that allows collaborative solving of their crosswords, with a twenty-year archive. It's a subscription app, but you get a seven-day free trial to see if it suits.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:54 AM on May 4, 2020