05.17.12
puzzle+: Crosswords for Google+
To solve a crossword with your friends in Google+, click this giant hangout button:
You’ll see something like this:
Click “Hang out” to invite everyone in your circles to help you with the puzzle. If you want to collaborate with just one or two people, click the “x” on “Your Circles” and then click your friend’s names on the right.
You’ll be prompted to either upload a .puz file or play one of the built-in Onion puzzles. You can get a free puzzle from the New York Times by clicking “Play in Across Lite” on this page.
With the puzzle downloaded, drag it into the drop area:
And now you’re off to the races! The big win of doing this in a Google+ hangout is that you get to video chat with your collaborators while you’re solving the puzzle, just like you would in person!
Astute readers will note that puzzle+ is a revival of lmnopuz for Google Shared Spaces, which was a revival of lmnowave (Crosswords for Google Wave), which was in turn a revival of Evan Martin and Dan Erat‘s standalone lmnopuz. Hopefully the Google+ Hangouts API will be more long-lived than its predecessors.