PSA: collaborative NYT crosswords return to Twitch over the holiday weekend

It’s your first (and hopefully last) Thanksgiving holiday during a pandemic, and you might be looking for some kind of outlet for your newfound stress. Well, you’re in luck: New York Times Games is streaming collaborative crosswords on Twitch right now.

This collaborative take on the NYT’s online crosswords works kind of like Twitch Plays Pokémon, relying on chat inputs from viewers watching the stream. (Of course, in this case, you’re entering in crossword answers rather than picking moves in a pokémon battle.) Commands are formatted like “23d barn” meaning “the answer for 23 down is barn.” From there, the game is smart enough to select the correct boxes and fill them in. It’s designed by Sam Von Ehren, an NYT game designer.

The game...

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