Cruciverbalist User Reviews

Miranda Strand

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Best cross word puzzle created app

I’ve been searching for a mobile optimized crossword puzzle creating application for the past 2 years and this absolutely does the trick! I’m an avid crossword enthusiast, and as a high school teacher I often create crossword puzzles for my students. Using this app has allowed me to make amazing crosswords for my students, and they love the interface of the puzzles.

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Arsalan.H

2 years ago

Perfect app for crossword builders!

I was searching for a mobile app that replicates what I’m able to do on desktop, so I can complete crosswords while on the go. I’m super excited to have found this one! It’s incredibly intuitive, and I was able to get started making my first crossword within minutes of downloading. No ads are always great. Moving forward, the capability to create barred crosswords in addition to regular crosswords would be helpful.

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xxchobiexx

2 years ago

Works fine, but doesn’t play well with other programs

I wanted an app that would let me construct crosswords on my phone, and this does the trick. It comes with a functional word list preloaded, and the standard sizes. I have only encountered one bug, which is that sometimes the app makes duplicate versions of the puzzle with the same name. I assume it’s linked to the autosave, and it’s better than losing work, but it’s a little tedious to go through and figure out which is the newest version.

Obviously it’s not as fully featured as a desktop program, which is fine, but there are two limitations that are real drawbacks. 1. The app only accepts entry-only text files for custom dictionaries, so no custom scored lists or .dict files 2. It can only export as pdfs - no .puz files.

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C5789

2 years ago

More block options please!!

I love the app it is great for making crosswords and testing out new ideas on the go, but I would really like the option to have customizable grid sizes and the ability to add circles and other similar types of boxes for my themed answers. If you add this I will make my review 5 stars. Fantastic job so far.

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Davider73

3 years ago

Response from developer

So glad to hear you're enjoying the app! Custom grid sizes will be available in one of the next releases - stay tuned! I will add circles to the feature list too, for a later release. If there are other particular types of theme boxes you would like as well, please reach out at cruciverbalistfeedback@gmail.com - a picture of what you have in mind would be particularly helpful.

For Xword Mavens Only

When I had a PC, I had a crossword maker program that actually made newspaper-worthy puzzles. Now I have an iPhone and, thinking this app was like the old program, I got it. There are differences.

Before, the game provided CW grids. Now, I have to design the grid and avoid creating layouts with too many short words.

Before, the game had thousands of words and clues included. Now, this just has words and I have to come up with clues - a bummer if the only word is one that you don’t know offhand.

Before, the game actually assembled the puzzle and made sure all the words fit. Now, after putting a word by hand in the puzzle, it does help you pick out words, but conks out of the letter combo is not in the giga-thousand word list.

I gave this four stars rather than less because if you’re like Will Shortz, it won’t sell you short. In the hands of a literary muggle, it’s more of a toy Harry Potter wand than one issued to a Hogwarts grad.

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bigfatdoc55

3 years ago

Lost everything

Best tool for this that I’ve found by far, but once when I closed the app and when I re-opened it my mostly-complete crossword I had been working on for over a week was gone…back up your crosswords somewhere else!

Treybc2

3 years ago

Response from developer

So sorry that this happened! But thank you for letting me know. Version 1.2 will have updates to auto-save more frequently and prevent crosswords from getting lost if the device is unable to save.

Needs improvement

I really like this app, it’s a great idea. For some reason all the letters are white and you can’t see what you’ve already written.

macyem611

3 years ago

Response from developer

Thank you for letting me know! I’ve done a little digging and it looks like this happens when the device is in dark mode - it’ll be fixed in the next update. If you aren’t using dark mode, or run into any other issues, please email a screenshot to cruciverbalistfeedback@gmail.com and let me know what version of iOS you are on (this is shown in Settings > General > About > Software Version). That will help me debug faster!