# Clean Crosswords — user reviews > 243 indexed App Store user reviews of Clean Crosswords by the binary family, rated 4.50/5 from 1,926 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clean-crosswords/id773100196/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clean-crosswords/id773100196.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,307 · 4★ 403 · 3★ 124 · 2★ 29 · 1★ 63 ## What do users think of Clean Crosswords? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Challenging puzzles - 🧠 Helps improve vocabulary and memory - 🗓️ Lots of puzzles available - 🎨 Clean and intuitive interface - 💰 Free app with optional ad-free version **Cons** - 🇬🇧 Too many British-centric references and spellings - 🔁 Repetitive clues and answers - 🐛 Crashes and freezes - 📢 Intrusive ads in free version - 🕹️ Navigation and layout issues on larger screens **Commonly reported bugs** - Incorrect word definitions or answers - Arrows pointing to wrong cells - Puzzle progress not saving properly - Ads causing app crashes or freezes **Most requested features** - Dark mode option - Progress tracking and statistics - Ability to replay completed puzzles - More variety in puzzle difficulty levels - Better integration of American English ## Newest reviews (14 of 243) ### 3/5 — Better than most *2024-04-02, version 5.0* This has a wide selection. But the popup ads, while necessary for a free app, are annoying; they were few at first but are now quite frequent. Also, many british expressions that we north-americans struggle to guess...i.e. “brolly” for umbrella. 4/5. Second opinion: definitely more british than north-american…some words I’ve never heard… ### 2/5 — Spelling *2022-12-20, version 4.7* Please note that the capital city of New South Wales in Australia is Sydney, not Sidney. I know it’s not life changing but still pretty annoying. ### 2/5 — Poor quality crosswords *2022-10-06, version 4.7* Even the difficult level is not too hard. Some of the puzzles are incomplete - e.g. missing black squares. Many, many reused clues. At least twice the answer to questions relating to the Australian city were “Sidney” though a further puzzle included the correct spelling. Also, though British focussed in subject matter, often answers are in American spellings, e.g. “odor”. ### 4/5 — Okay, but…UPDATE TO 4-STAR *2022-02-25, version 4.7* UPDATE: I appreciate that the developer has responded. I didn’t understand the % solved part very well. Thank you for clarification. And I appreciate that the developer has not dismissed the need to have the game automatically fit to various screen sizes. PREVIOUS 3-STAR REVIEW: I’ve solved 8 puzzles so far but it tells me: 0% solved so far. What gives? Also, the puzzle needs to fit to horizontally to the iPad Air 4 screen. It’s two columns short of fitting the screen in portrait position. ### 2/5 — Becoming unplayable *2022-02-21, version 4.7* Some ads now filling and blocking the screen with no way to advance. Screen just freezes. ### 3/5 — Halva isn’t Oriental!! *2021-12-28, version 4.7* The game is alright, been playing it prettily consistently the past couple of months. The one thing that keeps getting me is how bad some of the clues are that really don’t make sense to the answers. The worst one I’ve seen just happened there. Clue reads “Oriental sweet” to which the answer is “Halva” which is Middle Eastern. I know it’s in Asia but come on! This game could be so much better if someone else was in charge of the clues. ### 5/5 — Too Many British references *2021-06-29, version 4.7* Too many proper names of British celebs no one in USA has heard of. ### 5/5 — Clean crosswords *2021-06-22, version 4.7* Love this set of crosswords. Have played it for ages. Now all of a sudden after every word it goes out to an add. They want you to purchase the app. Wasn’t told this when I signed up. Totally spoilt the game. BE UPFRONT WHEN YOU WANT A PAYMENT. DO NOT SUCK PLAYERS IN THEN DO THIS….. ### 4/5 — Annoying *2021-06-14, version 4.7* Change it back. ### 5/5 — Great crosswords! *2021-03-22, version 4.5* Challenging, really tests one's mind! ### 5/5 — I love it! *2021-03-07, version 4.5* Can’t stop playing. ### 5/5 — Susan *2021-02-28, version 4.5* Crossword is easy to use. Great way to learn spelling and memory loss. ### 3/5 — Clean Crossword *2021-01-02, version 4.4* Some of the ads will not allow you to ignore them. Thay lock up the game. I log off and wait to restart. Very IRRITATING. ### 5/5 — Needs Dark Mode *2020-12-29, version 4.4* I love this game and play it most nights, but it’s one of the brightest apps on my phone with the white background. To reduce eye strain at night, I would request adding a dark mode option, or color options. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2023-12-17, version 5.0* I enjoyed this game for a while but it suddenly stopped working. I’ve deleted and reloaded without success. I cannot get through to the app support. Don’t bother ### 1/5 — Clean crossword failure *2023-07-07, version 5.0* New format for a few days. Now all I get is a blank dark grey screen. Some up grade! ### 1/5 — Ads *2022-08-07, version 4.7* Solve a clue get an ad! Really? ### 1/5 — Too many ads *2021-09-15, version 4.7* Tired of pop up ads ### 1/5 — Clean Crossword *2021-06-16, version 4.7* Recently I was asked to okay ads to help pay for this game. I agreed since ads were already appearing and I wasn’t prepared to pay money to play. Since that time I can seldom solve one word before a new ad appears. Once the ads start they appear about once every ten to twenty seconds. It is almost impossible to play this game anymore. ### 1/5 — New update *2021-05-05, version 4.7* The new update is crap I will never play this again ### 1/5 — Exasperating *2020-11-22, version 4.3* The jumping around of the working screen every few seconds drives me crazy. You need to constantly start hunting yet again for the spot you were looking at just a sec ago... Maddening. ### 1/5 — Crashes *2020-11-21, version 4.3* Your clean crosswords crashes with iOS 14.1. Pls correct so that it’s usable. ### 1/5 — Poor puzzles *2020-05-23, version 4.3* Whoever writes the puzzles doesn’t work at getting words and letters to fit correctly. It’s hard to read the clues. Not much of a crossword puzzle app ### 1/5 — Crosswords *2020-04-17, version 4.3* There are so many errors in meaning in the clues - it really isn’t enjoyable. Whoever is making up the clues really needs a good dictionary. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Goldilocks Crossword *2026-01-25, version 5.1* Not too easy - nor too hard ### 5/5 — New words *2025-10-24, version 5.0* Please use more modern and daily life words , out of date words are not informative ### 5/5 — Excellent *2025-03-20, version 5.0* Very well put together puzzles ### 5/5 — Clean crossword *2023-07-29, version 5.0* Always enjoy this crossword if I get stuck can find the answer and check my mistakes. Better now with no ads ### 5/5 — Atrocious *2023-02-22, version 4.7* Whoever sets these crosswords, English cannot be their first language. So many words are made up, many are Americanisms .the clues are so badly written as to be completely obscure - and not in a good way! I’m sick and tired of this stupid game. I’ve no idea what theythink the definitions are but they certainly are not correct. It’s like a 12 year old, badly educated foreigner has compiled them! Do better! ### 5/5 — Educational *2023-01-29, version 4.7* Excellent crossword, especially for semiliterate people like me. I may know the answer to a clue but my spelling is incorrect. I learn as I play this application. ### 5/5 — Great app - hours of fun and learning! *2022-07-03, version 4.7* As of yesterday, I finished all the puzzles. While I don’t know for sure how long I’ve had the app, I know it’s provided me with hours and hours of fun and learning. I wish there was a way to refresh/start over with the puzzles or to download a new set of puzzles. I like that I can do as few or many puzzles whenever I want, not dependent on a “daily” puzzle delivery, and I like that there are options to check my work as I go. The app almost never “froze.” Would I download this again? Yes! ### 5/5 — Clean Crosswords *2022-02-22, version 4.7* Enjoy my word game to keep my mind sharp and enjoy the challenge.Thank you SwattyDimps ### 5/5 — Challenging *2021-10-21, version 4.7* A fun challenge ### 5/5 — Really Enjoy this app *2021-10-03, version 4.7* I especially like this crossword app. I find the easy level challenging enough. I do a crossword every day. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*