Advanced Crossword Solver vs AZ Synonyms
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Advanced Crossword Solver
This app assists in solving complex cryptic crosswords and word puzzles. It offers advanced search functionalities beyond simple pattern matching, including anagrams, wildcards, and partial anagrams, utilizing a large database of words and phrases.
- Advanced pattern matching with regular expressions
- Combined pattern and anagram searches
- Wildcard and partial anagram solving
- Subset anagrams for longest word generation
- Search with multiple letter possibilities
- Vowel/consonant symbol searches
- Find near-miss words
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"...anyone grappling with the sort of evil cryptics with no black squares will appreciate its power." - The Sunday Times The Advanced Crossword Solver is a combination of a powerful regular expression-style word matcher and a user-customisable database of nearly 300,000 words and phrases. It is specifically designed to help with solving advanced thematic crosswords such as The Times’ Listener and The Sunday Telegraph’s Enigmatic Variations, but is also useful for word games such as Scrabble and Boggle, and indeed for any other word puzzles or games, for logic problems and as an aid to crossword setting. Unlike most crossword solving programs, this is far more than a simple pattern matcher for unknown letters. It can be used as a pattern matcher, and can solve simple anagrams, but in addition, some of its more powerful features include: • search for a combined pattern and anagram, when you know the answer is an anagram, and you also know where some of the letters are. • search with wildcards, when you know that an answer includes a particular letter or string of letters, but not where in the word they are. • solve partial anagrams, when you know that some of the letters of an answer are an anagram, but other letters are unknown. • solve subset anagrams, when you want to find the longest word you can make from a given set of letters. • search with multiple possibilities for letters, when you know a letter is one of a few possibilities, but not which one it is. • search with letter variables, when you know that several letters are the same, but not which letter it is. • search with vowel and consonant symbols, when you know that a letter is either a vowel or a consonant, but not which letter it is. • search for all the words which are one misprinted letter away from another word. • search for words which match a given pattern but which have one or more misprinted letters. • search for pairs of words (across and down) which cross at an unknown letter. Using the simple input syntax, complex combinations of the above can be searched to quickly narrow down to a solution. Even the most complex search takes no more than a few seconds, and results are clearly presented in a scrollable list. Tapping on a result from the solver shows a menu which allows the result to be looked up in a choice of iPhone dictionary and thesaurus applications, including Chambers and WordWeb, or online. This menu can be customised to add your own choice of applications and websites. (Note that in order to link to a dictionary, it must offer a URL that can be used by other apps - check with the publisher of your chosen dictionary that this is the case.) The word list used by the Solver is a combination of the UK Advanced Cryptics Dictionary (UKACD) and the Enhanced North American Benchmark LExicon (ENABLE). The UKACD is compiled by a crossword puzzle enthusiast from the words and phrases that are found in typical British advanced cryptic puzzles. ENABLE is an authoritative list of Scrabble words valid in both US and UK games. Between the two lists, the program searches a database of over 298,000 words and phrases. The word list used by the solver is stored as plain text files, and the files can be accessed via iTunes to allow them to be customised to your own requirements - words can be added or removed, or the entire word list can be replaced if desired. In addition, the symbols used to denote the input syntax can also be changed, making the entire operation of the solver customisable to your own requirements. If your taste in puzzles extends to the truly challenging, this is the application for you.
AZ Synonyms
Access a comprehensive dictionary of synonyms with over 9,000 entries. This app provides clear definitions, example sentences, and offline access. Easily search for words and save your favorites for quick reference.
- Over 9000 entries
- Offline dictionary access
- Clear definitions with examples
- Easy word searching
- Recent and bookmark functionality
- English text-to-speech
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A synonym is a word or phrase that is perfectly substitutable in a context for another word or phrase. People who study language professionally agree that there is no such thing as an ideal synonym, for it is virtually impossible to find two words or phrases that are identical in denotation (meaning), connotation, frequency, familiarity, and appropriateness. This dictionary App comes with : - Over 9000 entries - Offline Dictionary - Clearly definition with example - Easy word searching ( begin or contain) - Recent and Bookmark are included - English text speech ( word and phrase by press or select on it).
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Advanced Crossword Solver at 5.0 against AZ Synonyms's 4.6. Advanced Crossword Solver also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 46%). AZ Synonyms's advantage is ratings volume (979 vs 1) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Advanced Crossword Solver costs $4.99 and AZ Synonyms $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Advanced Crossword Solver holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AZ Synonyms has 979 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Advanced Crossword Solver's written reviews are positive against 46% of AZ Synonyms's.
Advanced Crossword Solver ships an update every 6 months, AZ Synonyms every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Advanced Crossword Solver | AZ Synonyms |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.6 (979 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 64.7% of reviews — better | 46.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 979 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | KuDaTa Software | Ngov chiheang |
Customer experience
Advanced Crossword Solver
AZ Synonyms
In-app purchases
Advanced Crossword Solver
No in-app purchases
AZ Synonyms
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Advanced Crossword Solver free?
Is AZ Synonyms free?
Which has better reviews, Advanced Crossword Solver or AZ Synonyms?
Do Advanced Crossword Solver or AZ Synonyms have ads?
Which is updated more often, Advanced Crossword Solver or AZ Synonyms?
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