Crossword Puzzles + vs Clean Crosswords
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Crossword Puzzles +
Enjoy a vast collection of classic crossword puzzles on your iPhone and iPad. This app offers over 800 puzzles across various types, with a modern design and intuitive controls. Participate in a community rating system with thousands of players.
- 800+ free crossword puzzles
- Multiple puzzle types (classic, keywords, anagrams, scandinavian)
- Modern design with multitouch gestures
- In-game rating system with 8000+ participants
- Hint modes
- Sound and vibration support
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Huge crossword puzzle collection now comes to iPhone and iPad! At the moment here is 800+ free crossword puzzles including but not limited to classic crosswords, keywords, anagrams, scandinavian crosswords and much more! Blazingly fast with modern design and support for multitouch gestures. This app have it’s own rating system with more than 8000 participants. * full support for iPad and iPhone * six different crossword puzzle types * frequently updated database with 800+ puzzles * different hint modes * sound and vibration support * in-game settings
Clean Crosswords
Enjoy a classic crossword experience designed for iOS devices. This app offers 1,800 puzzles with clues directly in the grid for easy viewing and play. It provides weeks of challenging fun in a clean, British English format.
- 1,800 crossword puzzles
- Clues in puzzle grid
- Classic British English
- Designed for iPhone and iPad
- Challenging fun
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Designed for iPhone and iPad and the new iOS and written in classic British English, Clean Crossword is different and possibly the best crossword ever published for iOS devices. The clues are shown right in the puzzle grid, making puzzles easy to view and play for weeks of challenging fun.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Clean Crosswords at 66% against Crossword Puzzles +'s 21%. Clean Crosswords also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.5) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 2). Crossword Puzzles +'s advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Crossword Puzzles + sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Clean Crosswords sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Clean Crosswords holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Clean Crosswords has 1.9K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 21% of Crossword Puzzles +'s written reviews are positive against 66% of Clean Crosswords's.
Crossword Puzzles + ships an update every 4 weeks, Clean Crosswords every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Crossword Puzzles + | Clean Crosswords |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 4.5 (1.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 21.2% of reviews | 65.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 1.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 229 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Oleksii Harbuzenko | the binary family |
Customer experience
Crossword Puzzles +
Clean Crosswords
User reviews
Crossword Puzzles +
From 2 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun and challenging game
- 👍 Many crosswords to choose from
- 👍 Good mix of difficulty levels
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 Ads block clues and make app unusable
- 🐛 In-app purchases for ad removal don't work
- 🐛 Puzzles fail to download
- 🐛 Lost progress after updates
Clean Crosswords
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Challenging puzzles
- 🧠 Helps improve vocabulary and memory
- 🗓️ Lots of puzzles available
- 🎨 Clean and intuitive interface
- 💰 Free app with optional ad-free version
Room to improve
- 🇬🇧 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
Bugs and requests
Crossword Puzzles +
Reported bugs
15 issues- Unable to download puzzles
- App crashes immediately on opening
- Ads cover puzzle clues
- In-app purchase to remove ads fails
- Progress lost after updates
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- Clues are too small to read
- App freezes
- Grid errors when downloading puzzles
- No way to exit puzzles or return to main menu
- Pop-up ads are unclosable
- Randomly closing of the game
- Controls not explained
- Inconsistent answers for mythology questions
- Game freezes when hint button is used too often
- Tiles with clues are cut short
Requested features
11 requests- Fix ads covering clues
- Restore lost progress
- Increase font size for clues
- Add option to change font size
- Improve navigation and controls
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Add a way to exit puzzles/return to main menu
- Add an answer key
- Fix puzzle download issues
- Ensure in-app purchases work
- Improve accuracy of mythology questions
- Make puzzles easier for younger players
Clean Crosswords
Reported bugs
4 issues- Incorrect word definitions or answers
- Arrows pointing to wrong cells
- Puzzle progress not saving properly
- Ads causing app crashes or freezes
Requested features
5 requests- Dark mode option
- Progress tracking and statistics
- Ability to replay completed puzzles
- More variety in puzzle difficulty levels
- Better integration of American English
In-app purchases
Crossword Puzzles +
- No advertising$0.99
- Hints$0.99
Clean Crosswords
- Remove Ads$7.99
Questions
Is Crossword Puzzles + free?
Is Clean Crosswords free?
Which has better reviews, Crossword Puzzles + or Clean Crosswords?
Do Crossword Puzzles + or Clean Crosswords have ads?
Which is updated more often, Crossword Puzzles + or Clean Crosswords?
Other comparisons
