Crosswords vs Dot Puz
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Crosswords
Engage with daily crossword puzzles from various newspapers, offering hints, clue lookups, and progress tracking. Upgrade for automatic puzzle delivery, access to extensive archives, and a wider selection of premium puzzle sources.
- Daily newspaper crossword puzzles
- Hints and clue lookups
- Progress tracking
- US and UK cryptic puzzles
- Automatic puzzle downloads
- Access to extensive puzzle archives
- Comparison with other solvers
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"… the definitive source for puzzles for iOS…" -- the New York Times Play the Award Winning Crosswords on your iPad or iPhone, optimized for iOS 12! Each day many newspapers provide their crossword puzzles online; wake up each day to new puzzles, solve them, get hints, view clues, and track how quickly you're improving! • Touch and hold a square to view hints • US and UK Cryptic puzzles available • Hints, Websites, and Clue lookups • Enter answers in 'ink' or 'pencil' • Quickly see your recently played, or sort by date, difficulty or source • Detailed info on each puzzle • Post your solve times online and compare with other solvers After upgrading, you can also: • Automatically get new puzzles every day • Access nearly unlimited puzzles from many different sources • Grab older puzzles with a tap • Download new puzzles automatically in the background Upgraded Puzzle Sources: • Brendan Emmett Quigley's Weekly Puzzle • Inkwell Crossword (Archives only) • Village Voice (Archives only) • Chronicle of Higher Education (Archives only) • King Features Crosswords (Joseph, Sheffer, and Premier) • People Magazine (Archives only) • Newsday (Archives only) • Andy Kravis, Cruciverbist at Law • Glutton for Pun • MacNamara’s Band • Murchie’s Monday Fills • Neville Fogarty • Puzzle Express • The Stickler Weekly • World of Crosswords Premium Crosswords subscription required: • Matt Gaffney’s Crossword Contest • American Values Crossword • Crooked Crosswords Providers list subject to change. •• For support, please visit our website at http://www.standalone.com •• Privacy Policy: https://www.standalone.com/legal/ EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Dot Puz
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Dot Puz is a simple app for solving crosswords from sources that publish their puzzles in .puz format The app does not include any puzzles! You'll need to find your own, but a link is included within the app to help you get started
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dot Puz at none against Crosswords's 14. Dot Puz also leads on ads (none vs shown). Crosswords's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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. Crosswords sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Dot Puz asks for nothing beyond the download.
Crosswords ships an update every 4 weeks, Dot Puz every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 4, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Crosswords | Dot Puz |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (574 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 27.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 574 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 16 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stand Alone, Inc. | Eric Bomgardner |
Bugs and requests
Crosswords
Reported bugs
3 issues- Puzzle grid freezing or displaying blank
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between apps
- Inability to access or download certain puzzle sources
Requested features
4 requests- Dark mode option
- Ability to delete puzzles
- Comprehensive error checking and feedback
- Customizable keyboard and gestures
Dot Puz
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Crosswords
- Lionel's crosswords, Vol. 1$0.99
- Ink Well Xwords, Vol. 1$1.99
- Dell Crosswords$1.99
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- Edited by Ben Tausig, Vol. 1$1.99
- Ridonkulous Crosswords$1.99
- Liz Gorski's Crossword Nation: Vol. 1, No. 1-20$1.99
- Dell Medium Crosswords$1.99
- Brendan Emmett Quigley's Faves #1$2.99
- Jonesin' Crosswords$2.99
- Edited By Tausig 2$2.99
- Brendan Emmett Quigley Freestyle$2.99
- Crosswords Pro (Upgrade)$3.99
- Crossword Nation's Centennial Edition$7.99
- Crosswords Pro$9.99
Dot Puz
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Crosswords free?
Is Dot Puz free?
Do Crosswords or Dot Puz have ads?
Which is updated more often, Crosswords or Dot Puz?
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