Comparison

Crosswords vs Dot Puz

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

"… 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/

About

Dot Puz

Read full description

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

Crosswords1 screens
Dot Puz1 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Crosswords sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Dot Puz asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Crosswords versus Dot Puz: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrosswordsDot Puz
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (574 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews27.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings574 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStand 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

14 purchases

Crosswords

One-time14
  • Lionel's crosswords, Vol. 1$0.99
  • Ink Well Xwords, Vol. 1$1.99
  • Dell Crosswords$1.99
Show 11 more
  • 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
None

Dot Puz

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Crosswords free?
Crosswords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dot Puz free?
Dot Puz is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Crosswords or Dot Puz have ads?
Crosswords shows ads; Dot Puz does not.
Which is updated more often, Crosswords or Dot Puz?
Crosswords ships an update every 4 weeks, and Dot Puz every 2 months. Most recently, Crosswords was updated on September 4, 2026 and Dot Puz on September 11, 2026.

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