Clean Crosswords vs Crossword Puzzles!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Crossword Puzzles!
Solve daily crosswords set in beautiful global locations. Collect stunning destinations, tackle special weekend puzzles, and earn stamps and badges. Offers thousands of puzzles for all skill levels with optional hints.
- Daily free puzzles
- Collectible global destinations
- Weekend getaway puzzles
- Stamps, pins, and badges
- Thousands of puzzles
- Hints available
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Take your passion for crosswords around the world with Crossword Puzzles! Crosswords set in the world's most beautiful places. Solve a free puzzle every day, collect stunning destinations as you play, and take on special Weekend Getaways. “This is the most beautiful crossword app I’ve ever seen!” A FREE PUZZLE EVERY DAY Play every daily puzzle in the current month for free, not just today's. Each month has its own calendar showing your stars, your streak and the stamps still to earn. COLLECT BREATHTAKING DESTINATIONS Dozens of high-resolution nature photographs from around the world fill your screen as you solve. Unlock new ones by playing, mark your favorites, and let your background change daily. NEW MINI PUZZLES EVERY MONTH A fresh set of 24 quick minis each month. Finish the set to earn a brand-new destination. WEEKEND GETAWAYS Special sets of puzzles every few weekends. Score points for solving on your own and solving fast, earn bronze, silver and gold medals, see where you rank on the leaderboard, and collect a souvenir pin for each one you complete. STAMPS, PINS AND BADGES Earn a bronze, silver and gold passport stamp each month, and dozens of badges for streaks, perfect solves and more. Keep your daily streak going with a streak freeze. THOUSANDS OF PUZZLES Puzzles for every skill level, from easy to challenging. Hints when you need them: reveal a letter, reveal a word, or check for mistakes. Plays beautifully on iPhone and iPad, in portrait or landscape on iPad. WANDERLUST PASS Subscribe for the full experience: • Every destination unlocked, plus new seasonal destinations every three months • Unlimited puzzles, including every past daily puzzle • Free hints • Free streak freezes • No ads The Wanderlust Pass is available as a 1-month, 3-month or 1-year subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renew in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://dexcheck.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
Clean Crosswords and Crossword Puzzles! both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Crossword Puzzles!'s written reviews are positive against 66% of Clean Crosswords's. Crossword Puzzles! also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (9K vs 1.9K). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Clean Crosswords sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Crossword Puzzles! sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Crossword Puzzles! holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Clean Crosswords's written reviews are positive against 85% of Crossword Puzzles!'s.
Clean Crosswords ships an update every 4 months, Crossword Puzzles! monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Clean Crosswords | Crossword Puzzles! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.9K ratings) | 4.6 (9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 65.8% of reviews | 84.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K | 9K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 229 MB | 199 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | the binary family | DexCheck, LLC |
Customer experience
Clean Crosswords
Crossword Puzzles!
User reviews
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
Crossword Puzzles!
From 9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎯 Daily fun
- 🧠 Fun and challenging puzzles
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🧠 Helpful clues
- 🧠 Great variety of puzzles
Room to improve
- 💰 Subscription too expensive
- 🔍 Too many ads
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔍 Distracting and intrusive ads
- 🔍 Repeated puzzles
Bugs and requests
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
Crossword Puzzles!
Reported bugs
4 issues- Puzzle download failures
- Incorrect letter input
- Puzzle progress not saving
- Ads getting stuck and preventing gameplay
Requested features
6 requests- Ability to remove ads
- More free puzzles or ways to earn tickets
- Improved navigation and cursor control
- Option to choose background/color scheme
- Ability to access past puzzles
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- Inclusion of more British/European vocabulary
In-app purchases
Clean Crosswords
- Remove Ads$7.99
Crossword Puzzles!
- Wanderlust Pass (1 Month)$5.991 Month
- Pack of 100 Tickets$0.99
- Tickets - Tier 1$0.99
- Pack of 100 Tickets$1.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Pack of 100 Tickets$2.99
- Tickets - Tier 2$2.99
- Tickets - Tier 3$4.99
- Pack of 500 Tickets$11.99
- Pack of 1250 Tickets$23.99
- First Class Ticket: Unlimited$99.99
Questions
Is Clean Crosswords free?
Is Crossword Puzzles! free?
Which has better reviews, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles!?
Do Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Clean Crosswords or Crossword Puzzles!?
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