Penny Dell Daily Crossword Reviews

I downloaded yours because I wanted some easy crosswords, I have used your books, and what I got was one fun and easy crossword. When I tried to do another at medium difficulty, another 45 second ad, then when I asked for a hint ,or something else simple, another 45 second ad, only this one wouldn’t give an X out when it finished, so the only way to proceed is to shut the game down and restart and , yep ANOTHER 45 second ad. I’m sorry, I know you needs ads, but in the short time I’ve had this game, more time has been on ads than playing the game, that’s ridiculous. Just charge a couple bucks and get out of the way. I’m deleting this now , which is a shame, because I like to support companies that are not intrusive with the data they collect. But this is abusive.

The new ad for some very sugary sweet cereal that I would never eat much less give my kids, takes two to three times to run. Sitting through two minutes is not the same as sitting thru a 30 second ad. Is it you or them? And as I just read from another review, some ads crash. Get it together. Or is this a hoax? Are you reading these and laughing? I'm giving you one star.

A week or so later...

Tonight when I started your game I noticed that the ad was taking a while so I decided to time it. It’s been on for over 11 minutes and it’s not over yet. I know you want us to pay to use your game so we don’t have to watch the ads but this is a bit extreme. I have noticed that there’s a whole new way ads are run and new types of ads, not just for other games. And this is true for other games I play. I have seen this ad many times now (for iPhone photo school) and it’s length varies. So, when I finished a game and the ad started - it was the same ad and was going to run for 15 minutes. Are y’all aware of this?

Again, I ask, who writes these darn puzzles?? Is it one person? A team of people? A computer word-generator?? Whoever or whatever it is, they need to quit being complacent and think up some new words!! I do at least the hard and medium puzzles every day, and I can give you ten words that each have a 75% chance of being in either the medium or hard puzzle, or both:

Era, eon, age, eer, ere, ewe, erne, ore, oer, and owe.

Not to mention any clue that includes doing something “again.” You can’t just use the prefix “re” before anything and make it into a real word!

95% of puzzles also include one or more clues for a random Greek letter... There are 24 Greek letters! They might as well use the clue “pick a number between 1 and 24”!

Not only do they reuse the same clues every day, they aren’t even good! “Before, to a bard”??? These clues are so, for lack of a better word, cheesy!

If it’s one person writing these puzzles, read a dictionary! If it’s a team, have more brainstorming meetings! If it’s a computer, supply it with a new database! So I say, pun intended, to whomever or whatever writes these stinking puzzles, get a clue!

I have done thousands of puzzles in PennyDellDailyCrossword and have thoroughly enjoyed it. But in the past month or so a bug has crept in that is very frustrating. If I get stuck in a puzzle and I click on the button to watch an ad to turn on errors often instead of playing an ad I get the spinning wheel of frustration like its trying to load an ad but can’t quite get it done. It then locks up and I can’t come back to the puzzle until at least the next day, or else I have to reset my iPad. It’s getting to the point that I’m about ready to delete PennyDellDailyCrossword because there are other crossword puzzle apps out there that don’t have this problem.

It used to be that the only problem with the free version was that occasionally an ad would not appear and I would be unable to do anything unless I rebooted my iPad. That still happens, unfortunately (amazing after so many years with this problem!). But the BIG problem is that you cannot get out of a couple of ads at all and play the puzzles. The biggest offender is the Lending Tree ad. Impossible to get out of it or get rid of it. Sometimes it goes away by itself. Usually it is hours before I can continue with the puzzles.

I have thoroughly enjoyed PennyDellDailyCrossword. It is one of the few that I have actually spent real money on. Which leads to my only real complaint. Each difficulty level for the daily puzzles they want me to watch a 30 second ad. Sometimes even multiple ads per each level. I've paid you $30-$40 for your puzzle packs. The least you could do is allow me an ad free experience. I've actually refused to play for over a week due to the long and intrusive ads that were forced on me. I have no qualms with deleting PennyDellDailyCrossword if you persist on forcing me to watch long ads in order to play. If this is fixed, this is an outstanding app. Reward the people who pay you their hard earned money with an ad free experience.

This puzzle is fun to do. However, about a month ago, it became a pain to get out of most ads. I know ads are needs and they want us to read/see them. I don’t have a problem with that and some are fun to look at. But putting me in a loop when I am trying to exit the ad is becoming quite annoying and turns me off to the product being advertised. At first I thought it was just a developer problem with the ad, but it continues week after week. WordPlay (I think that is the name) is the worst. And the Makeover one follows in second place for keeping me in a loop.

I’ve only done a couple of puzzles but I’ve really enjoyed the easy puzzles & all the options that make it easy to style them just for me. I can ask for a hint of one letter or even the entire word, turn the sound off or on, change from up & down or side to side. It will let you turn on correction mode so you Know when you’ve made a mistake or wait until the end to know if you’ve got errors. It’s so much easier than trying to keep up with your puzzle book & pencil, since you generally have your phone with you & thats all you need ever!

Good app for daily use.
Suggestion- have a timer or show the elapsed time on the display.
I do want to report a bug- on the iPhone, when I use the puzzle, there is a persistent repetitive sound from PennyDellDailyCrossword (almost like static on the radio) that pulses in and out. The sound is faint but is there. When I close PennyDellDailyCrossword , the sound completely disappears. I have turned sound off in the Settings of PennyDellDailyCrossword , so there should be no reason for the sound. It only appears when I use PennyDellDailyCrossword . Please check and fix it. Excellent app otherwise. Thanks.

Update: after the last update, I now get an annoying “loading” screen. Please get rid of this screen.
Also, please let the iPhone’s status bar at the top be visible so that I can know what time it is and the battery life and wireless icon.
I downgraded to 4 stars until this is fixed. I requested the status bar when I wrote my original review a long time ago but it still is not visible. Thanks.

First review:
I have been a daily user for a few years now and enjoy trying to solve the puzzles. I was never very good with crosswords but I can handle the easy and medium ones because I know when I put in a wrong letter. I’m trying to keep my mind active now that I’m getting older and no longer working.
The only thing I would suggest is that the phone’s status bar with the time and battery status could be displayed at the top of the screen. Thanks for a great app!

I have been familiar with Penny Dell Crossword puzzles due to the Penny Dell Crosswords magazines I’ve been buying at newsstands in airports and train stations. I was quite happy when looking in the Apple App Store to find that these same puzzles were available in a free app. I can do crossword puzzles every day for free using PennyDellDailyCrossword , or I can buy them in PennyDellDailyCrossword ’s store and keep them in its library until I’m ready to do them. I can do the ones in my library off line when I have no access to wifi or data. Another thing that is very convenient about PennyDellDailyCrossword is that I can do the puzzles at night in bed when my husband is asleep without bothering him with the light. I recommend this for crossword fans at three levels There are easy puzzles, medium ones and also more challenging ones available.

A great game! I love how easy it is to type in the letters. It lets you see what word you are working on in another section of the screen so there is no confusion. Also, you can watch an ad to turn on the “show errors” option or choose to get a hint for a specific word. I love that they don’t make you use coins to do this or anything like that. The puzzles also come in different levels of difficulty so you can choose what you want to work on.

I've had PennyDellDailyCrossword on my iPad for quite some time, but decided to add it to my iPhone and just completed my first puzzles. I'm used to ads on my iPad so they don't bother me. I know I can pay to make them go away. The easy and medium puzzles are easy for me, but I struggle a bit on the hard ones, which is good practice. Before installing on my iPad I never thought I could do crosswords from the newspaper, but now I'm obsessed and can't wait to solve them daily.

Just had to comment after glancing through the others. I've played your crosswords for so many years I can't begin to come up with a number. You've been my go to remedy for tension headaches after a stressful day at the office or after hauling a van load of kids around to ball games! You've been beside me through a divorce and the chaos of being a Single Mom. There have been many things you couldn't take care of but, hey, I think you've been great investment over the years! Now look at us, you're an App and I'm once again turning to you, this time it's to keep my brain firing! While my hair turns gray and I may doze off every now and then..I tend to ramble a bit and lose my focus. Just wanted to thank you for being there and now here! I think you've been a bargain! If you could just turn the lamp out now....

Though most people will know almost every answer the first time through each puzzle, it’s still fun to guess the answers. I tend to make it a speed thing: how fast can I finish the whole thing? One knows the puzzles are not challenging from the get-go; they are, after all, intended to be simple. The good news is that one can ask for ore challenging levels, so there’s something for everyone but the true puzzle afficionado. Have fun!

The interface works well and there is something for everyone. It is not easy enough for kids but adults should be able to find the right level of challenge. I put up with the ads and do the daily puzzles. If you love puzzles and want to pay there are a lot here. It also comes with a few freebies in the library. I like PennyDellDailyCrossword because it is a traditional crossword experience.

I enjoy doing the easy ones because that way I get to finish a puzzle, instead of becoming frustrated when I can't. It is much more fun to win. The puzzles are put together very well and cover a wide variety of subjects. I have been doing crosswords all my life and feel I have improved my vocabulary and spelling capabilities as a result. Good fun and a reward in writing abilities as well. This has been a great help in writing reports which I have had to do for the 34 years I worked as a police officer and supervisor. KATO II

GREAT! I love crosswords and these are excellent, especially for travel. I am a regular crossword book buyer. After I finish the ones I have, I'll probably buy some on this site . If the owners of this site read this--YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB!!! Thanks!
My second review: I had to take PennyDellDailyCrossword off b/c my old phone was low on storage. My new phone has plenty. I still really like PennyDellDailyCrossword . I’m an old man who has worked crossword puzzles for MANY years. PennyDellDailyCrossword is great , and SO handy. Thanks again for the great puzzles!

I’m so glad I found PennyDellDailyCrossword. I’ve used Penny Dell crossword books for years and now I can complete them on my phone or tablet.

I find it extremely relaxing and calming especially since I choose the Easy or Medium modes. There’s so many puzzles to do free and for a small amount of money you can but lots more. Cheaper than what I was paying to but the crossword puzzle books.

I haven’t been subjected to any ads which has been an unexpected surprise. Although I would have no problem paying a small fee to remove them if they show up.

I used to play New York Times Crossword Puzzle until they got snooty and started charging to play their puzzles. Since then I have tried to find a puzzle app that I really liked without much success. Then I found Penny Dell and it’s the bomb! I love it! Three different skill levels and they don’t charge you to see the wrong letters. All you have to do is watch a short video ad. Many of the other puzzle apps are set to the younger crowd with questions about rap songs and the titles or artists and frankly in my opinion only an idiot would listen to such garbage so I would just wait until the next day to see if they had something more my style. No such problems with Penny Dell. Thanks for a great App.

I get the need for ads in a free app, but when you make them stupidly annoying I delete PennyDellDailyCrossword and see none of them. Congratulations. Tell your advertisers you ran me off.

And no, Mr. Developer Response, I won’t be annoyed into paying $15 to not be annoyed. Make your ads not annoying.

The developer response is a perfect example of a scripted answer pasted in for marketing purposes regardless of what the review was about. At least have the courtesy to respond to what was actually written, which was how hideously annoying your ads are, not the fact that they're there. Then again, a developer whose ads are as hideously annoying as this one's are doesn't care about users anyway.

Enjoyed working the daily puzzles, but now can’t get past the advertising. Very disgusted. Guess I’ll delete the app.