Clean Crosswords Reviews

by Zal1961

It’s a good game; one must remember that it is an English version (instead of an American version), so spelling of certain words are different, and a few clues might seem strange. No stars taken away for that; it’s the constant ads that keep popping up that make it annoying. Yes, I know the developer needs to make money somehow if s/he’s giving it away for free, but having them (as in multiple ads) pop up in the middle of play as well after each finished game is distracting.

The frequency of the ads has gotten to the point that I hate the ad sponsors.

by Discipline Problem

I was cautioned about CleanCrosswords's use of UK terms, slang and spelling, but that is one of the most fun features I've found. The timer is an excellent idea, too.
Now, for the problems. CleanCrosswords crashes frequently. It also seems to 'freeze' repeatedly during play, just a several second delay (to "think" maybe?), but it negates the timer feature's usefulness or competing for a best time. Overall, CleanCrosswords is much slower than it should be in responding to play.
Surprisingly, I still grew to like the design and clue challenges so much I refuse to quit using it. I just think that "almost" is a pathetic business model, so I honestly hope these issues (noted by many users in these reviews) are being addressed.

by Amymcole

Fun game to play. Learn new things with each puzzle. Some are hard and really have to think what the answers are they sometimes you need to do a reveal a letter to help. The only downside is that once you do every single puzzle there aren’t any more to play. Would be nice to have more puzzles to play once a category is done for example once you complete the easy ones there are no more. So bring in more puzzles to keep you on your toes. Other than that I have fun

*udate:i finished them all so now I don’t have any to play...what’s the purpose of you can’t play more...makes you wanna delete after you are done with it as it will take up space on your phone. Add more puzzles!

by K8 Again

This has, by far, been my favorite crossword app. The puzzles are interesting and challenging, plus the added bonus of different cultural slang and words. However, even after updates, I am frozen on two different levels of the game and cannot move on, which is rather disappointing when I would really love to continue playing. I hope these issues can be resolved!

by Floater52

This is a nice app but not enough different words from puzzle to puzzle as a lot of the answers are repetitive. Another problem is when the puzzle is complete sometimes it doesn't clear and you have to click next puzzle and abandon the one you just completed. A few puzzles down the road that puzzle returns. I paid for the ad removal and having to abandon the puzzle to continue got worse.

by Coco&Matilda

CleanCrosswords has an enormous amount of puzzles which is great. As others have mentioned there is a repeat of some words from puzzle to puzzle, but that doesn't really bother me too much. Sometimes it's helpful when I'm stuck on a nearby word. Overall, I enjoy CleanCrosswords and I'd recommend it if you like doing crosswords. However, the amount of ads is annoying and seems to have increased. Also, a couple of weeks ago, CleanCrosswords was crashing constantly. The developers must have done something because the crashing is at a minimum now. If it had continued I would have deleted CleanCrosswords .

by ReviewIsBroken

1) There are often two letters together along the edge that don’t form a word. 2) Sometimes a box with 2 clues have arrows pointing to which spaces the clue belongs to, but you can’t tell which it should be. 3) You can’t revisit finished puzzles. 4) Show errors option makes incorrect letters dark red, which is hard to see. Color background a light red instead. 5) After 34 puzzles in easy mode the puzzles stopped advancing. Had to skip to the normal mode to continue.

Interface is easy to use. Reasonably happy with CleanCrosswords.

by John4ns

1. I'm having the same problem that a user mentioned back in March. Puzzle completed but won't advance to next puzzle. Report error function does not show any errors. Only way to proceed is to skip puzzle and do the next one. Very minor

2. I'm miffed that I spent $3.99 to eliminate the ads. It worked for that session and then went back to the somewhat annoying ads. Annoying because I paid you your vigorish, but you're still flogging the ads. Not so minor.

by Jade,s Hand

I thoroughly enjoy these puzzles. They have several features that assist me. First there are three levels to choose from. Once you are successful at a level you can jump up to the next. But you don't have to stay there. You may go back at any time. The best is the help button that allows you to choose a letter for help, or an entire word. Now I play when I' riding in the car, or standing in line. It really challenges my mind!!!

by InconstantLuddite

A constant source of delight for its streamlined design and “difficult” setting, which calls on vocabulary you never knew you had. Be warned that plenty of localisms pop up, from soccer stars to labor organizations to news broadcasters, which are common knowledge if you happen to live in the United Kingdom; otherwise, not. To be fair, there is plenty of Americana to balance the scale, as well as tidbits from nearly everywhere else in the world.

by Jab3112000

I love the way the hints are built into the design instead of a list off to the side.
I hate that it got stuck with Easy at 34 solved and the 34th puzzle is complete but it won’t move past it. Tried deleting answers and reentering—it will give me the 100% complete pop up but main screen still shows it as 100% complete and when you click to solve puzzle it keeps showing the completed puzzle.
It did it on the medium and hard later on so I deleted CleanCrosswords and reinstalled, I got med and difficult back but not easy. Tried to contact developer but ended up never finding a link.
Sorry to have to post problem here.
FYI I paid the $3.99 for ad-free version.

by D'Jisovi

The Clean Crossword Puzzles always are there, waiting for me to begin solving. They offer an opportunity for me to get off the world and escape, at my own timing, into the “Land of Words and Memories” of my world travels and episodes in literature. The puzzles are challenging enough but also solvable for a non-expert, and I like it that I can take my time and not feel caught up in a timed exercise unless I choose to. I often look up words that are new to me, hence I constantly add new words to my vocabulary. In This World, I joyfully experience relaxed interaction with words.

by Fleurdelos

Love your app. Especially like that I can play it on my iPad in landscape mode. However, you currently have an ad popping up for Hotspot Shield which locks up at about 20% through & requires me to turn off my iPad completely to get it to leave the screen. I would appreciate your addressing this problem. Thanks.

by Lro48

I really enjoy CleanCrosswords. It is user friendly & easy to play. Some words are easy & some are challenging. I like the combination because it keeps me interested. And if I get stuck, I know I can always use the help button. I do my best to figure out the word before I use the help button. But either way, I learn. It’s a win/win! Thanks!

by SG NY

Lots of crosswords but more ads that interrupt game play with pop ups and crash routinely CleanCrosswords . Navigation is otherwise fairly good. Definitions are all about the same level regardless of easy / difficult, and most of the clues for two-letter words are not shown.

by Eslva

I used to be able to play game after game with no crashes, but now I can't even enter a single word and it crashes over and over. Can't play it anymore until this crashing is fixed.

The developers fixed CleanCrosswords right after I wrote this review and it works great now. Changed to 5 stars. Thank you!!

by Crash2099

I am using the free version of CleanCrosswords . I love it. There were a few bugs in the dismissal of ads but they seem to have been fixed. I find some of the difficult puzzles to be challenging, which is good. I do find I disagree with some of the solutions versus the clues but that could just be that I learned from a different dictionary than the one used to develop the puzzle. I hope there’s more puzzles lined up for when I finish the first set!

by Miss My Swiss Army Knife

I like the way this is set up with the clues right in the puzzle, and it's challenging enough that I have to look up some of the answers (or cheat with the letter and word solver). I also like the ability to check if what you've done so far is correct.

My one complaint is CleanCrosswords crashes quite often, and I lose as much as half of what I've done. That can be very frustrating if you're on a roll and solved a large portion of the puzzle.

by Crasshipster

Finally! An engaging crossword app. NYT is too far expensive and difficult - big cultural learning curve to get the clues. CleanCrosswords has clues in each puzzle in a range from simple to not, so you can finish the puzzles. The clues are logical, they include general knowledge and cultural references that aren't too narrow or obtuse. Even easiest puzzles are not boring and stupid.

CleanCrosswords itself is a pleasure to use. Intuitive. I have no complaints or suggestions.

Thanks for a great crossword app! The best I've found ever.

by Silver Loud

I would give it a higher rating if things stayed as you entered them! Having given answers, then checking them after I finish, the letters I inserted HAVE CHANGED!!! This is quite frustrating as I do enjoy crossword puzzles, but I will not buy any more unless this quirk is corrected!
UPDATE: This just gets worse and worse! I would have gotten perfect scores if the letters didn’t keep changing! Please update and fix this annoying quirk! I really like puzzles and this one would be great if you fixed it!