Crosswords by Apps No Ads
Not a fixed book of puzzles — every crossword is generated on your device from an open, offline dictionary of tens of thousands of clued words. Pick a level and a grid, tap New, and there’s a puzzle nobody has solved before. No ads, no accounts, no connection needed.
iOS · macOS · Windows · Linux · Coming soon · No ads, ever
How it plays
Four levels — Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert — decide how common the words and how direct the clues are. Choose a quick 7×7 or a fuller 11×11 grid, and how dense you want it. Tap New and the grid is filled and clued in a moment, on the device, from the built-in dictionary.
Tap a cell and its clue appears beneath the grid with the whole word highlighted; tap a clue in the list and the grid jumps to it. The clue list scrolls alongside, ‹ › step through the clues, and when you finish a word the cursor moves on to the next unfinished one. Type on the on-screen keyboard or a real one.
Auto-check marks a wrong letter as you type — or switch it off and solve blind, then press ✓ Check when the grid is full. Stuck? Reveal a letter, a word, or the whole puzzle. A timer runs while you solve and pauses when you do.
The words and clues come from open, permissively licensed sources — the SCOWL word lists, the WordNet® lexical database from Princeton University, and the Crossword Nexus and Matt Abate crossword word lists — merged into one offline database that ships inside the app. Credits are in the app’s About screen, and nothing is fetched from the internet, ever.
Free and Pro
The free edition makes unlimited puzzles — no ads, no accounts, nothing to unlock inside the app. Crosswords Pro is a separate edition on the same stores: one small payment, no subscription, no in-app purchase, and it keeps the free edition free.
| What you get | Crosswords free | Crosswords Pro one-time |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited puzzles, generated on your device | ✓ | ✓ |
| Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert | ✓ | ✓ |
| 7×7 and 11×11 grids | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-check or check-when-done; reveal a letter, a word or the puzzle | ✓ | ✓ |
| No ads, no accounts, no tracking, fully offline | ✓ | ✓ |
| Puzzle timer and pause | — | ✓ |
| Density picker — how tightly the grid is packed | — | ✓ |
| Larger 15×15 and 21×21 grids | — | Pro, as they’re finished |
| Themed clue sets | — | Pro, as they’re finished |
| Both editions are the same app with the same dictionary; nothing is downloaded and nothing is unlocked from inside either one. The Pro-only rows are the current plan for the first releases and may shift before launch. | ||
The promise
Crosswords works completely offline: the dictionary is on the device, the puzzles are made on the device, and your progress and settings stay on the device. It requests no permissions at all. Want more? Crosswords Pro is a separate app you buy once — never a subscription, never an unlock inside the game.
Download
Crosswords is in its final pre-release builds (v0.96) heading for the App Store (iPhone, iPad and Mac), the Microsoft Store, and a standalone Linux download. Links for Crosswords and Crosswords Pro will appear here as each one goes live.
Want to know the moment it ships? Send a quick email and you’ll get one reply when it’s live — nothing else, no list.
Enjoying the apps?
Crosswords, like every Apps No Ads app, is made by one person with no ads to pay for it. If it’s become part of your day, a coffee is a lovely way to say thanks — never required, and nothing is locked behind it. It helps cover the programming tools, app-store fees and hosting that keep this software ad-free.
☕ Buy the author a coffeeAny amount, one time, via Stripe. No strings attached.
