Crossword Genius 4+

Absolutely amazing!

I saw an ad for this app on the Web. Having recently undertaken to learn how to solve cryptic crosswords I thought I’d try this app. I am totally bowled over by it. What I love about it: 1) you type in your clue, give any letters you already have and the number of letters. It then thinks about it and tells you whether it has solved it. You can then ask for hints or just reveal the answer. The hints is a great idea. 2) Not only does it give the answer but it explains how it got that answer, which is invaluable for beginners to cryptic crosswords like me. All this is for free. There is also a subscription available which gives you puzzles to solve and the ability to capture crosswords from newspapers via your phone camera, allowing you to solve them on your phone. I have even given it some of the more tricky clues found in The Times main cryptic crossword, and this app got them right! Awesome. The developers have done an amazing job. As a cat lover, I just wish Ross was a cat.

Impressive

Wonderful with a couple of points. Be nice to sync with another iPad so I can continue captured puzzles on a bigger screen. The order of clues seems odd, I press the right arrow but rather than going through the clues in a normal order it jumps around, backwards, forwards, across clues, down clues, all mixed up! It would be very nice if it supported side by side, with crosswords it would be useful to open a note app at the side so I can work out clues. Can’t afford the subscription but the free features look good, hoping I don’t lose anything useful when the trial ends. I would happily pay a one off fee, even £10 but ongoing payments are too much. Importing pdf’s rather than having to screenshot them first would be handy. Oh and folders/groups in the library would be very handy.
Update: Awesome app though. It really does need a backup/restore feature so you are not tied to a single device. If you upgrade then everything is gone. I installed it on my Pro and the few hundred puzzles I have imported and corrected are all gone. So wasted my time importing them. Makes me less likely to bother using it which is a shame. Surely syncing to iCloud shouldn’t be a major issue many other programs manage it and then this would be a killer app.

Developer Response ,

Thank you Mark for your thoughtful review.

Clues can be selected in any order you like simply by clicking on the a square on the grid or in the clue list. The next clue button is designed to take you to the clue that is most useful to solve next - e.g. one where you've recently added a new checked letter by filling in a crossing clue. There's no obligation to use it and you can even turn it off (on your phone) in settings.

The app does have a (subscription) Import feature that imports crosswords from the web in various formats. General pdf importing is technically harder than it sounds but we are working on it. Good suggestion on the syncing between devices. Any more suggestions, please send them our way: feedback@crosswordgenius.com

Your Ultimate Virtual Helper

Cryptic Crossword Puzzled! If this is you and you have always thought you would if you could but the clues are too hard for me to work out on my own. Then this virtual helper is just the thing you need to encourage you and guide you to completion. I don’t make a habit of happily endorsing apps of any kind so glowingly but I have never come across such a clever piece of technology before.

The first easy step is to capture the puzzle and clues that you wish to work on, using the camera on your phone or tablet. The app then sets up a digital version of the puzzle so that, possibly after a few manual edits simply done, you can work on an imported version of the puzzle on your device with the assistance Ross the dog, I kid you not. He doesn’t always get it 100% right; but what do you expect from a dog with artificial intelligence?