Cryptic Crosswords

Excellent presentation... some suggestions and some nit picking... The mechanics of the app are very nice, and clean. The option to change the colors of the highlights is a nice touch. Easy to read, easy to navigate. Top marks for presentation. My nit pics deal with the lack of explanations of the answers. When dealing with word play, puns, anagrams, etc, it is necessary to let the user in on the trick. This is a serious shortcoming in my opinion. But the biggest issue I have is with the clues. Each clue is supposed to have two parts, the definition, and the wordplay. This is inviolable. The puzzles do not always follow this rule. e.g. Jewish Father. That is a clear definition from a regular crossword puzzle. BTW, the answer is Abraham. Another example. She may get up late. Answer Petula. up+late. Had the clue been something like Downtown girl may get up late, it would have given us a clue that it was a name, or something to do with the well known song "Downtown". Sometimes the clue given is so short and unhelpful, that it is almost impossible to get the answer. And not having an explanation for each answer makes it unsatisfactory at best.

Great puzzle game. Minor issue with some general knowledge clues, not expected in cryptic crossword

It was exactly what I was looking for to help exercise the brain and help me off to sleep on an evening

Fairly easy clues but a pleasant time killer.

Good, right standard for me.

The crosswords are fun - not pitched too hard, but with challenging ones in there. The ads never get in the way, pop up unexpectedly, or move the UI around. Personally would prefer menu key elsewhere, but if that's the biggest gripe I have then you get the picture. Great app!

Great app. Hard clues for a beginner like me. The only thing that is not great is that the menu button is in the keyboard so its a little hard to get to it. Oh also deleting a letter moves the cursor to the previous letter, so if you type anything it gets overwritten! It's mildly annoying, but absolutely nota deal breaker

This is by far my favourite app, it's a great way to pass time. The cryptic crosswords are not too hard but still challenging, so I think the difficulty level is spot on. For a free game this is excellent.

A shame this compiler does not know the rather strict compilation rules. A bit frustrating that some of the clues do not lead to the answers. Nice presentation, though.

This is my favourite crocssword app. Play it everyday. Some of the clues are very challenging and occasionally I don't know how they are arrived at. But the more puzzles you do, the more you get into the way of thinking and the faster you get at completing them. I think the 'reveal' features are useful, especially in the beginning, although I rarely need to use them now. One point tho - I would like to be able to delete the pages & pages of puzzles that I have completed but this doesn't seem to be possible? Otherwise a great app. Thanks.

I've always loved cryptic crosswords, but never had much success at solving them. These puzzles are just difficult enough without being impossible.

I'm a relative beginner at cryptic crosswords. These puzzles are much more of a challenge than those in the previous app that I had but I'm really enjoying them. Sometimes I have to 'reveal' the answers to some clues but I can usually figure out why the answer is what it is.

Great cryptic crosswords and a good standard of difficulty. Very well presented for application by user. Thoroughly enjoyable , but still mind taxing enough to keep the brain active . Keep them coming !.

This is a lot of fun. It would be five stars if there was a clue (or hints) component to help guide you. Even if there was 10 or 20 puzzles like that, it would be useful for people trying to learn how to do cryptics

Large number of puzzles, not too easy and not too difficult, no extra costs, it really is free. There is no downside. If you like cryptic crosswords, get this app!

À wonderful app for cryptic crossword lovers. Delightful on an 8" tablet. Completely intuitive UI (I couldn't fault it, and I'm an ex-UI designer!), and a joy to use.

Some of the clues are quite ingenious. Very enjoyable and challenging, but not too difficult to complete on one commute!

This game includes a truly enormous number of games. The keyboard UI is a bit weird but not problematic after a while.

Enjoy the app but one question. Most cryptic solutions have a small section explaining how the answers were constructed. I can see how most of the answers for these puzzles are constructed, but once in a while I am stumped and could use an explanation.

I have found this app contains a nice range of clues and not too many obscure or esoteric clues. The range of options to check clues etc is a real plus. Well done the developers.

Great app. You can check your answers and choose what you want to reveal. A good mix of clues. Good for beginners. Sometimes, it would be nice to have a hint button to tell you what type of clue it is so you can still keep it challenging.

Not too difficult, ads not intrusive, I think you have pretty much thought of everything in the menu options, even the clue number sizes. Great app Mike, well done!... so glad I found it.

The error checking options are hidden away. Make this automatic or use the area showing unselected clues.

Good game but encourages time wasting! Quite a few clues are repeated.

I really like this app: the difficulty level is about right for me, letting me get some clues easily and really making me work for others, and there's loads of puzzles!

Love having cryptic crosswords anywhere anytime. They are challenging but always valid. Especially good if you like puns.

Too many clues that are either poorly constructed or are not cryptic clues but rather puns or other.

Really good interface and just challenging enough for me. If you're one of the brain boxes who complete the times crossword, this will probably be to easy for you though. But, for me it's just perfect.

I have not played a Mike Kroger app for a long time. I have tried virtually every other crossword app on Android, but Mike's are the only ones that I really enjoy

Designed for puzzle lovers. Fun and easy to use. Good choice of features. Ads are not intrusive. Can work current puzzle offline but need to be online to get new puzzles.

Just getting into cryptic love that I can reveal the clue and work backwards , setter has a sense of humour, very good app

Very easy to use, and the level is about right for me - I'm not a master cryptologodaedalist, but neither am I a complete novice. Playful and appropriately challenging.

Good fun, not over the top difficult, but challenging enough, ads don't.detract too much from the app

Great usability, the only thing that let's it down are some clues are a bit dubious, but that could be down to the fact I'm not used to this style.

Would be good if you could save and Load all crosswords you had opened instead of one at a time.

Just what I was looking for not too easy nor too difficult

My first visit, and very impressed. Good crossword skill level for me, and clear instructions. Can see this app becoming a favourite.

Great app, I'm just getting into cryptic crosswords and the reveal feature is very useful for novices learning the techniques

Well written clues, with good surface reading. Fairly tough too. I set crosswords occasionally myself, so I appreciate the effort.

Best crossword app. Good mixture of clues but occasional mystery. No 131, 6 down?