Review Insights · App Store
NYT Games: Wordle & Crossword
The New York Times Company · 290,784 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
290,784 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 66 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"crossword"
36 negative reviews mention this · 55% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Stop asking me to rate (x40). Every. Single. Crossword. (Each rating with be one-star. I will sum up the number of times I was asked)" - iGreeley
2
"crashing"
25 negative reviews mention this · 38% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App Won’t Stop Crashing. Love the app, but it now keeps crashing repeatedly, especially during the crosswords. I had it crash on me well over two dozen times while solving. Very frustrating" - Badfnkitty
3
"crashes"
24 negative reviews mention this · 36% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App crashes constantly. Just this morning it’s crashed on me 3 times. Tried updating the app and it still crashed after. Watch out with the vibe coding NYT! It’s becoming noticeable and not in a good way" - SensibleBeing
4
"every"
16 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Stop asking me to rate (x40). Every. Single. Crossword. (Each rating with be one-star. I will sum up the number of times I was asked)" - iGreeley
5
"update"
16 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Long time player - disappointing updates. I have been doing the crossword daily for years. I am on a nearly 2500 day streak for it and have completed over 8400 total daily crosswords. No one is more familiar with this app for the crossword portion. And since the latest update it ha…" - Law of Physics
6
"games"
14 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It used to be a good app. App crashes regularly, and new changes have been a huge detriment to usability. The game ride has changed on the main page, so I have to scroll by games I have no desire to play to get to the crosswords. When I play old crosswords and want …" - ElaineGSD
7
"times"
12 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Stop asking me to rate (x40). Every. Single. Crossword. (Each rating with be one-star. I will sum up the number of times I was asked)" - iGreeley
8
"keeps"
12 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App Won’t Stop Crashing. Love the app, but it now keeps crashing repeatedly, especially during the crosswords. I had it crash on me well over two dozen times while solving. Very frustrating" - Badfnkitty
9
"crosswords"
12 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App Won’t Stop Crashing. Love the app, but it now keeps crashing repeatedly, especially during the crosswords. I had it crash on me well over two dozen times while solving. Very frustrating" - Badfnkitty
10
"puzzles"
10 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It used to be a good app. App crashes regularly, and new changes have been a huge detriment to usability. The game ride has changed on the main page, so I have to scroll by games I have no desire to play to get to the crosswords. When I play old crosswords and want …" - ElaineGSD
11
"puzzle"
8 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The Crossword is still messed up. I don’t think we need to see the pop up “Feeling Stuck” EVERY TIME you want to “Check Puzzle”" - KTuohey
12
"constantly"
8 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App crashes constantly. Just this morning it’s crashed on me 3 times. Tried updating the app and it still crashed after. Watch out with the vibe coding NYT! It’s becoming noticeable and not in a good way" - SensibleBeing
📋 All 66 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Stop asking me to rate (x40)
Every. Single. Crossword. (Each rating with be one-star. I will sum up the number of times I was asked)
The Crossword is still messed up
I don’t think we need to see the pop up “Feeling Stuck” EVERY TIME you want to “Check Puzzle”
App crashes constantly
Just this morning it’s crashed on me 3 times. Tried updating the app and it still crashed after. Watch out with the vibe coding NYT! It’s becoming noticeable and not in a good way
Long time player - disappointing updates
I have been doing the crossword daily for years. I am on a nearly 2500 day streak for it and have completed over 8400 total daily crosswords. No one is more familiar with this app for the crossword portion. And since the latest update it has been basically ruined for crossword players. You will complete the crossword and it won’t stop the timer. Then when you back out of the puzzle and go back in, the app will have deleted half of your work but keep all the time. The “go to next blank” and “skip completed letters” worked until this week, which really messes with your muscle memory on how to quickly complete the full crossword. It is an embarrassment how badly implemented the latest change is. Clearly it was made to cater to Wordle players, which is fine but long time crossword players don’t matter any more I guess. I’ve never had the sort of problems that have appeared in the last few days. Very disappointing. If it wasn’t for my streak, I would cancel my subscription.
Playing on iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Playing on iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Keeps Crashing
Crossword puzzle crashes app
Put the crossword back on top
No one wants to see wordle first
Changes that hurt longtime fans
I have a 1600+ crossword streak, looking forward to 5 years. And in fact, I’ve been a NYT crossword player for many years, first on paper, then via early desktop apps, and then as an early adopter of this app. I’ve watched it evolve into a generally lovely platform with tons of quality of life fixes. It’s a very important part of my day, every day.
But the wheels started falling off the wagon awhile back when the stats display for crossword times split daily, best, and average into different pages, sacrificing readability and basic data visualization principles for a “cool” UI. That was a bummer, but I moved on.
Now, two days ago, I nearly had a panic attack opening the app to find the crossword GONE. My streak, surely in shambles, my daily routine, destroyed. But no, the crossword has just been demoted to below the fold, under other games I barely care about. The flagship NYT game for decades is now, I guess, an afterthought to…Tiles? How disappointing.
I used to pop open the app to quickly check that I’d kept up with my daily streak with a quick glance. Now I open the app to a burst of anxiety, knowing I can’t count on that quick check to keep up with almost 5 years of unbroken progress.
I can forgive overlooking the crossword when doling out cool badges to Wordle and Spelling bee. I got over the abysmal solve time charts. But this might do me in. For goodness’ sake, put the crossword back at the top where it belongs or at the VERY least let me re-order the games on my own device!
But the wheels started falling off the wagon awhile back when the stats display for crossword times split daily, best, and average into different pages, sacrificing readability and basic data visualization principles for a “cool” UI. That was a bummer, but I moved on.
Now, two days ago, I nearly had a panic attack opening the app to find the crossword GONE. My streak, surely in shambles, my daily routine, destroyed. But no, the crossword has just been demoted to below the fold, under other games I barely care about. The flagship NYT game for decades is now, I guess, an afterthought to…Tiles? How disappointing.
I used to pop open the app to quickly check that I’d kept up with my daily streak with a quick glance. Now I open the app to a burst of anxiety, knowing I can’t count on that quick check to keep up with almost 5 years of unbroken progress.
I can forgive overlooking the crossword when doling out cool badges to Wordle and Spelling bee. I got over the abysmal solve time charts. But this might do me in. For goodness’ sake, put the crossword back at the top where it belongs or at the VERY least let me re-order the games on my own device!
Why can’t I choose where my games go?
I don’t freaking play wordle or connections. I’m on this app for my damm crossword so why am I now forced to scroll down. As an iOS engineer I know that it’s easy as boot to make it customizable where the games can go and now that there are 50 million useless games why can’t I order them myself. ESPECIALLY since I pay for it
Very buggy
Not able to finish a crossword because the app randomly crashes
Crosswords crashing all the time
Update: latest update (version 6.32.0) is an improvement, but the crossword still causes crashes. They are much less often.
Recently, this app has started crashing when playing the crosswords. ALL THE TIME! I force quit it, restarted the iPad, and removed and reinstalled. This started happening this week (last week of June 2026). It’s not just me, it’s all over Reddit.
The other games in the app are fine. It’s only the crossword which crashes the app.
Recently, this app has started crashing when playing the crosswords. ALL THE TIME! I force quit it, restarted the iPad, and removed and reinstalled. This started happening this week (last week of June 2026). It’s not just me, it’s all over Reddit.
The other games in the app are fine. It’s only the crossword which crashes the app.
New App is very unstable especially on an iPad!!
NYT Games app repeatedly crashes on iPad Air (4th generation) running iPadOS 26.5. The app exits directly to the Home Screen while solving crossword puzzles, often when navigating between clues. The crashes have become significantly more frequent today. Restarting the iPad and reinstalling the app did not resolve the issue. Other users appear to be reporting the same behavior on iPads. Please investigate urgently, as the app is currently unusable for solving.
Crash-o-Rama
Crashed 4 times while doing the crossword today!
One star for constant review prompts
Bugging me for a review after EVERY puzzle is annoying enough to leave one star, but the apps most recent update makes it glitchy and crashes every few minutes, so right now it actually deserves one star.
Constantly Crashes
Used to work fine. Now crashing multiple times during crossword puzzle.
Crashing
App is crashing repeatedly even after update.
App keeps closing
There was an apparent tweak to this app. The crossword repeatedly closes itself while I’m using it. Please fix!
Crashing
Constant crashing. Not updating automatically, despite having automatic updates selected for all appps.
Fix it!
App has recently started crashing while doing crossword. Maddening. Fix it, or revert it to the previous version. It’s not that hard.
Frequent crashes
As many others have said, the app has been crashing frequently for at least the past week. Please fix it!
Crashes lately
App has been crashing multiple times during a crossword session - even after the update
Crashing
App keeps crashing on new release. Very frustrating!
App closing on its own repeatedly
App is closing on its own repeatedly during use since a recent update. Tried reloading and it still occurs
July 2026 constant crashing in CW
Surely the fix is underway, right? I paid a significant subscription fee, and with that I expect the crosswords not to crash every 30 seconds or so.
App crashes every 1-2 mins
Subscription costs $50 but app crashes constantly and NYT offers no support. You can submit a complaint but no one responds.
App crashes every 1-2 mins
Subscription costs $50 but app crashes constantly and NYT offers no support. You can submit a complaint but no one responds.
Update to play?
Had the app for a while but my device is no longer compatible. So Ive cancelled my subscription because I couldn’t use it
Can’t play (bug?)
After downloading the game and trying to open it, it just crashes. I tried reinstalling the game, restarting my phone, and tried to clear my cache. I don’t know if it’s a bug or what. I wish I could play though.
keeps crashing even after update
This used to work great but today it keeps shutting down
The order of games changed without a way to change it back
1 star until this very basic QOL change is implemented
App Keeps Asking For a Review
The app keeps prompting me for a review after every crossword I solve in the archive (and now even after the daily puzzles!), regardless of whether I’ve left a review in the past.
If you want my review so badly, I’ll give it to you … one star solely because of this problem. Good day to you.
P.S. Now the app force quits after every 3 mins. or so!
If you want my review so badly, I’ll give it to you … one star solely because of this problem. Good day to you.
P.S. Now the app force quits after every 3 mins. or so!
Glitches
I love nyt games, but the constant crashing seems like a fixable issue. What are we paying for if the app crashes every 30 seconds?
Crashes
Crashes all the time now
Stop asking me to review!
Asks every single day even though I’ve already reviewed
Latest update keeps crashing every few minutes in the crossword
Latest update keeps crashing every few minutes in the crossword
App Doesn’t work
App no longer works. Keeps randomly closing every few minutes.
Unstable
App keeps crashing
Does not work on my ipad
The latest version drops out and completely resets through all the crossword puzzles. Have to reload every few clues.
Crashing
The app has been crashing over the last several days, rendering the crosswords an exercise in head-banging frustration. Updating the app did absolutely nothing to help.
App crashing
After a few entries in the crossword the app crashes. Happens frequently with many restarts needed
Recent Constant Crashing
Do not download right now, the app crashes every 2-3 minutes regardless of what you are playing. Do not download and definitely do not pay for premium, it is impossible to use in the current state. Multiple social media posts have pointed this out and nothing has been fixed for at least a week of widespread similar issues.
Constantly crashes
The app constantly crashes even after updating.
Was good, getting worse
NYT keeps adding things to this but they’re all web views so you can’t do anything offline except the crossword. Focus on the basics
App update is awful
Ever since the app update on 6/29, app continually crashes. No update from NYT as to fix or new update or even acknowledging the problem.
Update needed
I play games regularly but latest update is really annoying because after finishing a crossword it won’t let you “X” out. Have to completely close the app and reopen to go to another game. It’s trying to force me to pick a game I don’t want to play in order to continue. Why NYT, Why???
Closes after 2 minute
Recent iphone update is buggy. The crossword puzzles closes every 2 to 3 minutes.
6/30/2026 unstable app
I don’t know what changed but now app constantly crashing when solving archived crossword puzzles
Crashes on iPad during crosswords
Constantly crashes
App Won’t Stop Crashing
Love the app, but it now keeps crashing repeatedly, especially during the crosswords. I had it crash on me well over two dozen times while solving. Very frustrating
Crashing and Annoying Reorder
can’t do a crossword start to finish without it crashing multiple times. I know the devs are probably on this but it’s really frustrating. Plus, the crosswords being lower in the app is a real shame. It makes everything load slower and puts an annoying scroll into the experience. It should be returned to how it was or allowed to be customized. Especially needs to fix the crashing.
It used to be a good app
App crashes regularly, and new changes have been a huge detriment to usability. The game ride has changed on the main page, so I have to scroll by games I have no desire to play to get to the crosswords. When I play old crosswords and want to check an answer or a square, I now get an annoying pop up saying it will not be counted in a streak if I continue… the old puzzles aren’t included in streaks anyway. Very disappointing direction for this app, it used to be a fun diversion.
Why is world on top? And it crashes
Why did they decide to put weirdly on top? Put the crossword back at its rightful place! The app also crashes mid-puzzle.
+ 16 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
96%
Positive (4-5★)
1%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)