Best of its Kind, Needed Some Fine Tuning, Now Done – Puzzazz Crossword & Puzzle Review

I like crosswords and enjoy using this app almost daily. It's rare that I do the Times crossword with paper now. The ability to write the characters on the screen is a nice innovation for a crossword app, and better approximates the traditional experience than using a keyboard. I am a cryptic fan, and it's nice to see an app that is so aware of cryptics. Rebus cells are also handled gracefully. As I have pointed out to the authors, there are two annoying quirks in the otherwise pretty good character recognition that should be improved. You just write the letter with your finger on the touch screen. It's cool. But it consistently recognizes A as M, to the point where it can be difficult to get an A in there. I have not found a reliable way to do it. And it often recognizes N as backspace-erase. Puzzazz is so good in other respects that it's worth putting up with these quirks. But with the amount of effort and care that's obviously gone into this app, it's puzzling (or Puzzazzling) to see these issues, and I hope they will soon be addressed. Update May 2017: I have now solved 496 puzzles with Puzzazz. The other day, a technical problem on The NY Times server side interrupted Puzzazz's access to the NYT puzzles. I had to use the Times app, which is FAR inferior IMO. When I saw how distressed I was about this, I realized that Puzzazz had become one of those apps that is a significant component of my daily life. It wasn't Puzzazz's problem in the first place, and they quickly found a way around it, so my withdrawal symptoms have subsided. I think they have also improved the recognition of A and N. So I'm increasing my rating from 4 stars to 5.
Review by Cirquesk on Puzzazz Crossword & Puzzle.