Best Crossword Apps in India (2026): Cryptic, Hindi and Free

The best crossword app in India depends on whether you want a cryptic and which language you solve in. The Hindu puts its Cryptic at the top of its games page, and its subscription includes The Hindu Crosswords. Hindustan Times and the Times of India run free daily crosswords on their websites, HT with a cryptic. For Hindi, Varg Paheli and वर्ग पहेली (Hindi Crossword) are the two dedicated apps we found on Google Play, and Daily Themed Crossword, made by Bangalore's PlaySimple, has more than 1 crore downloads.

We checked every app and page on this list on 4 November 2026, using the Indian Google Play and App Store listings and the publishers' own sites. Prices are in rupees. Where an official page did not say something, such as whether a puzzle is free, we leave it out. Our UK crossword app guide covers the Times, Guardian and Telegraph cryptics; this one is for solvers in India.

The short version

• Best newspaper cryptic: The Hindu. TH Games has The Hindu Cryptic, The Hindu Mini and Easy Down, and every Hindu subscription includes its crosswords.
• Best free cryptic online: Hindustan Times, whose free HT Games page has a daily Cryptic Crossword and a Mini Crossword.
• Best free quick crossword online: Times of India Games, with a Daily Crossword and a Mini Crossword.
• Best Hindi crossword app: वर्ग पहेली (Hindi Crossword) by Pkg for recent updates, or Varg Paheli for a daily puzzle and leaderboard.
• Best Indian-made crossword app: Daily Themed Crossword by PlaySimple, free with ads.

Crossword apps in India compared

What the Indian Google Play and App Store listings, and the publishers' pages, showed on 4 November 2026.

The newspaper crosswords

Two of the biggest English-language papers put a cryptic first on their games pages. We found no standalone crossword app from any of them on the Indian Play Store: the puzzles live on the website, and in The Hindu's case inside its news app too.

The Hindu (TH Games)

The Hindu's crossword page now opens as TH Games. On the day we checked it listed The Hindu Cryptic, The Hindu Mini (billed as an "India-themed challenge") and Easy Down ("Easy Clue Wonder"), plus Word Flower, Word Row, Word Search, Sudoku, a Daily Quiz and Spot the Lie, with My Stats, Login and Subscribe buttons. The Hindu's news app carries the same section: its Google Play listing says "Stay sharp with 'TH Games': From daily crosswords and sudokus to word searches and quiz challenges".

On access, the Play listing says: "Enjoy unlimited access to The Hindu on desktop and mobile, The Hindu ePaper and The Hindu Crosswords with every subscription." It lists a 1-year Combo at ₹1,899, a 1-year Family and Friends Combo at ₹2,999 (with two extra accounts) and a 2-year Combo at ₹3,399. The Indian App Store lists different in-app plans, including The Hindu Digital at ₹499 a month or ₹2,399 a year. The app has ads, more than 1 crore downloads on Google Play and a 4.5 rating there.

Best for: The Hindu's daily Cryptic, on a phone or in a browser.

Hindustan Times (HT Games)

HT's games page is titled "Play Free Online Games: Crossword, Sudoku, Math Puzzles & More". Its daily puzzles start with a Cryptic Crossword ("Match your wits against ace setters") and a Mini Crossword ("Can you solve it in under 2 minutes?"), alongside Word Flower, Word Row and Superbrain teasers. At the weekend it adds an Einstein logic puzzle and a Movie crossword. The HT news app's store listing does not mention games, so this is a browser habit.

Best for: a free daily cryptic.

Times of India Games

The Times of India's games page is also titled "Play Free Online Games", and its crossword section has a Daily Crossword and a Mini Crossword alongside Sudoku, Connect, Loop the Loop and Location Guesser. You can play previous puzzles and sign in to save your progress. The page does not say whether the Daily Crossword is cryptic or quick, and the TOI app's store description does not mention games.

Best for: a free crossword and mini with your morning news.

Crosswords in Hindi and Tamil

Most crossword apps are English-only, which leaves Hindi and Tamil solvers with a short list. These are the ones with real store listings.

Varg Paheli (TV Today Network)

Varg Paheli offers crosswords "in Hindi and English", with "a new puzzle every day" and a leaderboard. It adds a Hindi and English word search and a word-guess game, and its solving tools include hints that reveal a letter, a word or the whole puzzle, and an option to show errors. It is free with ads.

The caveat is upkeep. On Google Play it has more than 1 lakh downloads and a 3.5 rating, and it was last updated on 27 August 2024. The iPhone version was last updated in 2022 and is rated 1.9 from 14 ratings. Try the Android version first.

वर्ग पहेली (Hindi Crossword) by Pkg

This is a straightforward Hindi crossword app: it currently has 180 crossword puzzles, which the developer says it will keep adding to, with hints. It is free with ads, has more than 50,000 downloads and a 4.1 rating on Google Play, and was updated on 28 June 2026. It is a puzzle collection rather than a daily puzzle.

Tamil Crossword Puzzle Game

For Tamil, Tamil Crossword Puzzle Game by ArivuPudhir mixes crosswords with general knowledge questions in Tamil and vidukadhai (riddles). It has more than 50,000 downloads on Google Play, was updated on 29 September 2026, and offers in-app purchases. It has only a handful of ratings so far.

The global apps on the Indian store

Daily Themed Crossword: made in Bangalore

Daily Themed Crossword is made by PlaySimple Games, which its owner MTG describes as "based in Bangalore, India". Each day has a theme (Movies, Sports, Technology, History and more), with a new puzzle every day and hints for obscure words. On the Indian Play Store it has more than 1 crore downloads and a 4.8 rating, is free with ads, and sells in-app items from ₹50 to ₹4,950. It is a quick crossword, not a cryptic.

NYT Games

The New York Times app has the Crossword, the Mini and the Midi, plus Wordle and Connections. The Indian App Store lists "Games - Monthly" plans from ₹179 to ₹249, and subscribers can solve more than 10,000 archive puzzles. The puzzles use American spelling, and the references lean American.

Grid Genius: a crossword on any topic you choose

Grid Genius is not a newspaper crossword. It generates one on any topic you type: the IPL, a Bollywood decade, Diwali, Indian rivers, your college batch. You pick a size (7x7, 11x11 or 15x15), a difficulty and a Straight or Punny clue style. Ready-made collections include cricket, Bollywood and Diwali.

When you are stuck, AI Hints rephrase the clue or add a related fact, so you still do the solving. The free tier includes a daily challenge with a global leaderboard and streaks, community puzzles, 3 AI-generated puzzles to start, and free word list and freeform makers with no account, handy for a classroom quiz or a family event. Pro removes ads and makes AI puzzles and hints unlimited, and both stores show its price in rupees.

Honest limits: no cryptic clues, no Hindi or other Indian-language puzzles (it writes in English, German and Italian), and the free apps offer optional reward videos (no banner or pop-up ads).

Where to solve a free cryptic in India

If you want a cryptic and do not want to pay, HT Games is the clear answer: its daily Cryptic Crossword is on a page titled "Play Free Online Games". The Hindu Cryptic is the other daily option, and every Hindu subscription includes The Hindu Crosswords; its games page did not say whether the daily Cryptic needs one, so open it and see.

New to cryptics? Start with the minis (HT's Mini Crossword, The Hindu Mini or Easy Down) to get used to the grid, then learn how a cryptic clue is built from our guide to the art of crossword clues. Our how to solve crossword puzzles guide covers the habits that carry over to any grid.

How to choose

• You want the classic Indian newspaper cryptic. The Hindu, through TH Games or its app.
• You want a cryptic for free. HT Games in your browser.
• You want a quick crossword with your news. Times of India Games, or The Hindu Mini.
• You want to solve in Hindi. वर्ग पहेली (Hindi Crossword) by Pkg, or Varg Paheli for a daily puzzle.
• You want a crossword app on your phone, free. Daily Themed Crossword.
• You want a crossword about something you love. Grid Genius, which will write you a puzzle about your favourite IPL team on request.

Frequently asked questions