Crossword Apps That Track Your Stats, Streaks and Times

If you want a crossword app that tracks your stats, the strongest options are NYT Games (streaks, solve rate and average times, by subscription), the LA Times crossword on the web (free streaks and personal-best times once you register), and Grid Genius (a free stats page with fastest times by difficulty, a 12-week activity heatmap and a streak that forgives a missed day). Most casual crossword apps track far less than you would expect, and several say nothing about stats at all.

Numbers keep a habit going. A solve time to beat, a streak to protect, a chart that slopes the right way: these are why people come back on a tired Tuesday. So this guide is about measurement, not puzzle quality. We checked what each app's own listing or help page says it records, on November 4, 2026, and where a listing is silent, we say so instead of guessing.

The short answer

• Best stats for the New York Times puzzle: NYT Games. Solve rate, current and longest streak, average times. Strict streak rules.
• Best free newspaper stats: the LA Times crossword. Streaks, scores, speed, and personal-best alerts with a free account.
• Best free stats page in an app: Grid Genius. Personal bests by difficulty, averages with week-over-week trends, a heatmap, and stats by topic.
• Best for comparing times with strangers: Crosswords Classic posts solve times online, and Crosswords With Friends ranks the day's fastest solvers.
• Best if you already pay for Apple News+: a scoreboard with current and longest streaks.

What a crossword app can track

"Tracks your stats" can mean a lot or almost nothing. These are the measures worth having, in rough order of usefulness:

• Solve time. The time for each puzzle. The minimum any stats feature should do.
• Average solve time. Far more honest than a single time, because one lucky grid does not distort it. Best when split by difficulty or day of the week, since a Monday and a Saturday are different sports.
• Personal best. Your fastest time. Motivating, but only fair when compared within one difficulty.
• Streak. Consecutive days solved. The strongest habit tool, and the one with the most hidden rules (see below).
• Solve rate. The share of puzzles you started and finished. It tells you whether you are picking the right difficulty.
• Leaderboard. Your time or score against other people on the same puzzle. Only meaningful when everyone solved the same grid.
• History. A calendar or chart over weeks and months. This is what shows real improvement.

A good stats feature combines at least four of these. A timer alone is not stats.

Crossword stats compared

Every cell is from the app's own listing or help page, checked November 4, 2026. "Not stated" means we could not find it in the app's own words.

The apps, one by one

NYT Games (deep streak tracking, by subscription)

The New York Times help center lists the Crossword stats as puzzles solved, solve rate, current streak and longest streak, and the app listing adds that you can "monitor your average solve times." It also tracks stats for Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee and Strands, so one app holds your whole morning routine.

The streak is the strict kind. It counts a puzzle only if you solve it "up to 48 hours past publication time without using Check or Reveal," and using either one resets your Crossword streak. The Mini does not have a streak at all, and its leaderboard holds up to 100 people you add; the help center says there are no global leaderboards. The Crossword, the Mini and the Midi all need a subscription, listed on the App Store at $6.99 and $39.99.

Best for: subscribers who want a streak that means something.

LA Times Crossword (free stats on the web)

The LA Times crossword is free on latimes.com, and a free account turns on tracking: the site promises to "Track your streaks, scores, and speed!" Achievements make the numbers concrete. "Streak Master" rewards playing every day, "Record Breaker" a new personal-best time, and "Speed Champion" a finish in the top 5% or 10% of players. When you beat your best, it tells you: "New Personal Best Time!"

The timer can be paused or hidden. Progress saves in the same browser on the same device, so pick one machine for your streak. An ad plays before each game.

Best for: solvers who want real stats on a real newspaper puzzle for free.

Apple News+ Puzzles (scoreboard for subscribers)

Apple's guide describes a scoreboard with your current and longest streak, plus Game Center leaderboards. In the US and Canada, a puzzle counts toward a streak only if you finish it within 24 hours of publication, and a revealed puzzle does not count toward stats or streaks. It is part of Apple News+, at $12.99 a month after a free trial.

USA TODAY PLAY Crosswords (stats in a newspaper app)

USA TODAY's crossword app lists "PROGRESS TRACKING - Track stats and resume puzzles anytime" and invites you to "Start your streak." The listing does not detail which stats, so treat it as streak-first. It is free with ads, with a subscription available.

Crosswords Classic (times you can compare)

Stand Alone's $9.99 iPhone and iPad app lets you "Post your solve times online and compare with other solvers" and "track how quickly you're improving," with Game Center leaderboards and achievements. The developer's FAQ says it will not be adding new features, so what is there is what you get.

Crosswords With Friends (fastest of the day)

Zynga's daily has a leaderboard that shows "who solved the daily puzzle the fastest," and you collect badges as you play. It is a social scoreboard more than a personal one. Ad-supported, with a VIP subscription.

Puzzle Page (achievements across puzzle types)

Puzzle Page promises "a detailed breakdown of your achievements and milestones," across its 20+ puzzle types. It is a good fit if crosswords are one part of a wider puzzle habit.

Apps that do not mention stats

Crossword Puzzle Redstone, Penny Dell and Daily Themed Crossword are good apps, and their listings do not describe a stats page or a streak. Redstone has a timer (its release notes mention fixing timer drift), but a timer is not a history. If stats are why you play, check inside the app before you commit.

Grid Genius stats, screen by screen

Grid Genius has one stats screen, and it is free. Here is everything on it.

• Overview. Total puzzles, average solve time, current day streak, accuracy (the share of puzzles you started and finished), total points and your global rank. Most tiles show a week-over-week trend, and for time, faster counts as better.
• Activity. A 12-week heatmap, one square per day, so a gap in your habit is visible at a glance.
• Progress. A chart you can switch between week, month and year.
• By difficulty. Puzzles completed and average time for Easy, Medium and Hard, kept apart so a Hard grid never drags down your Easy average.
• By topic. How many puzzles you solved on each topic, your completion rate and your average time there. Useful because Grid Genius builds puzzles on any topic you type.
• Toughest words you conquered. Answers you solved that few other players did, with the share of players who got them.
• Personal Bests. Your fastest Easy, fastest Medium and fastest Hard solve, plus your longest streak.

Two details matter for honest numbers. The timer can be hidden in Settings if watching it stresses you; it only disappears from view, and your time is still recorded. And hints affect points, not streaks: your first AI reword of a clue costs no points (it only forfeits the perfect-solve bonus), while revealed letters cost points, capped per puzzle. If you want the strict version as well, a finished daily also shows your clean solves in a row: consecutive dailies finished with no hints and no reveals. Our piece on whether hints count as cheating explains the scoring.

The daily challenge adds a second layer: Today's Fastest Solves ranks signed-in solvers of the same grid by time, and points boards run daily, weekly, monthly and all time. You can share your stats from the screen, too.

The honest limits: stats and streaks belong to your account, so sign in to keep them across iPhone, Android and the web. There is no per-weekday breakdown like Monday versus Saturday, because Grid Genius sets difficulty per puzzle rather than by day of the week.

Streak rules that catch people out

Most broken streaks are not missed days. They are rules the solver did not know.

• Hints can count as a miss. In NYT Games, Check or Reveal resets your Crossword streak. In Apple News+, a revealed puzzle does not count. If you treat hints as normal play, pick an app that agrees.
• The deadline is not always midnight. NYT gives you 48 hours from publication. Apple News+ gives you 24 (US and Canada). Grid Genius counts by US Eastern calendar day, so a West Coast solver has until 9 p.m. Pacific.
• Minis may not count. The NYT Mini has no streak at all.
• Device matters on the web. The LA Times saves progress in one browser on one device.
• Some apps forgive. Grid Genius earns you a streak shield every 7 consecutive days (you can bank two), and a shield covers one missed day at your next solve. A broken streak can be repaired with a short video in the app, or for free on Pro.

If a long streak is your goal, our guide to building a daily crossword habit has the habit side, and our roundup of the best daily crossword apps lists when each puzzle drops.

How to choose

• You want the most rigorous streak on the most famous puzzle. NYT Games.
• You want free newspaper stats with personal bests. The LA Times on the web.
• You want the most detail for free, on a phone. Grid Genius.
• You want to compare times with other solvers on newspaper puzzles. Crosswords Classic.
• You want a friendly daily race. Crosswords With Friends.

Frequently asked questions