Support

Questions, problems, or feedback — we read every message.

Email us at hello@bossword.app. We answer as quickly as we can, usually within a day. If you're reporting a bug, telling us your device and what you were doing when it happened saves a round trip.

Getting started

Do I need an account?

No. You can time puzzles, keep your full solve history, see your stats and earn a rank without ever giving us an email address — all of that lives on your device. A free account adds the community half: leagues, tournaments, leaderboards, Crosstalk chat, and a backup of your history that follows you to a new phone.

How do I get my times into Bossword?

Four ways. The best one is to share your finished puzzle from your crossword app using the iOS share sheet and pick Bossword — your time arrives already filled in and carries a verified checkmark. You can also paste a copied result, type a time by hand with the pencil, or bring in your whole back catalogue at once (see below).

Which crosswords does Bossword work with?

The New York Times crossword today. More publishers are coming, and the app will tell you when one opens up. Bossword is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times Company.

Can I bring in solve times I recorded before I found Bossword?

Yes — the import tools live at bossword.app/import and run in your web browser. You can import your existing history from the publisher, or upload a spreadsheet of times you kept yourself. Importing is a Bossword Elite feature. Downloading your own data is free for everyone, account or not, from Settings.

Times, ranks and leaderboards

What's the checkmark next to some of my times?

It means the time came straight from the crossword app or website, rather than being typed in. Verified times are the ones that count on the community leaderboards and in Divisions — a typed time is a claim, and the world stage asks for receipts. Typed times still count for everything that's yours: your stats, your graphs, your rank and your leagues.

Why can't I see my leaguemates' times?

A league day stays hidden until everyone in it has posted, so nobody solves with the target already in front of them. Once the last member's time is in, the whole day reveals at once. On the Daily leaderboard the same rule applies to your leaguemates, and it lifts for you the moment you post your own verified time for that day.

How is my rank calculated?

From your best full week of the last ten. A week qualifies when you've recorded all seven days in a single solve class, and your rank is the total time of your best qualifying week. Take a month off and your rank waits for you — inactivity never demotes you.

What's a Solve Class?

How you like to solve: Open (any help you like), Clean (no help), or Blitz (no help, going flat out). It keeps the comparison fair — you're ranked against people playing the same way you are. You can change it any time, though your past times keep the class they were solved under.

Leagues, tournaments and races

What's the difference between a league and a tournament?

A league runs open-ended — it just keeps going. A tournament has a start and an end date and finishes on a podium, ranked either by lowest total time or by most days won, whichever the host chose when they set it up.

Can I leave a league and rejoin later?

Leaving is permanent. League standings depend on every day being accounted for, so letting people step in and out would leave holes that break everyone's statistics. Think of it as a decision, not a setting.

How do I report or block someone?

To report a message, press and hold it in Crosstalk and tap the red flag. To report or block a person, open their profile by tapping their name on any leaderboard or roster, then tap Report or Block User at the bottom. Blocked users disappear from your chat immediately, and you can manage the list at the bottom of your own Profile screen. We review every report and act on it within 24 hours. You can also email hello@bossword.app.

Bossword Elite

What does Elite cost, and what does it add?

$9.99 per year, with your first month free. It unlocks performance graphs, bulk import of your solve history, hosting for public leagues and tournaments, real-time Daily Races, and a gold profile badge. Everything else — leagues, tournaments, leaderboards, Divisions, chat, backup — is free with an account.

How do I cancel?

Apple handles billing, so cancelling happens there: open Settings → Manage Subscription in Bossword, or go to apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions. You keep Elite until the end of the period you've already paid for.

What happens to my stuff if my subscription ends?

Nothing is taken away. You keep your account, your entire solve history, your rank, and every league and tournament you're in — a tournament you host still runs to its podium. Only the Elite features close, and they come back if you resubscribe.

I subscribed, but the app still says I'm free.

Your subscription belongs to your Bossword account, not to your phone — so make sure you're signed in with the same email address you subscribed with. If it still doesn't appear, open the paywall and tap Restore Purchases. If that doesn't fix it, email us and we'll sort it out.

Your account and your data

How do I delete my account?

In Bossword, tap the gear icon at the top right of the Home screen, then Delete Account in the Account section. It permanently deletes your account and your personal solve data and cannot be undone. Results and messages already recorded in leagues you competed in stay, shown as "Deleted User" — your leaguemates keep their own history intact.

How do I get a copy of my times?

Settings → Download Your Data. It's free for everyone, including people with no account, and gives you a spreadsheet of your times for the publisher you pick.

What do you do with my data?

The short version: we don't sell it, we don't run ads, we don't use analytics trackers, and we never see your crossword publisher login. The long version is in our Privacy Policy.

Still stuck?

Email hello@bossword.app and a human will get back to you.

Bossword is made by Sparrowstep LLC.
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