Hi there! I see that you're having trouble closing ads in the Daily Themed Crossword app on your iPhone with iOS 18.6.2. Ads that won’t close can definitely interrupt your gameplay, and I’m here to help you get this sorted out.

To get started, could you tell me if the ads freeze completely, or does the close (X) button just not respond when you tap it? Also, have you tried closing the app and reopening it already?

In the meantime, here are some initial steps to try that usually help with sticky ads on iOS:

1. Force close the Daily Themed Crossword app:
- Swipe up from the bottom of your screen and pause in the middle to open the app switcher.
- Find the Daily Themed Crossword app preview and swipe it up off the screen to close it.
2. Restart your iPhone:
- Press and hold the side button and either volume button until the power off slider appears.
- Slide to power off, wait 30 seconds, then press and hold the side button to turn it back on.
3. Check your internet connection:
- Sometimes a spotty connection causes ads to freeze. Make sure you have a stable Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.
4. Update the app:
- Open the App Store, tap your profile icon, and scroll to see if there’s an update available for Daily Themed Crossword.
5. Clear Safari cache (since iOS apps may show web-based ads):
- Go to Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data, then confirm.

If these don’t fix the issue, there might be a temporary ad server problem or a bug with the app version. Sometimes restarting the app fully clears the ad screen. Also, some users have found that disabling any third-party apps that clear memory or block ads helps, as they can interfere with the app’s ad display.

Let me know what you’ve tried so far or if the ad behavior is different, and we can try some additional steps or escalate if needed! Are you okay with starting here?