Enter a word to see all the clues used for it, or enter a pattern to see all answer words that match that pattern.
Standard matching: Patterns use ? for unknown single letters. For example, P??CH will find both POOCH and PEACH.
Use * to mean any number of letters.
A*Z finds both ADZ and ALCATRAZ, *CRY gets words that end with CRY, etc.
Up to 1000 results are shown from each word list.
This page finds words from Daily, Sunday and Variety puzzles, and also from a dictionary search. See FAQs for dictionary info.
You can use $v to mean a single vowel or $c to mean a consonant. The v and c must be lower case.
For consistency with other search engines, Y is always considered to be a consonant. Try these sample links:
$c??$c displays 4-letter answers that start and end with a consonant.
$v$v*$v$v returns words of any length that start and end with two vowels.
Some extensions are available using standard matching. For example,
[QJXZ]???[^A-M] finds 5-letter words starting with Q, J, Z, or Z
and ending with a letter not in the first half of the alphabet.
New regex matching (advanced): You can now choose to use full regular expression (regex) syntax in your searches.
You must explicitly click the RegEx button to perform a regular expression search.
Up to 10,000 results from the combined databases (Shortz, Variety, Pre-Shortz, Dictionary) are returned in a single list.
Standard matching patterns will not work in regex mode. The syntax is completely different.
XWord Info cannot help with regex syntax but the web is full of
helpful sites about this .
The Regex Dictionary has a particularly good tutorial .
The one extension I provide is that $c and $v can be used as shorthand for any consonant and any vowel.
Queries can be arbitrarily complex but here are a few simple ones to get you started.
Find words that include the string ABC somewhere inside:
ABC
Words that can be spelled using only the names of musical notes:
^[A-G]+$
Entries that do not include a vowel:
^[^AEIOU]*$
Words ending in c + 2 vowels + a single consonant:
C$v$v$c$
15-letter words containing neither A nor E:
^[^AE]{15}$
Words containing at least one Q and one V in any order:
(V.*Q)|(Q.*V)
Date Grid Clue Author
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 41A Peep from a sheep Steve Blais
Friday, April 5, 2013 55D Bit of barnyard onomatopoeia Peter Wentz
Sunday, February 10, 2013 10D Shearing shed sound Patrick Berry
Saturday, October 13, 2012 29A Pen call Barry C. Silk
Wednesday, August 1, 2012 32A Petting zoo sound Doug Peterson
Sunday, July 15, 2012 1D Meadow sound (3) Randolph Ross
Sunday, January 29, 2012 70D Meadow call Ian Livengood
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 65A Ovine call Julian Lim
Friday, November 18, 2011 42A Cry repeated in "The Whiffenpoof Song" Joe DiPietro
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 27D Sheep's sound (2) Peter A. Collins
Saturday, July 2, 2011 6D Cry of shear fear? Joel Fagliano
Monday, March 21, 2011 38D Ewe's plaint Patrick Blindauer and Steve Salitan
Tuesday, November 2, 2010 5D Sheep's cry (4) Brendan Emmett Quigley
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 25A It may make a ewe turn Charles Gersch
Monday, May 31, 2010 10D Ewe's cry (2) Oliver Hill
Friday, January 22, 2010 27A Cry upon being fleeced? Natan Last
Thursday, December 17, 2009 6D Sound made while being fleeced? Francis Heaney and Patrick Blindauer
Friday, November 27, 2009 32A Farm sound (4) Ed Sessa
Friday, October 16, 2009 25A Bucolic call Karen M. Tracey
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 12D Cote call (2) Richard Chisholm
Monday, September 7, 2009 70A Call to a shepherd (2) Andrea Carla Michaels and Ashish Vengsarkar
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 59A Cote call (2) Corey Rubin
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 9D Ovine sound Wayne and P. K. King
Sunday, April 19, 2009 9D Sound from the fold (2) Will Nediger
Monday, October 6, 2008 15D Word repeated before "black sheep" Patrick Blindauer
Monday, June 23, 2008 59D Sheep's bleat Andrea Carla Michaels and Patrick Blindauer
Sunday, June 15, 2008 37D Kid's greeting Jeremy Newton
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 58A Word repeated in the "Whiffenpoof Song" refrain Dave Mackey
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6A Farm sound (4) Caleb Madison
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 30D Ewe said it (4) Henry Hook
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 59A Meadow sound (3) Michael Kaplan
Monday, October 15, 2007 54A Ewe's call (2) Andrea Carla Michaels
Monday, April 9, 2007 45D Sheep's cry (4) J. K. Hummel
Sunday, February 11, 2007 130D Sound heard while shearing Mark Feldman
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 9D Cote sound (2) Brendan Emmett Quigley
Thursday, December 21, 2006 22D Suffolk sound Lynn Lempel
Sunday, December 10, 2006 97D Ewe said it (4) David J. Kahn
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 50A Sound during shearing Adam G. Perl
Friday, October 20, 2006 26A Word repeated in "The Whiffenpoof Song" Ed Early
Monday, September 25, 2006 1A Word repeated before "black sheep, have you any wool?" Lynn Lempel
Friday, July 14, 2006 63D Something heard in a herd Brendan Emmett Quigley
Sunday, July 2, 2006 118D Pastoral cry Elizabeth C. Gorski
Thursday, May 25, 2006 57D Lea plea Gilbert H. Ludwig
Sunday, April 23, 2006 86A Call from a meadow Joe DiPietro
Thursday, April 13, 2006 8D It's heard in a herd (2) Barry Silk
Tuesday, September 20, 2005 48A Bleat (3) Harriet Clifton
Tuesday, August 30, 2005 26A Barnyard sound Leonard Williams
Sunday, October 24, 2004 71A Farm call (3) Patrick Berry
Tuesday, September 21, 2004 34A Ewe's cry (2) Andrea Carla Michaels
Sunday, July 4, 2004 64A Pastoral sound (2) Elizabeth C. Gorski
Thursday, March 25, 2004 39D Sheep's cry (4) David Liben-Nowell and Ryan O'Donnell
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 26D Ovine utterance (2) Eric Berlin
Sunday, August 10, 2003 46D Sheep's "Sheesh!" Cathy Millhauser
Monday, May 12, 2003 32A Sheep's plaint Sarah Keller
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 55A Call to a shepherd (2) Gilbert H. Ludwig
Saturday, June 22, 2002 62D Bucolic cry Rich Norris
Tuesday, June 11, 2002 31A Call to Bo-peep (2) Nancy Kavanaugh
Sunday, June 2, 2002 109D Call from a pen Frank Longo
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 40D Ovine line? M. Francis Vuolo
Sunday, November 11, 2001 16A Peep for Bo-Peep? Joe DiPietro
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 23A Cry to a shepherd Joan Yanofsky
Monday, February 19, 2001 57A Sheep's cry (4) Peter Gordon
Sunday, October 29, 2000 56A Kid's cry Karen Hodge
Sunday, September 3, 2000 54D Meadow sound (3) David J. Kahn
Sunday, May 7, 2000 28D It's heard from the herd Patrick D. Berry
Thursday, November 25, 1999 57D Sound from the fold (2) David J. Kahn
Saturday, April 3, 1999 29D Leicester cry Pat M. Hugel
Tuesday, March 23, 1999 39A Ovine utterance (2) Nathaniel Weiss
Thursday, November 5, 1998 33A Noise of the lambs Nancy Salomon
Sunday, November 1, 1998 64A Comment from the fold Robert Malinow
Wednesday, September 30, 1998 23A Sheepish remark? Fran and Lou Sabin
Sunday, July 5, 1998 59A Farm sound (4) Joe DiPietro
Wednesday, June 24, 1998 11D Flock sound (2) Richard Silvestri
Friday, April 24, 1998 27D Wether report? Martin Ashwood-Smith
Sunday, April 19, 1998 69D Farm call (3) Rich Norris
Wednesday, March 25, 1998 1D Cry to Bo-peep (2) Gene Newman
Tuesday, March 3, 1998 33A Sheepish response Elizabeth C. Gorski
Tuesday, October 21, 1997 50A Sheepish reply Elizabeth C. Gorski
Thursday, August 7, 1997 27D Pastoral sound (2) Mark Diehl
Tuesday, July 8, 1997 26A Call to Bo-peep (2) Stephanie Spadaccini
Monday, May 12, 1997 1D Sheep's sound (2) Hugh Davis
Wednesday, April 16, 1997 58D Farm call (3) Brendan Emmett Quigley
Tuesday, April 15, 1997 41D Flock sound (2) Jonathan Schmalzbach
Sunday, November 17, 1996 69A Pen noise N. N. Joline
Tuesday, October 22, 1996 49A Call to a lamb E. Quigley
Tuesday, August 6, 1996 46A Shepherd's beckoning F. Heaney
Tuesday, July 9, 1996 51A Ewe's call (2) Jonathan Schmatzbach
Thursday, May 16, 1996 37D Cotswold's call F. Longo
Wednesday, September 27, 1995 5A Welcome to the fold? David J. Kahn
Sunday, August 27, 1995 64A Farm sound (4) Martin Schneider
Monday, August 14, 1995 5A Cry to Bo-Peep (2) Ben Wheelock
Wednesday, May 10, 1995 51A Warning to Bo-Peep Jeremy Thomas Paine
Monday, May 1, 1995 11A Bleat (3) Sidney L. Robbins
Saturday, April 8, 1995 28D Sheep talk A.J. Santora
Sunday, February 26, 1995 60D Pasture cry Fred Piscop
Thursday, December 29, 1994 40D Ewe said it (4) Jim Page
Sunday, December 18, 1994 36D Pastoral plaint Manny Nosowsky & Bob Klahn
Friday, December 16, 1994 1A Bleat (3) A.J. Santora
Thursday, December 1, 1994 32D Call for a shepherd Harvey Estes
Thursday, October 27, 1994 14A Comment from 33-Across Fred Piscop
Thursday, August 18, 1994 35D Cote sound (2) A.J. Santora
Thursday, July 21, 1994 50A "Whiffenpoof" syllable Betty Jorgensen
Tuesday, March 29, 1994 26A It's heard in a herd (2) Mark Danna
Wednesday, December 29, 1993 6D Ewe said it! (4) Harvey Estes