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
Thursday, March 21, 2013 25D Point of ___ (2) Jeff Chen
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 35A Red-tag event (3) Gareth Bain
Sunday, March 25, 2012 43A For ___ Patrick Berry
Thursday, February 9, 2012 31A Broker's goal Kevin G. Der
Sunday, January 8, 2012 36D Holiday season event Tony Orbach
Monday, January 2, 2012 11A "Prices slashed!" event Paula Gamache
Monday, September 5, 2011 39D Common event the day after Thanksgiving Patrick Merrell
Sunday, July 24, 2011 38D Result of a pitch, perhaps Kurt Mueller
Friday, April 22, 2011 66A Event for which percentages may be specified Ashton Anderson
Friday, January 21, 2011 27A Ace pitcher's reward? Pete Mitchell
Friday, June 4, 2010 61A Crowd draw, maybe Martin Ashwood-Smith
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 34A Half-off event (2) Paula Gamache
Thursday, March 11, 2010 42D Kind of price John Farmer
Sunday, January 24, 2010 35A Mall attraction (2) David Kwong and Kevan Choset
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 22D "Dollar days" event (2) Patrick Blindauer and Rebecca Young
Thursday, July 9, 2009 51A Tent event (3) Ashish Vengsarkar
Sunday, April 5, 2009 64D Store sign (3) Charles Deber
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 22A Headline in a circular William Frank Macreery
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 47D Bargain hunter's event John Greenman
Saturday, December 13, 2008 37D See 36-Down Frank Longo
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 59A Bargain event Pete Muller
Monday, May 12, 2008 16A Post-Christmas store event Randall J. Hartman
Tuesday, July 3, 2007 35D Red tag event Norma Johnson
Monday, March 5, 2007 55D Red-tag event (3) Fred Piscop
Monday, January 29, 2007 67A Clearance event Fred Piscop
Wednesday, December 27, 2006 63A Tent event (3) Manny Nosowsky
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 16A Shopaholic's delight (2) Nancy Salomon
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 56D Realtor's goal David Sullivan
Monday, September 25, 2006 13D Realtor's aim Lynn Lempel
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 68A Telemarketer's aim Allan E. Parrish
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 66A See 1-Across David Sullivan
Sunday, July 23, 2006 108A Ad headline (2) Fred Piscop
Friday, May 26, 2006 55A See 27-Down Mike Torch
Thursday, February 2, 2006 4D Point of ___ (2) Byron Walden
Sunday, December 25, 2005 98D 16-Down's desire Nancy Salomon and Harvey Estes
Sunday, December 18, 2005 68A Crowd attractor Ethan Cooper and Michael Shteyman
Friday, October 28, 2005 21A Counter offer Elizabeth C. Gorski
Friday, July 8, 2005 10A Ad headline (2) Eric Berlin
Tuesday, July 5, 2005 59A Shopper stopper (2) Beth Hinshaw
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 60D Sign that attracts crowds Jim Hyres
Monday, May 23, 2005 34D After-Christmas event (2) Robert Dillman
Thursday, April 14, 2005 67A Counter action David Murchie
Thursday, April 7, 2005 1A Alternative to bankruptcy for a company Patrick Merrell
Wednesday, November 10, 2004 28D Post-Christmas event (4) David J. Kahn
Tuesday, June 29, 2004 42A "Lost our lease" event Jim Hyres
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 39D Mall attraction (2) Allan E. Parrish
Friday, November 28, 2003 29D Sign in a store window Brendan Emmett Quigley
Wednesday, November 5, 2003 18A Pitcher's success Nancy Kavanaugh
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 55D Presidents' Day event Richard Silvestri
Monday, September 15, 2003 52D Store event (3) Sheldon Benardo
Tuesday, May 6, 2003 56D Shopper's lure (2) Karen M. Tracey
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 5D It may follow a pitch Greg Staples
Thursday, March 6, 2003 62A Possible result of bankruptcy Cathy Millhauser
Sunday, January 26, 2003 1D Store sign (3) Nancy Salomon and Bob Peoples
Tuesday, January 14, 2003 45A Emporium event Adam G. Perl
Friday, October 18, 2002 6D Reward for good pitching? Manny Nosowsky
Thursday, October 3, 2002 9A Register transaction Susan Harrington Smith
Tuesday, July 16, 2002 53D Store sign (3) Ed Early
Thursday, June 20, 2002 34A Circular announcement (2) Steve Jones
Sunday, June 2, 2002 104D Successful pitch (2) Frank Longo
Saturday, May 25, 2002 55A Like some merchandise Frank Longo
Sunday, April 28, 2002 23A Sign in a window Elizabeth C. Gorski
Monday, March 11, 2002 61A Shopper stopper (2) Peter Gordon
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 60D Mall event Richard Chisholm
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 13D Post-Christmas event (4) Joan Yanofsky
Sunday, August 5, 2001 76A Closing act? Peter Gordon
Thursday, August 2, 2001 44D Successful pitch (2) Bruce F. Adams
Thursday, May 24, 2001 14A Circular announcement (2) William I. Johnston
Wednesday, November 8, 2000 39D Event marked by a "ka-ching!" Elizabeth C. Gorski
Monday, June 19, 2000 53D After-Christmas event (2) Manny Nosowsky
Saturday, May 13, 2000 47A Dollar stretcher William S. Cotter
Saturday, May 6, 2000 53D Merchandise mover Rich Norris
Tuesday, January 11, 2000 18D Garage activity Fran and Lou Sabin
Monday, November 1, 1999 1D Dollar days event (2) Robert Frank
Sunday, October 31, 1999 67D Bankruptcy follow-up Frank Longo
Tuesday, June 8, 1999 59D Marketer's aim Fred Piscop
Tuesday, April 20, 1999 58D Real estate agent's goal Elizabeth C. Gorski
Sunday, March 28, 1999 31D Tent event (3) Cathy Millhauser
Thursday, December 31, 1998 44D Shopaholic's delight (2) Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon
Monday, November 2, 1998 60A Post-Christmas event (4) Sheldon Benardo
Monday, February 2, 1998 53D December 26 event Gregory E. Paul
Wednesday, January 14, 1998 38D Shopper's delight William Bernhardt
Saturday, August 30, 1997 26A Leading port of old Morocco Matt Gaffney
Wednesday, June 4, 1997 13D Red-tag event (3) Nancy S. Ross
Sunday, December 8, 1996 17D Red tag locale A. J. Santora
Tuesday, November 26, 1996 40A Bargain seeker's event S. Spadaccini
Monday, November 25, 1996 30D Enticing store sign M. Huret
Sunday, November 17, 1996 27A Closeout N. N. Joline
Monday, July 8, 1996 52D Store event (3) Sidney L. Robbins
Monday, April 22, 1996 69A 50% off event S. B. Whitten
Monday, March 11, 1996 32D Shoppers' thrill R. Zimmerman
Sunday, January 28, 1996 54D Clearance (2) M. W. Perry
Tuesday, September 12, 1995 55D Store news Gregory E. Paul
Tuesday, July 25, 1995 25A Auction Gregory E. Paul
Tuesday, June 6, 1995 58D Store event (3) Sidney L. Robbins
Tuesday, November 8, 1994 47D Garage event Richard Hughes
Monday, October 17, 1994 46A Bargain hunter's delight Jonathan Schmatzbach
Sunday, October 2, 1994 53A Clearance (2) Frances Hansen
Wednesday, July 20, 1994 62D No_____ (register button) Harvey Estes
Friday, June 17, 1994 21A "Half-off" event (2) Bryant White
Monday, June 6, 1994 21D Shopper's lure (2) Robert Zimmerman
Thursday, January 6, 1994 59A Word with fire or no Arthur W. Palmer
Saturday, December 25, 1993 2D Unloading time? Rand H. Burns
Sunday, November 28, 1993 93D Post-Christmas event (4) Joanne W. Edwards