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)
99 entries were found. Click any date for context. Repeated clues show (number of occurrences.)
Date Grid Clue Author
Saturday, June 1, 2013 30D Loses liquidity Barry C. Silk
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 7D Complete collections (2) Lou Borenstein
Thursday, August 9, 2012 49D They usually end at six Joe Krozel
Saturday, April 7, 2012 18A Three in a match, maybe (2) Robert H. Wolfe
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 19D Where props are seen Chris Handman
Saturday, January 7, 2012 23A Places for shooting stars Joe Krozel
Thursday, August 18, 2011 43A Collections Kevan Choset
Saturday, April 30, 2011 44D Completists' goals Frederick J. Healy
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 33A Collectors' completions Gareth Bain
Saturday, December 4, 2010 19A Becomes fixed Doug Peterson
Thursday, September 9, 2010 52D Math items represented using { and } Kevin Wald
Friday, August 6, 2010 43A Pushes (off) Patrick Berry
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 69A What the sun does at dusk Mike Torch
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 10A Movie lot sights Sarah Keller
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 30D Squash match units Elizabeth C. Gorski
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 61A Hollywood constructions Alan Arbesfeld
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 65A Places for props (3) Robert A. Doll
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 51A Studio constructions Tony Orbach
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 67A Places for play things? Patrick Blindauer
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 27D Things some designers design Corey Rubin
Monday, January 26, 2009 25A 6-1, 3-6 and 7-5, in tennis Timothy Powell and Nancy Salomon
Monday, July 28, 2008 71A 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, e.g. Roger Baiocchi
Saturday, May 31, 2008 54D Fixes (3) Robert H. Wolfe
Saturday, March 29, 2008 29A Mounts in a frame Mike Nothnagel
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 66A What matches are made of Chuck Hamilton
Thursday, November 15, 2007 4D Preceders of spikes in volleyball Joe Krozel
Sunday, May 20, 2007 132D Numismatists' goals Seth A. Abel
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 42A Fixes the time on, as a clock Bette Sue Cohen
Monday, August 28, 2006 62D Collect-'em-all collections Stanley Newman
Sunday, May 7, 2006 16D Where scenes are seen Trip Payne
Monday, May 1, 2006 51A Studio stages (2) Mike Torch
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 71A Gets firm Nancy Salomon
Friday, February 10, 2006 51A Match maker? (2) Harvey Estes
Friday, January 13, 2006 13D See 16-Across Eric Berlin
Wednesday, October 19, 2005 10D Lot sights Levi Denham
Sunday, July 31, 2005 39D Goes down (5) Mark Feldman
Thursday, July 28, 2005 66A Puts in its place Eric Berlin
Thursday, February 24, 2005 30A Back lot lot Patrick Merrell
Saturday, December 11, 2004 17A In-groups James E. Buell
Sunday, October 17, 2004 32D Goes down (5) Manny Nosowsky
Wednesday, October 13, 2004 32A Collectors' goals (2) Patrick Merrell
Friday, October 1, 2004 50A Starts (out) Bob Peoples
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 58D Nears the western horizon Nancy Kavanaugh
Thursday, March 18, 2004 60D Some volleyball hits Lee Glickstein and Nancy Salomon
Monday, February 9, 2004 34D Film designers' designs Robert Dillman
Sunday, October 26, 2003 113D Some volleyball shots Patrick Merrell
Monday, October 6, 2003 32D Complete collections (2) Barry Silk
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 28D Places for props (3) Manny Nosowsky
Saturday, August 16, 2003 21D Social groups Manny Nosowsky
Thursday, January 9, 2003 39A Match parts (4) David J. Kahn
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 70A 7-6, 3-6 and 6-4, e.g. Tyler Hinman
Thursday, October 31, 2002 71A Fixes (3) Dave and Diane Epperson
Friday, October 4, 2002 23D Salon specialties Martin Ashwood-Smith
Saturday, September 14, 2002 37A Three in a match, maybe (2) Bruce L. Bliven
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 71A Gels Barbara Olson
Thursday, October 11, 2001 37D Tennis units (3) Nancy S. Ross
Friday, March 2, 2001 23A Studio sites Manny Nosowsky
Tuesday, February 20, 2001 18D Math groups Steven Dorfman
Friday, November 3, 2000 21A Match maker? (2) Joe DiPietro
Tuesday, October 17, 2000 8D Match parts (4) Peter Gordon
Friday, October 6, 2000 42A Solidifies (2) Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon
Monday, June 19, 2000 23A Movie locations Manny Nosowsky
Wednesday, April 19, 2000 35D Studio sights Frances Hansen
Tuesday, March 7, 2000 32D 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, etc. John Greenman
Saturday, November 27, 1999 56A Installs Patrick D. Berry
Tuesday, October 26, 1999 52A Solidifies (2) Kevin McCann
Tuesday, September 28, 1999 62A Certain volleyball shots Elizabeth C. Gorski
Friday, September 3, 1999 57D Designer works David J. Kahn
Tuesday, August 17, 1999 33D Arranges, as music Stephanie Spadaccini
Monday, August 2, 1999 26D Studio stages (2) Stephanie Spadaccini
Sunday, July 25, 1999 101D Three are a match Charles M. Deber
Wednesday, July 14, 1999 59D Goes down (5) Nancy Salomon
Monday, July 5, 1999 1A 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4, e.g. Gregory E. Paul
Wednesday, June 30, 1999 58D Salon offerings Manny Nosowsky
Sunday, May 2, 1999 39D TV's Jim Page
Tuesday, March 2, 1999 39D Where movies are made Stephanie Spadaccini
Wednesday, November 11, 1998 34A Coagulates Elizabeth C. Gorski
Thursday, April 23, 1998 23A Hardens (2) Cathy Millhauser
Tuesday, April 14, 1998 9D 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, e.g. Diane C. Baldwin
Monday, March 16, 1998 36A Tennis units (3) Mark Moldowsky
Wednesday, September 10, 1997 73A Match parts (4) Randall J. Hartman
Tuesday, September 9, 1997 36D Places for props (3) Elizabeth C. Gorski
Saturday, April 19, 1997 27A Fixes (3) Rich Norris
Saturday, July 6, 1996 9D Goes down (5) J. DiPietro
Saturday, July 22, 1995 13D Match components Richard Thomas
Thursday, May 25, 1995 13D Hardens (2) Harvey Estes
Monday, May 1, 1995 62D Rigidifies Sidney L. Robbins
Monday, February 13, 1995 68A 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, e.g. Sidney L. Robbins
Wednesday, November 9, 1994 27A Uses rollers Wayne Robert Williams
Sunday, September 25, 1994 130D Units for Sampras Nancy Nicholson Joline
Wednesday, September 7, 1994 39A Parts of matches Cathy Millhauser
Wednesday, August 17, 1994 11D Goes down (5) Robert H. Wolfe
Tuesday, August 16, 1994 7D Match parts (4) Wayne Robert Williams
Tuesday, May 31, 1994 10A Tennis units (3) Roger H. Courtney
Sunday, May 22, 1994 101A They're designed in Hollywood Randolph Ross
Tuesday, February 15, 1994 61A Prepares the dinner table Jonathan Schmatzbach
Monday, February 14, 1994 69A Collectors' goals (2) Nancy Joline
Saturday, January 8, 1994 69A Slowly sinks Rand H. Burns
Thursday, December 9, 1993 13D Televisions Janie Lyons