This page is just for fun. It's a random collection of rare crossword answers; so rare that each appears only in a single Modern Era puzzle. Bogus entries (thematic words that make sense only in that crossword) are excluded.
There are 50,899 unique Modern Era answer words in the database.
Click any word to see it in the context of its puzzle. Words in this color did appear in pre-Shortz crosswords.
| Word | Date | Clue | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIRBRUSH | Sun Jan 20, 2019 | Pretty up, as a photo | Richard Crowe |
| ARMYMAN | Mon Mar 16, 2015 | Every West Point graduate until 1980 | Ian Livengood |
| ARVO | Sun Apr 29, 2012 | Sacred music composer ___ Pärt | Tracy Gray |
| AUDIOINPUT | Mon Jan 30, 2023 | Microphone jack, for one | David Steinberg |
| BEARFRUIT | Mon Jan 4, 2010 | Be productive ... or what the answers at 17-, 25-, 53- and 63-Across do? | Paula Gamache |
| BETAWARD | Thu Mar 17, 2011 | Annual prize won multiple times by Beyoncé and LeBron James | Anna Shechtman |
| BLEACHES | Sun Jul 27, 1997 | Whitens | June Boggs |
| BLOWDART | Sat Apr 4, 2020 | Barb from the mouth | Yacob Yonas |
| BLUEPENS | Sun Mar 18, 2012 | Many Bics | Mike Nothnagel and Byron Walden |
| COUNTERFEITCOIN | Mon Jul 16, 2018 | Faux money | Erik Agard |
| DATETREE | Mon Mar 18, 1996 | Oasis sight | S. L. Robbins |
| DUMBANDDUMBERER | Sun Apr 26, 2009 | 2003 sequel to a popular 1994 comedy | Trip Payne |
| ECOSHAMING | Sat Dec 2, 2023 | Criticizing a refusal to recycle, e.g. | Royce Ferguson |
| ERINYS | Thu Mar 5, 1998 | Any of the Furies | Wayne Robert Williams |
| FAKEGOLD | Sun Jun 19, 2022 | It can be detected using the "bite test" or "vinegar test" | Jeremy Newton |
| FASHIONS | Sat Jan 22, 2022 | Creates | Daniel Okulitch |
| FOOTBALLGAME | Sun Dec 31, 2023 | After midnight: Event for Cowboys or Broncos | Matt Linzer and Rafael Musa |
| FOOTBALLPRO | Wed Jan 21, 2004 | See 36-Across | Barry Silk |
| GAPPED | Sun Nov 5, 2023 | Air-___ (extra-secure, as a computer) | Rich Katz |
| GIVEUPOLDHABITS | Sun Dec 29, 2019 | Nun's resolution? | Andrew Chaikin |
| IWANTEM | Sat Oct 8, 2005 | "Gimme" | Byron Walden |
| JIMMYCHOO | Mon Apr 21, 2025 | Famed shoe designer | Thomas van Geel |
| LATINTEST | Fri Dec 12, 2003 | "Amare" might be conjugated on it | Manny Nosowsky |
| MESSING | Sun Nov 5, 2006 | Fooling (around) | Derrick Niederman |
| MONSTERS | Fri Aug 17, 2001 | Scream elicitors | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| OFFLOAD | Sat Jul 6, 2024 | Get rid of | Evans Clinchy |
| ONAKICK | Sat May 6, 2017 | Currently into something | Joe DiPietro |
| PAULSON | Fri Jun 25, 2010 | Geithner's predecessor at Treasury | Robin Schulman and Byron Walden |
| POLLA | Sat Nov 29, 1997 | Young hen, to Enrique | Rich Norris |
| RETUSE | Sun Jun 19, 1994 | Rounded and notched, as a leaf | Nancy Scandrett Ross |
| ROGERANDME | Sun May 16, 2010 | 1989 Michael Moore documentary | Matt Ginsberg |
| SALTCELLAR | Mon Jul 24, 2023 | Partner of a pepper mill | John Ewbank |
| SMASHEROO | Sat Sep 9, 2006 | Blockbuster | Bob Klahn |
| SOFREE | Sun Oct 11, 2015 | How "You Make Me Feel" in a Van Morrison song | David J. Kahn |
| STARCHITECT | Wed Jul 10, 2019 | Portmanteau for 36-Across | David J. Kahn |
| SYNESTHESIA | Sat May 20, 2023 | Neuropsychological trait in which one might ascribe colors to numbers or tastes to words | Erica Hsiung Wojcik |
| TENDOWN | Sun Dec 17, 2006 | Its clue reads "Unstable subatomic particle" | Joe DiPietro |
| TRAILMAPS | Sun Nov 7, 2021 | Hiking aids | Sid Sivakumar |
| UNDERCOVERBOSS | Sun Feb 8, 2026 | Hit reality TV series suggested by this puzzle's groups of circled letters | Chloe Revery |
| WILLIAMSCOLLEGE | Fri Jul 2, 1999 | Site of the oldest U.S. observatory | Randolph Ross |