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 50,548 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACHIEVABLE | Sun Jul 2, 2006 | Within reach | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| BANANAPIE | Sat Aug 12, 2017 | Fruity dessert | Kameron Austin Collins |
| BASING | Fri Apr 12, 2019 | Establishing | Howard Barkin |
| BILLYGOATSGRUFF | Mon Aug 20, 2007 | Grass-eating trio | Lynn Lempel |
| BUMPER | Tue Aug 1, 2017 | Part of a pinball machine | Jay Kaskel |
| BYHAND | Wed Nov 15, 2000 | Manually | Chuck Deodene |
| CITABLE | Fri Sep 23, 2016 | Worthy of reference | Andrew Zhou |
| COLDCASE | Sun Jan 15, 2012 | DNA testing might reopen one | Finn Vigeland |
| ETHELREDTHEUNREADY | Sun Oct 1, 1995 | Weak English king | Frank A. Longo |
| FIVETOTEN | Fri Feb 16, 2007 | Possible sentence in the slammer | Charles Barasch |
| FOOTLONG | Wed Jul 16, 2025 | Sub category | Jasin Cekinmez |
| FRANKENFOOD | Sun Nov 13, 2022 | Lab-engineered fare, facetiously ... or a hint to the six crossings of shaded squares | Samuel A. Donaldson |
| GETALLTANGLEDUP | Fri Dec 5, 2003 | Snarl | Robert H. Wolfe |
| GREATEMANCIPATOR | Sun May 29, 2022 | Another epithet for this puzzle's subject | Daniel Bodily and Jeff Chen |
| HADANEDGE | Fri May 10, 2002 | Was favored | Manny Nosowsky |
| HICKEY | Tue Jan 27, 1998 | Kiss mark | Manny Nosowsky |
| HITASLUMP | Tue Oct 26, 2004 | Go 0-for-20, say | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| INDEFINITEARTICLE | Sun Jan 15, 2017 | Piece still under consideration for a magazine? | Joel Fagliano |
| INOCULATOR | Sat Jul 7, 2007 | Doctor, at times | Todd McClary |
| ITSSHOWTIME | Wed May 7, 2014 | Possible title for this puzzle | Kurt Mueller |
| JUSTADROP | Fri Jul 12, 2013 | "Not much at all for me, please" | Matt Ginsberg |
| KEEPONIT | Wed Jun 25, 2025 | "Don't let up. You've got this!" | Ben Zimmer and Zach Sherwin |
| LIVEITDOWN | Sun Jul 16, 2017 | Overcome an embarrassment | Andrea Carla Michaels and Pete Muller |
| MAMALEONES | Tue Nov 15, 2005 | Classic New York City eatery | Sarah Keller |
| MEATHOOK | Fri Jan 16, 2004 | Butcher's hanger | Manny Nosowsky |
| NOLANS | Thu Feb 6, 2014 | Director Christopher and actor Lloyd | Joe Krozel |
| PARTINGGIFT | Thu May 20, 2021 | Game show loser's prize | Trenton Charlson |
| PROPORTION | Sun Dec 3, 2006 | Part voting aye? | Patrick Merrell |
| SAMMENDES | Sat Dec 1, 2012 | 1999 Best Director winner | Joon Pahk |
| SHAKENBAKE | Fri Aug 12, 2016 | Product with a Crispy Buffalo variety | Kelly Clark |
| SIBLING | Sun Jan 12, 2020 | Brother or sister | Evan Mahnken and David Steinberg |
| SILKHATS | Mon Nov 20, 2023 | Some high-end headwear | Sam Ezersky |
| SOCIALBUTTERFLY | Mon Sep 28, 2015 | Person about town | Dan Bischof and Jeff Chen |
| STATEDEPT | Sun Jun 22, 2014 | Hillary Clinton's domain, once: Abbr. | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| TARAROAD | Sun May 11, 2025 | 1999 Maeve Binchy novel | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| THEPROMISEDLAND | Thu Aug 9, 2001 | High ground | Patrick Berry |
| TIFFIN | Sat Jun 18, 2005 | Lunch, in Lancaster | Sherry O. Blackard |
| TRASHBIN | Wed May 28, 2014 | Place to eighty-six things | Tim Croce |
| WHIRLWINDTOUR | Sun Oct 31, 2021 | Hectic trip abroad | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| YOURULE | Fri Mar 1, 2019 | Exuberant compliment | Zhouqin Burnikel |