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 50,360 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AARONJUDGE | Mon Aug 4, 2025 | Yankees slugger who hit a record-setting 62 home runs in 2022 | Patti Varol |
| ABTEST | Sun Sep 4, 2022 | Marketing experiment comparing two variants | Tracy Gray |
| AIRFILTERS | Sat Jul 21, 2001 | Auto supply inventory | Mark Diehl |
| BACKSOSOON | Fri Dec 22, 2023 | "Didn't you just leave?" | Brooke Husic and Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| BADD | Sun Jun 7, 2009 | Color Me ___, 1990s R&B group | Jeremy Newton |
| COMMUNITYCOLLEGE | Sun May 23, 1999 | School without dorms | Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon |
| DOWNSIZE | Mon Jan 29, 2018 | Diminish the work force ... or a literal hint to the answers to the four starred clues | Lynn Lempel |
| EASEUPTO | Sun Sep 11, 2022 | Approach gradually | Derrick Niederman |
| EASTWARDS | Fri Sep 20, 2002 | Like 1990's NATO expansion | Kevin Hagen |
| EATINGONESWORDS | Sat Oct 12, 2024 | Verbally backpedaling | Katie Hoody |
| ELDOCTOROW | Fri Nov 1, 2013 | "Billy Bathgate" novelist | Brad Wilber |
| FRATBROS | Sun Jun 12, 2016 | Stereotypically rowdy dudes | Finn Vigeland |
| FRATERNITYHOUSE | Sun Jun 20, 2004 | This is its brothers' keeper | Manny Nosowsky |
| HADFAITH | Sat Jul 27, 2019 | Trusted | Byron Walden |
| HEARTRENDING | Tue Nov 19, 2002 | Extremely sad | Alan Arbesfeld |
| IRISHPUBS | Wed Mar 10, 2021 | They're usually packed on St. Patrick's Day | Nancy Stark and Will Nediger |
| JUMPINGOFFPOINT | Tue Jun 13, 1995 | Beginning | Trip Payne |
| LANECHANGES | Tue Jan 22, 2008 | They require signals | Adam G. Perl |
| LASERCUTS | Sun Jul 16, 2023 | Engraves with a machine | Michael Schlossberg |
| MAKEUPTUTORIAL | Fri Mar 23, 2018 | Beauty lesson | Erik Agard |
| MANGLE | Sat Jan 21, 2006 | Make a mess of | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| MANYS | Sun Feb 9, 2014 | "___ the time ..." | Charles M. Deber |
| MARLEEMATLIN | Sun Feb 24, 2008 | Actress (1986), director (1962) | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| PERLEMESTA | Mon Sep 1, 2014 | Socialite who inspired 1950's "Call Me Madam" | Allan E. Parrish |
| PLATTSBURGH | Sat Jul 30, 2011 | Site of the War of 1812 Museum | Patrick Berry |
| POLARICECAP | Mon May 9, 2005 | Shrinking Arctic mass | Jim Hyres |
| PUMPSGAS | Tue Mar 23, 2021 | Does a service station job | Dan Schoenholz |
| REARMAMENT | Sat Apr 29, 2006 | Treaty violation, maybe | Robert H. Wolfe |
| ROCKMUSIC | Wed Oct 11, 2023 | Output of the Rolling Stones, appropriately | Miranda Kany |
| SIGNALFLARE | Mon Apr 19, 1999 | Trunk item | Gregory E. Paul |
| SKATEOVER | Fri Feb 29, 2008 | Barely mention, as something one doesn't want to discuss | Patrick Berry |
| SPECIALDELIVERY | Sun May 22, 2005 | 1976 comedy/action caper with Cybill Shepherd | A. J. Santora |
| SUPERBOWLXX | Tue May 3, 2011 | Event held on January 26, 1986 | Kevan Choset |
| TEASNOB | Sun Jun 15, 2025 | Someone who might find Darjeeling appealing | Adam Wagner and Rebecca Goldstein |
| THATSASHAME | Fri Aug 7, 2020 | "Too bad" | Tom Pepper |
| THELOOKINGGLASS | Thu Jan 17, 2019 | What Alice goes through to find "Jabberwocky" printed backward | Ross Trudeau |
| ULTRAMAN | Sun Oct 14, 2018 | Supervillain in DC Comics | Ross Trudeau |
| UNMUTES | Sat Jan 6, 2024 | Prepares to speak, in a modern meeting | Ben Tolkin and Julian Xiao |
| WELFARISM | Wed Oct 14, 2015 | Policy of widespread government social programs | Joel Fagliano |
| WESTERNCLASSICS | Fri Jan 9, 1998 | "Giant" and "Cimarron," e.g. | Manny Nosowsky |