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 50,702 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANATOLEPARIS | Thu Nov 25, 1999 | A capital Nobel Prize novelist? | David J. Kahn |
| AUTOANTENNA | Sat Jul 30, 2011 | Often-retractable car part | Patrick Berry |
| AWAKENING | Fri Feb 9, 2007 | Realization | Eric Berlin |
| BOOSTERSHOT | Sun Dec 4, 2016 | Immunity enhancer | Bruce Haight |
| BUYOUTS | Fri May 24, 2024 | Some corporate takeovers | Carolyn Davies Lynch |
| BYLUCK | Fri Sep 7, 2012 | Fortuitously | Martin Ashwood-Smith |
| BYYOURLEAVE | Sun Jul 10, 2016 | Request for permission | Patrick Berry |
| CER | Sat Feb 23, 2013 | Battle of ___ (first Allied victory of W.W. I) | Todd Gross |
| CONTAINING | Fri Feb 28, 2020 | Bottling up | Aimee Lucido |
| COOLLY | Fri Oct 7, 2022 | With calmness and self-control | Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen |
| CRASHTESTS | Sat May 28, 2022 | Activities for dummies | Joseph Greenbaum |
| CRYOGENS | Sun Jun 8, 2008 | Freezing mixtures | Will Nediger |
| DIETZ | Sat May 3, 2014 | ___ & Watson (big name in deli meat) | Sam Ezersky |
| ENCOREPRESENTATION | Sun Jan 29, 2012 | Slide show at a TV station? | Ian Livengood |
| FAUXNAIF | Sat Jan 17, 2026 | Artificially unsophisticated | Adam Aaronson |
| FIRELIGHT | Thu Mar 13, 2025 | Burning glow | Rich Proulx and Simeon Seigel |
| FREEDOMOFTHEPRESS | Sun Oct 2, 2016 | First Amendment guarantee | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| FUNNYMAN | Sat Oct 3, 2009 | Stand-up guy | Doug Peterson |
| GENESAKS | Sat Mar 23, 2002 | "The Odd Couple" director | Adam Cohen |
| GSTAAD | Wed Sep 11, 2019 | Upscale Swiss ski resort | Ned White |
| GULPER | Sat Nov 21, 1998 | Voracious one | Joe DiPietro |
| HEADCHEESE | Tue Sep 16, 2025 | *Product of meat scraps that, despite its name, is dairy-free | Jonathan Daly |
| HOWCOULDIREFUSE | Mon Mar 23, 2020 | "There was no choice but for me to say yes!" | Ed Sessa |
| ICANTLIVEWITHOUTYOU | Sun Mar 4, 2012 | Then she remarked "..." | David J. Kahn |
| INFOBOX | Sat Jul 12, 2025 | Fixed-format summary of an article, as on Wikipedia | Katie Hoody |
| KARAOKEBARS | Tue Jun 10, 2025 | Places where nonprofessionals sing | Zachary David Levy |
| LAYTOWASTE | Mon May 29, 2023 | Completely destroy | Katie Hale and Zachary David Levy |
| LOGICGATE | Sat Jul 23, 2022 | Circuit building block | John Lieb |
| MITERSAW | Sun Jan 25, 2026 | One cutting corners | Mark MacLachlan |
| PERFECTSCORES | Sun Jan 5, 2020 | What composers do when they add the finishing touches? | Will Nediger |
| REGULARLY | Mon Nov 12, 2001 | As a rule | Janice M. Putney |
| REMINDUS | Sat Jun 10, 2023 | "Please jog our memory ..." | John Hawksley |
| SHOWERED | Sun Jul 10, 2011 | Didn't just spit | Ben Pall and David Kahn |
| SLUGGISHLY | Sat Nov 4, 2006 | Without vigor | Rich Norris |
| SPIROS | Sun May 29, 1994 | Agnew and others | Janet R. Bender |
| TAKESTOTASK | Sun Nov 10, 1996 | Reprimands | R. Hamel |
| TELEPHONECALLS | Sat Mar 26, 1994 | Some pages | Randolph Ross |
| TEMPORALLOBE | Fri May 21, 2004 | Part of the brain associated with memory | Eric Berlin |
| WHATSTHEPROBLEM | Fri Mar 23, 2007 | "So?!" | Manny Nosowsky |
| WHOWON | Sat May 26, 2018 | Question pundits discuss after a presidential debate | Peter Wentz |