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 50,885 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADNAN | Sun May 17, 1998 | Oilman Kashoggi | David J. Kahn and Hillary B. Kahn |
| AREACLOSED | Mon Nov 3, 2025 | *Warning sign that might be seen on a chain-link fence | Kevin Christian and Andrea Carla Michaels |
| ASMANY | Fri Nov 15, 2013 | That same number of | David Woolf |
| CASSETTEPLAYER | Fri Nov 5, 2021 | Sound investment in the 1980s? | Joseph Greenbaum |
| DONTBESTUPID | Sun Dec 13, 2009 | "That's patently ridiculous!" | Mike Shenk |
| DOORPRIZES | Sat Mar 27, 2010 | Attendance incentives | Samuel A. Donaldson |
| ESSAYEXAM | Sat Apr 27, 2019 | Subjective evaluation | Joe Deeney |
| EXCEPTS | Sat May 18, 1996 | Leaves out | M. Nosowsky |
| FERRERO | Thu May 14, 2015 | Noted Italian chocolatier | Kameron Austin Collins |
| FIGEATER | Sun Nov 4, 2018 | Shiny beetle disliked by fruit growers | Patrick Berry |
| FROZENMARGARITA | Fri Dec 27, 2019 | It's icy and coated with salt | Sam Trabucco |
| HOWISHE | Sun Oct 19, 2008 | Concerned wife's question in the E.R., maybe | Joe DiPietro |
| HUGHHEFNER | Sun Jun 19, 1994 | CHRISTIE'S | Nancy Scandrett Ross |
| JIMMYCARTER | Sun Nov 24, 2002 | Crowbar schlepper? | Nancy Salomon and Lee Glickstein |
| JOHNNYCARSON | Sun Sep 5, 2021 | 30-year host of late-night TV | Grant Thackray |
| LAOTIANS | Thu Feb 29, 1996 | Thai neighbors | Peter Gordon |
| LJUBLJANA | Sat Dec 4, 2010 | Capital NE of the Gulf of Trieste | Doug Peterson |
| LONGJOHN | Sun Jun 12, 2022 | Doughnut similar to an éclair | Will Nediger |
| MAHATMAGANDHI | Sun Aug 26, 2012 | Time's 1930 Man of the Year | Amanda Yesnowitz and Doug Peterson |
| MATCHSTICKMEN | Wed Oct 26, 2005 | 2003 Nicolas Cage film | Adam G. Perl |
| MIXTURE | Fri Jan 3, 2014 | Salmagundi | Barry C. Silk and Brad Wilber |
| MULISH | Fri Sep 10, 2004 | Stubborn | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| NOED | Thu Feb 28, 2013 | Declined | Joe Krozel |
| NOMENCLATURE | Sun Aug 21, 2011 | Terminology | Alan Arbesfeld |
| NONETOOSOON | Sat Jan 27, 2024 | In the nick of time | Grace Warrington and Greg Warrington |
| OBSTRUCTIONOFJUSTICE | Sun Jan 14, 2018 | Illegal interference ... or what can be found in this puzzle's 1st, 3rd, 7th, 15th, 19th and 21st rows? | Joel Fagliano |
| ODYSSEUS | Tue Dec 30, 2008 | He devised the Trojan horse | Doug Peterson |
| PATROLBOAT | Tue Aug 13, 2013 | Two units, in 56-Across | Joel Fagliano |
| POWERSTEERING | Thu Jul 12, 2007 | It might help you take a turn for the better | Michael Shteyman |
| RECORDPLAYER | Sun May 30, 2010 | With 55-Across, two things that spin | Eric Berlin |
| RIPPEDIT | Sun Sep 11, 2011 | Hit one out of the park, say | Kay Anderson |
| SANTORINI | Sun Nov 27, 2016 | Island whose volcanic eruption is rumored to have destroyed Atlantis | Matt Ginsberg |
| SERGEANTYORK | Mon May 22, 2006 | Gary Cooper title role | Edgar R. Fontaine |
| SUNNING | Sun Dec 19, 2021 | Solarium activity | Laura Taylor Kinnel |
| THATTOUCHOFMINK | Mon May 12, 1997 | 1962 Cary Grant/Doris Day movie | Hugh Davis |
| THEODOREREX | Sat Apr 14, 2012 | 2001 presidential biography by Edmund Morris | Mark Diehl |
| THEPIEDPIPEROFHAMELIN | Sun Jun 20, 2004 | Leader of the pack hidden in this puzzle? | Manny Nosowsky |
| TRAVELINGINCOMFORT | Thu Jul 27, 2017 | *Enjoying first-class amenities, say | Jeffrey Wechsler |
| UPROOTER | Wed Jun 25, 2025 | Tool for removing a tree stump | Ben Zimmer and Zach Sherwin |
| WORLDFOODSUMMIT | Mon Sep 4, 2023 | *U.N. conference seeking to eliminate hunger | Tom Pepper and Zhouqin Burnikel |