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 50,526 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABREASTOFTHINGS | Mon Oct 7, 1996 | "Au courant" | S. Spadaccini |
| ACROSSTHEMERSEY | Fri Feb 28, 1997 | Route for a Liverpool ferry, in song | Bob Klahn |
| AIRLETTER | Sat Aug 12, 1995 | Piece of first-class mail | A.J. Santora |
| ASMUD | Tue Sep 16, 2008 | Clear ___ (hard to understand) | Michael Langwald |
| ATTHEBELL | Sat Jan 22, 2011 | When trading ceases | Victor Fleming |
| BACKLESSDRESS | Thu Nov 14, 2024 | Red carpet attire | Matthew Faiella |
| BEATPOETS | Sat Jun 15, 2013 | Six Gallery reading participants | Ned White |
| BEERRUNS | Sat Aug 8, 2020 | Some trips to resupply festivities | Brooke Husic and Sid Sivakumar |
| BRITTLEST | Sat Feb 18, 1995 | Least likely to bend | Stephanie Spadaccini |
| BSTUDENT | Fri Aug 2, 2002 | One who doesn't graduate cum laude | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| COOLTO | Wed Jun 15, 2022 | Aloof with | Rob Baker |
| CUDDLEPUDDLE | Sat Mar 26, 2022 | Horizontal group hug session | Ashton Anderson and James Mulhern |
| CURLEW | Sat Apr 26, 2008 | Cousin of the sandpiper | Brad Wilber |
| DINGIER | Wed Nov 14, 2001 | More run-down | Frank A. Longo |
| DOGBISCUIT | Tue Aug 9, 2005 | Treat for a trick | Victor Fleming |
| FADDIST | Sat Apr 9, 2005 | One who might try a 36-Across | Bob Peoples |
| FALLENAPART | Sun Jul 31, 2011 | ... in 119-/120-Across | Pamela Klawitter |
| FORSWEAR | Thu Aug 6, 1998 | Abjure | Fran and Lou Sabin |
| HOWNOVEL | Fri Mar 10, 2006 | "Isn't that unusual!" | Kevin McCann |
| ISOLD | Fri Oct 26, 2012 | "... despise not thy mother when she ___": Proverbs 23:22 | Peter A. Collins |
| ITSNOTHING | Tue Nov 12, 2024 | "Not a big deal" | Avery Gee Katz and Aaron Gee |
| KNEADING | Sun Oct 11, 1998 | Working, in a way | Nancy Salomon, Marjorie Richter and Kelly Clark |
| MOPEDAROUND | Tue Jun 24, 1997 | Ride an engine-powered bike? | Stephanie Spadaccini |
| MOWEDDOWN | Sat Sep 3, 1994 | Annihilated | Raymond Hamel |
| NEVERCHANGE | Thu Dec 28, 2006 | Quote, part 4 | Ed Early |
| NOTGREAT | Fri Mar 7, 2014 | So-so | Matt Ginsberg |
| OAKED | Wed Jul 6, 2016 | Stored in certain wood barrels, as 65-Across | David Woolf |
| OLDWELSH | Fri Feb 14, 2020 | Successor language to Common Brittonic | Daniel Larsen |
| RADARTRAP | Sun Apr 3, 2022 | Woe for a speeder | Byron Walden |
| RAFFLES | Sun Dec 5, 2004 | Some fund-raisers | David J. Kahn |
| RAISINGAGLASS | Thu Jan 19, 2006 | Toasting/Girl with the dried-fruit trick? | Joe DiPietro |
| SAMANTHABEE | Mon Dec 14, 2020 | "Full Frontal" host | Jessie Bullock and Ross Trudeau |
| SANANSELMO | Sat Aug 5, 1995 | City north of the Golden Gate Bridge | Frank A. Longo |
| SHOTINTHEDARK | Tue Jun 14, 1994 | Night photographer's work, with "a"? | Jonathan Schmatzbach |
| SILKINESS | Thu Dec 28, 2006 | Hair quality promised by some shampoos | Ed Early |
| SKYWARD | Sat May 6, 2000 | Up | Rich Norris |
| TEETERONTHEEDGE | Fri Aug 24, 2018 | Flirt with disaster | Roland Huget |
| TENYARDLINE | Fri Jul 21, 2023 | Boundary for "first and goal" plays | Robyn Weintraub |
| THEBARTMAN | Sat Aug 16, 2025 | 1990 novelty dance inspired by a comics superhero | Byron Walden |
| THELOVEBUG | Thu May 18, 2023 | First film appearance of Herbie, a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle | Kiran Pandey |