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 50,399 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALLMETAL | Sat Jan 2, 2010 | Without any wood or plastic, say | Robert H. Wolfe |
| ALLSEEING | Sat Oct 14, 2006 | Like Argus | Byron Walden |
| BOOKFAIRS | Fri Jun 16, 2023 | Events for bibliophiles | Natan Last and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class |
| BSTUDENT | Fri Aug 2, 2002 | One who doesn't graduate cum laude | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| CAVORTS | Fri Oct 10, 1997 | Makes merry | Shannon Burns |
| CRETACEOUS | Thu May 5, 2016 | Period when dinosaurs became extinct | David Poole |
| DEJECTION | Wed Jul 21, 2021 | Blue state? | Alex Vratsanos |
| DISCOVERING | Tue Mar 4, 2014 | With 23-Down, what 27-Across/32-Down is often credited with | Bruce Haight and Peter A. Collins |
| DITMARS | Sun Dec 7, 2008 | Queens neighborhood near La Guardia | Jim Page |
| DODGEBALL | Mon Jun 5, 2017 | Common game in a school gym | Paul Coulter |
| ELECTRICEYES | Thu May 19, 2011 | Photocells | Paula Gamache |
| EXSTEELERS | Sat Apr 25, 1998 | Terry Bradshaw and others | Jim Page |
| FELTINONESBONES | Wed Sep 1, 2004 | Knew | Jim Conklin |
| GETSAGRADE | Thu Sep 11, 2003 | Is rated | Patrick Merrell |
| GOODLY | Sat Dec 22, 2012 | Substantial | Tim Croce |
| GRINDINGTOAHALT | Mon Sep 10, 2001 | Out of gas | Nancy Salomon and Karen Riekert |
| HOPETHATHELPS | Mon Nov 11, 2013 | Friendly comment after providing information | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| HOWIWISH | Sun Mar 8, 2015 | With 94- and 72-Across, a mnemonic for the first eight digits of [symbol in the middle of the grid] | Tom McCoy |
| HUHUH | Thu Jan 26, 1995 | "No, sirree!" | A.J. Santora |
| IDEALMATE | Sun Aug 31, 2025 | Perfect match | Danny J. Rooney |
| INURETO | Thu Dec 1, 2022 | Desensitize against through experience | Daniel Mauer |
| KINDERGARTEN | Sun Feb 3, 2013 | Low grade? | Dan Schoenholz |
| KUNDERA | Sat Jan 30, 2021 | Milan ___, author of 1984's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" | Nam Jin Yoon |
| LIFELONG | Sun Jul 30, 2000 | Unending | Randolph Ross |
| LINAC | Sat Nov 21, 2020 | Machine in a particle physics lab, in brief | Sam Ezersky |
| LORDHOWE | Thu Jul 12, 2001 | Resort island northeast of Sydney | William I. Johnston |
| MINDBOGGLING | Fri Mar 14, 2025 | Beyond comprehension | Brandon Koppy |
| MYSTERIES | Tue Sep 4, 2001 | Detective stories | Randall J. Hartman |
| ORYXES | Sat Mar 13, 1999 | African antelopes | David J. Kahn |
| PAINTINGS | Mon Mar 28, 2016 | "Sunflowers" and "Water Lilies" | Gary Cee |
| PAYNIM | Thu Oct 12, 1995 | Heathen, once | Christopher Hurt |
| PHOTOCOPY | Tue Sep 11, 2007 | Xerox machine output | Christina Houlihan Kelly |
| PINKERTON | Fri Apr 20, 2001 | Sleuth from Glasgow | Chuck Deodene |
| RAWUMBER | Sun Sep 24, 2006 | Bygone Crayola color | Mark Diehl and Kevin McCann |
| REBALE | Thu Oct 4, 2007 | Pack again, as hay | Sheldon Benardo |
| SCENTING | Sat Apr 29, 2000 | Bloodhound's skill | Patrick D. Berry |
| SEESAWING | Fri Mar 26, 2004 | Unable to decide | Nancy Kavanaugh |
| SHELLEYWINTERS | Thu Apr 13, 2000 | Oscar winner of '59 and '65 | Matt Gaffney |
| UNOFFICIAL | Fri Jun 16, 1995 | Not recognized | Thomas W. Schier |
| WESTILLLOVEYOU | Mon Jun 23, 2008 | Words to a second runner-up | Andrea Carla Michaels and Patrick Blindauer |