XWord Info Freshness Factor™

Thursday, April 8, 2021 by Jake Halperin — 8 Unique Shortz Era words

Calculations here are based on the number of other times each word in this puzzle has been used in the Shortz Era. The Freshness Factor is determined by subtracting the average count from 100.

Since Freshness Factor erodes over time as more puzzles get added to the database, percentiles are a much more meaningful measurement. The overall percentile compares this puzzle to all other Shortz Era crosswords. The day-of-week percentile only compares against other puzzles published on the same weekday. This allows puzzles that are, for example, "fresh for a Monday" to get proper credit.

For example, a percentile of 75 would mean that for this puzzle, only 25% of all puzzles (or puzzles for this day of week) have a higher Freshness Factor. Note that this completely mathematical calculation does not and cannot include such subjective factors as the cleverness of the clues. Obscure words are "fresh" but may not be any good.

For comparison, the second chart below shows word frequencies across all NYT puzzles. It is not used for Freshness Factor calculations since older usages are less relevant.

Click on any answer word below to see all the definitions for that word.

Usage based on Shortz Era frequencies only

The Freshness Factor calculations are based on this chart showing only Shortz Era usage stats.

Usage frequencies across all NYT puzzles

For comparison, here's the full view across all NYT puzzles: pre-Shortz, Modern and Variety.