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 50,419 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIGLETS | Sun Nov 2, 2008 | Shoelace ends: Var. | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| ANTAGONIZED | Tue Aug 10, 1999 | Made an enemy of | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| AVOIDER | Wed Jun 22, 1994 | Dodger | Arthur S. Verdesca |
| BARCELONASPAIN | Thu Aug 12, 2004 | 1992 site | David J. Kahn |
| CANTFAIL | Sat Apr 8, 2017 | Guaranteed-to-fly | Jeff Chen |
| CAPSIZES | Fri Feb 8, 2008 | Turns over | Mike Nothnagel |
| CHAMPAGNESHOWER | Sat Apr 29, 2023 | Big postgame celebration | David Steinberg |
| CONLON | Sat Jun 5, 2004 | Piano composer ___ Nancarrow | Byron Walden |
| DANIELDEFOE | Fri Apr 9, 1999 | "Moll Flanders" author | Manny Nosowsky |
| DARTHMAUL | Fri Jun 2, 2017 | Main villain in "The Phantom Menace" | John Guzzetta and Michael Hawkins |
| DEALEY | Tue Jun 21, 1994 | Dallas's _____ Plaza | Betty Jorgensen |
| ENDINGUP | Wed Aug 15, 2018 | Turning out | Kathy Wienberg |
| FIREBREATHERS | Mon Nov 10, 2025 | People spouting zealous rhetoric | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| FRAK | Sun May 1, 2022 | Softened expletive on "Battlestar Galactica" | Brandon Koppy |
| FREESTYLES | Mon Nov 11, 2024 | Raps off the cuff | Patrick Gramza and John Kugelman |
| GIP | Sun Aug 2, 1998 | Con: Var. | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| GUITARAMP | Fri Dec 22, 2017 | Piece of equipment at a rock concert | Sam Trabucco |
| HIATT | Sun Jan 19, 2014 | Singer John with the 1988 title track "Slow Turning" | Dan Schoenholz |
| INTHATRESPECT | Sun Jun 21, 2015 | When viewed one way | Timothy Polin |
| ITSANUPHILLBATTLE | Sun Oct 13, 2013 | Underdog's saying | Jeff Chen |
| KNEESLAP | Tue Mar 28, 2023 | [Har-har-har!] | Daniel Kantor and Jay Kaskel |
| LAYERCAKES | Fri Jul 31, 2020 | They're made up of stacked sheets | Claire Rimkus and Erik Agard |
| LOVELYRITA | Tue Jul 23, 1996 | 1967 Beatles song | G. E. Paul |
| MURE | Sun Oct 30, 1994 | Entomb in a wall | R. M. Hopkins |
| NATURED | Sun Apr 3, 1994 | Good-_____ (amiable) | Ernie Furtado |
| NODDY | Wed Jul 31, 2002 | Simpleton | Jerry E. Rosman |
| NOODLEBAR | Fri Jun 24, 2022 | Place to slurp ramen | Sophia Maymudes and Margaret Seikel |
| NORWEGIAN | Tue Sep 18, 2012 | Henrik Ibsen, for one | Andrew Reynolds |
| ONTOGENY | Sat Jul 30, 1994 | Development of an organism | Manny Nosowsky |
| SCREWBALL | Tue Jul 18, 1995 | Weirdo | Jonathan Schmatzbach |
| SEAGOAT | Sat May 20, 2023 | Capricorn's symbol | Erica Hsiung Wojcik |
| SMUGGLING | Mon Nov 3, 1997 | Customs officer's concern | Stephanie Spadaccini |
| STATAL | Thu Oct 15, 2015 | Relating to national governments | Kevin G. Der |
| TAKEPAINS | Sat Dec 1, 2018 | Go out of one's way | Ryan McCarty |
| THERA | Thu Feb 16, 1995 | Volcanic island in the Aegean | Christopher Hurt |
| THONGSONG | Sat Mar 12, 2022 | 2000 Sisqó hit with a rhyming title | Natan Last |
| TOHAVE | Thu Jul 16, 2009 | Start of a Hemingway title | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| UNINHIBITED | Sun Feb 13, 2022 | *Freely expressive | David Steinberg |
| ZENERCARDS | Wed Dec 7, 2011 | Tools for ESP researchers (whose symbols are found at the ends of the answers to the five asterisked clues) | Julian Lim |
| ZIPGUN | Sun Nov 12, 2000 | Homemade pistol | Joe DiPietro |