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 50,246 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABORTER | Fri Jul 29, 1994 | Launch stopper | A. D. Cover |
| ACTOFPARLIAMENT | Fri Oct 22, 2004 | English passage? | Patrick Berry |
| BARRELCHAIR | Sat Apr 16, 2016 | Furniture item with a rounded back | Andrew Zhou |
| BATAROUND | Tue May 3, 2011 | Idly debate | Kevan Choset |
| BLOWTORCHES | Tue May 31, 1994 | Items used in "light" boxing? | Roger H. Courtney |
| BRANDNAMES | Tue Jan 6, 2015 | Wilson and Hoover, but not Eisenhower | Joel Fagliano |
| CABINETPOSITION | Sun Dec 10, 2023 | The carpenter measured twice for the ideal … | Zachary David Levy and Jeff Chen |
| CAPISTRANO | Thu Nov 20, 2014 | See 4-Down | Timothy Polin |
| CONTACTTRACE | Mon Jan 6, 2025 | Track exposures to a disease, as an epidemiologist might | Rena Cohen |
| CONTINENTALDRIFT | Sun Nov 13, 2005 | Earthquake cause | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| COPOUTS | Tue Apr 2, 2019 | Bad rationalizations | Natasha Lyonne and Deb Amlen |
| CROSSHAIRS | Wed May 2, 2012 | *Scope lines | Paula Gamache |
| DARJEELING | Thu Nov 17, 1994 | City with a view of Mt. Everest | Rich Norris |
| DIEDON | Sun Jan 27, 2019 | Failed, as a cellphone or car to its user | Randolph Ross |
| DISROBED | Thu Apr 30, 2015 | Stripped | Herre Schouwerwou |
| EDISONEFFECT | Sun May 16, 2021 | Phenomenon by which electrons radiate from a heated filament, so named for a famous observer | Joe DiPietro |
| GANACHE | Fri Nov 24, 2017 | Chocolate truffle filling | Bruce Haight and David Steinberg |
| GOBBLEUP | Wed Aug 27, 2025 | Devour | Zhou Zhang |
| HEADIER | Sat Oct 21, 1995 | More exciting | Daniel R. Stark |
| HORSETRADERS | Thu May 17, 2007 | Shrewd bargainers | Alan Arbesfeld |
| INDIANAJONESADVENTURE | Sun Jul 17, 2005 | Any story in a certain movie serial ... or a 75-Down attraction | David J. Kahn |
| MALBECS | Sun Aug 4, 2019 | Full-bodied Argentine wines | Will Nediger |
| MASTERCARD | Sun Jun 22, 2008 | TRAILHEAD ___ COUNTERTOP | Pamela Amick Klawitter |
| NATUREL | Sun Feb 22, 2004 | Au ___ | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| ONELOT | Sun Nov 1, 2009 | Trading unit | Matt Ginsberg and Pete Muller |
| ORAS | Thu May 29, 2014 | "___ my dad would say ..." | Anna Shechtman |
| PACKSIN | Sun Sep 24, 1995 | Stuffs | Randolph Ross |
| RETRACTIONS | Sat May 12, 2018 | Embarrassments for news agencies | Alex Eylar |
| RUNOF | Tue May 12, 2020 | ___ the mill (ordinary) | Tom Pepper and Zhouqin Burnikel |
| SERGIOMENDES | Tue Apr 1, 2003 | "The Fool on the Hill" bandleader | Rich Norris |
| SITUATIONSHIP | Fri Nov 22, 2019 | Romantic gray area | Emily Carroll |
| SPADEWORK | Sun Nov 2, 1997 | Preliminary drudgery | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| SPELUNKS | Sat Sep 24, 2022 | Caves | Martin Ashwood-Smith |
| SPINALLY | Thu Oct 2, 2003 | How some analgesics are administered | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| TAXLAWYER | Fri Oct 3, 2025 | One skilled at withholding details | Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa |
| TCCHEN | Sat Jan 10, 2015 | Scorer of the first double eagle in U.S. Open history, 1985 | Joe Krozel |
| UNFREEZE | Sun Jun 14, 1998 | Remove all restrictions on | Manny Nosowsky |
| VALUEMENU | Fri Apr 29, 2016 | A 99¢ burger may be on it | Andrew Kingsley |
| WHIPSAW | Sat Mar 31, 2001 | Subject to simultaneous opposing forces | Rich Norris |
| WITTINGLY | Thu Apr 21, 2022 | With full knowledge | Max Chen Lauring |