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 50,385 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIRPORTTRAFFIC | Sun Mar 2, 2014 | Reason for missing a flight? [1970*, 2000*] | Alan Arbesfeld |
| BAALIST | Sat Jul 15, 1995 | Idolater | Rand H. Burns |
| BUTTEDOUT | Fri Apr 18, 2008 | Quit meddling | Joe DiPietro |
| CLEOS | Sun Apr 2, 1995 | Singer Laine et al. | Norman S. Wizer |
| COSSACKS | Fri Feb 24, 2012 | Once-autonomous people of southern Russia | Patrick Berry |
| DAVIDESSEX | Tue Jun 29, 1999 | "That'll Be the Day" star, 1974 | Arthur S. Verdesca |
| DEADHEADS | Sat Jun 8, 1996 | Mourners of August 9, 1995 | M. Shenk |
| EXPRESSLANE | Fri Jun 19, 2009 | Something to pass in | David Levinson Wilk |
| FACEDOWN | Wed Aug 27, 2025 | One orientation of a playing card during a magic trick | Zhou Zhang |
| FURYROAD | Thu May 10, 2018 | 2015 "Mad Max" reboot, familiarly | Caitlin Reid |
| GAGGING | Sun Mar 7, 1999 | All choked up | Randolph Ross |
| GONEAHEAD | Fri Nov 5, 2004 | Out to scout | Manny Nosowsky |
| GYMSOCK | Thu Sep 20, 2018 | Contributor to a locker room odor | Sam Ezersky |
| HALFWIT | Thu Dec 1, 1994 | Dunderhead | Harvey Estes |
| HITTHEWEIGHTS | Wed Jan 13, 2021 | Make an effort to get swole | Matthew Stock |
| HOLDSWAY | Thu Aug 23, 2001 | Rule | Peter Gordon |
| JAGGED | Sat Nov 4, 2000 | Rough | Rich Norris |
| LEGUINS | Thu Oct 20, 1994 | Author Ursula et al. | Bryant White |
| LITERARYCIRCLES | Mon Dec 11, 2000 | What 20-, 39- and 56-Across might travel in | Myles Callum |
| LOSESAGAIN | Sat Jul 23, 2005 | Continues on a bad streak | Joe DiPietro |
| MARYJ | Fri Jun 8, 2007 | Grammy winner Blige | Randolph Ross |
| MAYONNAISE | Mon Sep 2, 2013 | Condiment that can remove crayon marks | Jim Peredo |
| NEEDFUL | Tue Aug 22, 2006 | Required | Michael J. Doran |
| NFLLOGO | Wed Dec 13, 2017 | Image on the middle of a Super Bowl field | Benjamin Kramer |
| ONTHEBEACH | Mon Apr 3, 2006 | 1957 novel, and a hint to the ends of 17-, 27- and 45-Across and 11- and 34-Down | Lynn Lempel |
| OPTIMISTIC | Sat May 13, 1995 | Upbeat | Nancy Joline |
| PARIPASSU | Sat Mar 12, 2022 | On equal footing, in Latin | Natan Last |
| PROFESSIONALWRESTLING | Sun Jul 20, 2008 | It's quite different from the high-school variety | Barry C. Silk |
| PROVINGGROUND | Tue Dec 4, 2012 | Weapons-testing area | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| PULLUPTOTHECURB | Tue Jun 13, 2000 | Park | Peter Gordon |
| RUBIKS | Sun Sep 27, 2009 | ___ Cube | Patrick Berry |
| SNIFFAT | Mon Jun 13, 2016 | Regard dismissively | Lynn Lempel |
| SPICAS | Sat Dec 16, 1995 | Figure-eight-shaped bandages | Bryant White |
| SPUNHAY | Fri Mar 11, 2005 | Dried grass twisted into ropes | Manny Nosowsky |
| SWINGFORIT | Fri May 3, 2013 | Be hanged after a crime | David Kwong |
| TAYEDIGGS | Thu Feb 8, 2018 | Steady gig | Erik Agard |
| VACUO | Thu Dec 19, 2002 | In ___ (isolated) | Patrick Berry |
| WATERER | Sun Dec 30, 2007 | Sprinkler | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| WHIRLY | Wed Aug 30, 1995 | Violent wind carrying snow | John R. Conrad |
| WREAKED | Sun Feb 23, 2014 | Effected, in a bad way | A Namesake of 119-Across |