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 50,685 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARTKARNAK | Wed May 14, 1997 | Egyptian second banana? | Norman S. Wizer |
| AYNS | Sun Aug 6, 1995 | Author Rand et al. | Manny Nosowsky |
| BEERBOTTLE | Sat Feb 25, 2012 | One in a stag's litter | Barry C. Silk |
| BRAMBLE | Sun May 2, 2010 | Thorny bush | Kelsey Blakley |
| BRIDESMAID | Mon Nov 23, 2020 | Wedding attendant | Stanley Newman |
| BUTTES | Sun Jul 8, 2001 | Isolated locales | Michael S. Maurer |
| BUZZARD | Fri Feb 7, 2003 | Codger | Michael Shteyman |
| CARFERRY | Sat Jan 26, 2002 | Bridge competitor | Mark Diehl |
| COCKADE | Sun Oct 15, 1995 | Decorative knot of ribbons | Mel Rosen |
| CONCERTSERIES | Sun Sep 17, 2017 | Central Park's SummerStage, e.g. | Mark MacLachlan |
| CRIBNOTES | Tue May 21, 2024 | Cheat sheets | Zachary David Levy |
| DARBY | Fri Jul 24, 2015 | 1980s-'90s singer Terence Trent ___ | Patrick Berry |
| DEFATS | Fri Jan 2, 2026 | Skims, as soup stock | Adam Wagner and Rafael Musa |
| DIFFERENCE | Sun Aug 30, 2020 | With 113-Across, end of the definition | Olivia Mitra Framke |
| ENDAROUND | Fri Apr 20, 2001 | Evasive maneuver in football | Chuck Deodene |
| FLIPSOUT | Tue Sep 12, 2023 | Goes crazy | Ella Dershowitz |
| GROWLAT | Mon May 28, 2018 | Show hostility to, as a dog might a mail carrier | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| HILLBILLIES | Fri Sep 5, 2014 | Some backwoods folks | Joe Krozel |
| HOSCALE | Thu Aug 10, 2006 | Common model railroading spec | Todd McClary |
| LEGISLATURE | Sat Apr 12, 2014 | Diet, e.g. | Mel Rosen |
| LEMAYS | Sun Mar 9, 1997 | Onetime SAC chief and family | June Boggs |
| MACAROONS | Sun Oct 27, 2024 | Cookies made with ground almond or coconut | Jeffrey Martinovic and Jeff Chen |
| MILLIHELEN | Sun Nov 9, 2014 | Facetious unit defined as the amount of beauty needed to launch one ship | Tom McCoy |
| OHMYDARLING | Fri Dec 21, 2018 | Repeated phrase in the chorus of a classic folk ballad | Peter A. Collins |
| PHRYGIA | Wed Feb 17, 2016 | Realm of King Midas | Kyle Mahowald |
| POISES | Sat Oct 25, 2025 | Balances | Byron Walden |
| PROTOTYPES | Sat Oct 12, 2013 | Some mock-ups | John Farmer |
| ROSSET | Sat Dec 15, 2001 | Tennis ace Marc | Frank A. Longo |
| SERGEANTFRIDAY | Sun Jun 9, 2019 | TV detective who never said 121-Across | Seth A. Abel |
| SEVERELY | Fri May 6, 2011 | Hard | Natan Last |
| SHAKENNOTSTIRRED | Thu Apr 4, 2024 | Famous specification for a 57-Across | Kevin Curry |
| SHOCKING | Sat Jan 4, 2025 | "Totally didn't see that one coming," sarcastically | Sam Ezersky |
| SKUNKCABBAGE | Mon Oct 29, 2018 | Foul-smelling swamp plant whose name includes a black-and-white animal | Peter Gordon |
| SOLVINGTIME | Sun Mar 1, 2015 | Important factor in a crossword tournament | Finn Vigeland |
| SQUAREDAWAY | Thu Mar 27, 2014 | Settled up | Jean O'Conor |
| STAFFCUTS | Mon Sep 22, 2014 | Company downsizings | Ian Livengood |
| TOUGHENEDUP | Sat Sep 5, 2020 | Grew a spine | John Guzzetta |
| TRICERATOPS | Mon Apr 4, 2022 | Dinosaur whose name means "three-horned face" | Derek J. Angell |
| TROUGHS | Thu Feb 21, 2013 | Seafloor features | Paul Hunsberger |
| VIETMINH | Wed Oct 7, 1998 | Onetime Asian Communists | Randall J. Hartman |