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 50,655 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARADO | Sun May 17, 1998 | Southwest land | David J. Kahn and Hillary B. Kahn |
| ARCSEC | Sun Jul 19, 2020 | Inverse trig function | Wyna Liu |
| BUSHED | Sun Jun 16, 2024 | Tuckered out | Chandi Deitmer and Wyna Liu |
| CALIPERS | Sun Oct 6, 2024 | Tool with metal jaws | John Kugelman |
| CLOSETOHOME | Sun Jun 5, 2016 | ... "anybody" or "cooking"? | Tom McCoy |
| COLICKY | Wed May 22, 2019 | Like some crying babies | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| COMMERCIAL | Sat Jul 20, 2002 | Show stopper? | Dana Motley |
| COMMUNISTSTATE | Sun Apr 17, 2016 | *Laos or Vietnam | Howard Barkin |
| COPYREAD | Sun Apr 3, 2011 | Check, as text | Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg |
| CRABBIER | Sat Jan 4, 2014 | Less agreeable | Kyle Dolan |
| DISCLAIMER | Wed Jun 7, 2006 | "I am not a doctor, but I play one on TV," e.g. | Patrick Blindauer |
| EXTRACHARGE | Tue Mar 23, 2021 | Unwelcome sight on a bill ... or a clue to 16-, 34- and 41-Across | Dan Schoenholz |
| GABORS | Sun Feb 14, 1999 | Hollywood sisters | Elizabeth Gorski |
| GARBAGEMAN | Wed Dec 19, 2018 | *Bag manager | Seth A. Abel |
| GETSBETTER | Sat Oct 7, 1995 | Recuperates | Frank A. Longo |
| HAAR | Sun Oct 22, 1995 | Tresses, in Dresden | Matt Gaffney |
| HADKITTENS | Sat Nov 1, 2003 | Got really upset | Bob Peoples |
| HALFTWO | Sun Mar 8, 2026 | 30 minutes to 3, in British English | Kelly Richardson |
| HEIMLICH | Thu Jun 17, 2010 | Eponymous doctor with a maneuver | Corey Rubin |
| HOTHAND | Sun Jul 5, 2020 | Sustained period of luck, as with dice | Laura Taylor Kinnel |
| IMAGEMAKERS | Sun Jul 30, 1995 | IIIII | Charles M. Deber |
| IMNOTASCIENTIST | Sat Sep 2, 2023 | Statement from someone you should probably respond to with skepticism | Rebecca Goldstein |
| INTERNETDATING | Fri May 25, 2012 | Modern chemistry experiment? | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| ITSANHONOR | Fri Jul 19, 2024 | Acceptance speech cliché | Jacob McDermott |
| MATISSES | Sat Sep 30, 2000 | Some oils | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| MINORPROBLEM | Wed Jan 8, 2025 | Hiccup | Laura Dershewitz |
| NONEOFYOURBEESWAX | Thu Dec 14, 2017 | "Butt out!" | Timothy Polin |
| NOTBY | Wed May 11, 2005 | ___ a long shot | Kumar Balani and Lou Sabin |
| NYAHNYAH | Fri Jul 30, 2004 | Kid's taunt | Manny Nosowsky |
| PICKEDUPSPEED | Sun Feb 3, 2008 | Accelerated | Matt Ginsberg |
| PIOUSNESS | Fri Oct 26, 2012 | Abbot's attribute | Peter A. Collins |
| ROUGHHOUSE | Tue Jan 27, 2026 | Engage in boisterous activity | Miranda Kany and Tracy Bennett |
| SAVETHEDATECARD | Sat May 18, 2024 | A wedding couple might be seen on one | Adrian Johnson |
| SEEASHOW | Sun Jan 13, 2008 | Enjoy the theater | Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke |
| SLOWINGDOWN | Sun Feb 17, 2008 | *Decelerating | Henry Hook |
| SPINSHOT | Sun Apr 1, 2018 | Massé, e.g. | Sam Ezersky |
| SPIRITOFSTLOUIS | Thu Oct 31, 2002 | Smithsonian attraction | Dave and Diane Epperson |
| STAVESIN | Sat Sep 6, 1997 | Causes to collapse | Rich Norris |
| THINNEST | Sun Oct 4, 2020 | Like 0.5-millimeter lead, among popular mechanical pencil options | Sam Ezersky |
| TIRETREAD | Sat Mar 19, 2022 | It gets bald over time | Ryan McCarty |