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 50,653 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ATFIRSTBLUSH | Wed May 21, 2008 | Initially | Dave Mackey |
| BIGWHOOP | Fri Sep 9, 2016 | "Well, la-di-frickin'-da!" | Kristian House |
| BRACEYOURSELF | Sun Dec 7, 2014 | *"I have some bad news ..." | Jeff Chen |
| BRRRR | Sun Jun 4, 1995 | "I'm c-c-c-cold!" | Bryant White |
| CAMETRUE | Fri Dec 6, 1996 | Succeeded, as a wish | M. Nosowsky |
| CHILDREN | Tue May 8, 2007 | Offspring | Sarah Keller |
| COCCUS | Sun Nov 24, 2019 | Spherical bacterium | Frank Longo |
| ENDORSEHERE | Sat Aug 7, 1999 | Check phrase | Trip Payne |
| ENGIRDS | Tue Nov 21, 1995 | Surrounds | Thomas W. Schier |
| FELONIES | Fri Jul 14, 1995 | Rap sheet list | Rich Norris |
| FLACON | Sun Aug 6, 2006 | Perfume bottle | Mark Feldman |
| GODOFWAR | Sun Sep 27, 2020 | Tyr, in Norse mythology | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| IMSOEXCITED | Sat Apr 3, 2021 | "Squee!" | Peter A. Collins |
| INKHORN | Sun Dec 19, 1999 | Old holder of writing fluid | Frances Hansen |
| JOHNNYDEPP | Tue Mar 3, 2015 | He played one of the lead roles in the film version of 50-/55-Across | Kristian House |
| KNOTTERS | Sat Apr 14, 2012 | Macramé creators | Mark Diehl |
| LEONTIEF | Wed Sep 19, 2012 | Wassily ___, Russian-American Nobelist in Economics | Michael Shteyman |
| LETTERW | Thu Jul 23, 2020 | Part 2 of the instruction | Robyn Weintraub |
| MOPSOFHAIR | Wed Mar 28, 2001 | The Beatles had them | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| NUNAVUT | Tue Sep 30, 2025 | Largest and most northern Canadian territory | Justin Werfel |
| OLDFOE | Tue Aug 15, 2023 | Enemy from one's past | Malaika Handa |
| ONCASSETTE | Fri Mar 3, 2023 | How many 1970s-'80s movies were released | Eric Warren |
| ORONYMS | Tue Feb 6, 2018 | Words and phrases that sound approximately alike, like "ice scream" and "I scream" | Bruce Haight |
| PAKISTANIS | Mon Jan 30, 1995 | Islamabad denizens | Ernie Furtado |
| RABBITSFOOT | Mon May 23, 2011 | Common key chain adornment | Steve Salitan |
| RICESEEDS | Tue Jan 19, 2016 | They get the paddy started | Byron Walden |
| RIDEALONE | Fri Mar 3, 2006 | Not car-share | Tyler Hinman |
| RUTGERS | Tue Apr 15, 2008 | Home of the Scarlet Knights | Ken Bessette |
| SECRETDOOR | Thu Mar 9, 2023 | Private entrance, perhaps | Simeon Seigel |
| SEEDEDTEAMS | Tue Jan 28, 2025 | The 68 participants in the N.C.A.A. March Madness tournament, e.g. | Dan Margolis |
| SETSDOWN | Sat May 28, 2005 | Records | Bob Peoples |
| SFCS | Mon Jan 25, 2010 | Certain NCOs | Holden Baker |
| SHUNTER | Sun Jun 5, 1994 | Railroad mechanism | Dean Niles |
| SQUAREDAWAY | Thu Mar 27, 2014 | Settled up | Jean O'Conor |
| SWASHBUCKLER | Wed Apr 21, 1999 | Errol Flynn kind of role | Mary E. Brindamour |
| THEMACARENA | Mon Mar 7, 2016 | *Dance associated with a #1 Los del Rio hit | Damon Gulczynski |
| THESANDPIPER | Tue Mar 29, 2011 | 1965 film starring 55-/17-Across | Peter A. Collins |
| THEWILDWILDWEST | Sun Feb 10, 2013 | Somewhat redundant 1960s spy series? | Patrick Berry |
| WASHABLE | Sat May 31, 2025 | Not likely to leave a mark, say | Adam Aaronson and Ricky Cruz |
| WORDCHOICE | Thu Oct 10, 2024 | Author's concern that, when parsed as four parts, provides a hint to this puzzle's theme | Grant Boroughs |