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 50,421 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BALEENS | Fri Sep 20, 1996 | Whalebones | J. Page |
| BLOWDRYBAR | Sat Aug 16, 2025 | Beauty lounge, of a sort | Byron Walden |
| BYRONIST | Thu Dec 16, 2010 | Certain English poetry scholar | Charles Deber |
| CAMEDOWNINSHEETS | Sun Sep 11, 2016 | Rained cats and dogs | Ned White and George Barany |
| CHEAPHOTELS | Sat Apr 22, 2000 | Travel guide listings | Rich Norris |
| COMMONNAME | Thu Mar 13, 2008 | "Black rat" as opposed to "Rattus rattus" | Alan Arbesfeld |
| DEFROSTER | Sun Feb 11, 2001 | Refrigerator device | Bob Peoples and Nancy Salomon |
| EXCHANGESNUMBERS | Sun Mar 24, 2024 | Stock prices? | John Kugelman |
| FORTRESSES | Thu Aug 26, 2004 | Strongholds | Stella Daily and Bruce Venzke |
| GETSATIP | Fri Apr 5, 2019 | Is rewarded for service | Ryan McCarty |
| HANSCHRISTIANANDERSEN | Sun Aug 19, 2001 | "He used to make up unbelievable tales" | David J. Kahn |
| HOTMIKES | Tue Oct 2, 2012 | Feedback producers | Ethan Cooper |
| IFIVETOLDYOUONCE | Sun Dec 8, 2002 | Start of an exaggeration | Peter Gordon |
| ISLEOFSKYE | Fri Jul 2, 2021 | Northernmost land in the Inner Hebrides | Brooke Husic and Ada Nicolle |
| KITCARSON | Sat Mar 14, 2009 | Eponym of a national forest in New Mexico | Barry C. Silk |
| LOCULUS | Sun Mar 23, 1997 | Catacomb recess | Bryant White |
| MAIDENFORM | Sat Feb 14, 2015 | Brand that supports women? | David Steinberg |
| MANURES | Thu Jul 5, 2001 | Fertilizes | Peter Gordon |
| MANUTE | Sun Apr 25, 1999 | Basketball's ___ Bol | Joe DiPietro |
| MORTISED | Sun Mar 25, 2001 | Joined securely | Trip Payne |
| PICKIER | Wed Feb 9, 2022 | More difficult to please | Grant Thackray |
| PLUMMER | Sun Apr 26, 2009 | Actress Amanda | Trip Payne |
| POUNDEDTHEPAVEMENT | Sun Nov 12, 1995 | Ran hard in the marathon | Randolph Ross |
| PREENLIST | Sun Jun 19, 1994 | Sign up early | Nancy Scandrett Ross |
| QUICKFREEZE | Sat Dec 17, 2011 | Way to preserve food freshness | Tom Heilman |
| SEMESTERS | Sat Sep 2, 2000 | Terms | Rich Norris |
| SHOEPOLISH | Thu Nov 2, 2006 | It makes a cobbler's work truly shine | John Farmer |
| SMELTING | Fri Sep 14, 2012 | Coke user's activity | Peter A. Collins |
| SPACEWOMEN | Fri Dec 15, 1995 | Ride and others | Harvey Estes |
| SPIRED | Sun Oct 9, 2011 | Like most churches | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| SPYINGON | Sun Nov 20, 2011 | Watching without being watched | Trip Payne |
| STRENUOUSEFFORT | Sun May 31, 2009 | *Real work | Kelsey Blakley |
| THEHUB | Mon Jul 22, 2013 | Nickname for 43-Across | Ian Livengood |
| THEVIPS | Sat Feb 21, 2009 | 1963 Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton drama | Mike Nothnagel and Byron Walden |
| THRACIAN | Thu Oct 15, 2015 | Orpheus or Spartacus, by birth | Kevin G. Der |
| TOPRANKS | Thu Feb 23, 2023 | "It is such fun to fool the folks / And make them butts of harmless jokes ..." | Joe Deeney |
| WEIGHTHEEVIDENCE | Thu May 9, 2024 | Do a judge's job, in old Rome? | Joe DiPietro |
| WHITEHOPE | Tue Apr 5, 2016 | Savior, in popular parlance | Dan Schoenholz |
| ZINCKED | Sun Apr 24, 2005 | Coated to prevent rust | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| ZOOGEOGRAPHICAL | Sun Jan 29, 1995 | Re the science of animal distribution | Bryant White |