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 50,738 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AHWAZ | Mon May 2, 1994 | Oil city of Iran | James L. Beatty |
| AISLELIGHTS | Mon May 12, 2003 | Theater guides | Sarah Keller |
| ALPHABETSOUP | Fri Mar 12, 2010 | Its letters may be bolted down | Tim Croce |
| BANJUL | Sun Jan 3, 2016 | Capital of Gambia | David Woolf |
| BAVIER | Sun Apr 9, 2017 | Frances who played TV's Aunt Bee | Byron Walden |
| BENICIODELTORO | Sun Apr 25, 2021 | Oscar winner for his role as a Mexican narc in "Traffic" | Jeremy Newton |
| BLACKOP | Sun Nov 2, 2025 | Covert mission, familiarly | Rafael Musa |
| BOKEH | Sat Jan 6, 2024 | Out-of-focus effect in photography, from the Japanese for "blur" | Ben Tolkin and Julian Xiao |
| BRUSHEDASIDE | Sun Apr 16, 2023 | Painted 25% of the house? | Mike Hobin |
| COSTLIER | Sat May 4, 2002 | More dear | Rich Norris |
| DELTAFORCE | Tue May 6, 2008 | Special Operations group | Gary J. Whitehead |
| DOON | Sun Jul 15, 2018 | ___ the sly (be secretive about) | Sam Ezersky and Byron Walden |
| DOSVIDANIYA | Mon Dec 16, 2013 | "Farewell, Vladimir!" | Greg Johnson |
| GIVEMEABREAK | Mon Mar 14, 2005 | "What?!" | Robert Malinow |
| GOSSIPY | Sat Jul 13, 2024 | Serving dishes? | Eli Cotham |
| GUMWEED | Fri Feb 26, 2016 | Yellow-flowered plant producing a sticky resin | Paula Gamache |
| ICHBINEINBERLINER | Sun Aug 12, 2001 | Famous presidential declaration | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| IMAGINARYNUMBER | Tue Jun 25, 2013 | Square root of -1, e.g. | Joel Fagliano |
| JETBLUE | Wed Jan 7, 2015 | JFK-based carrier | Greg Johnson |
| LATEHIT | Fri Sep 14, 2018 | Grounds for a 15-yard penalty | John Guzzetta |
| LATINAMERICAN | Sun Jan 13, 2019 | Like much of the Western Hemisphere | Andy Kravis |
| MANICURE | Sat Jul 16, 2016 | Job for which you give someone a hand | Byron Walden |
| MINCEPIES | Sun Jul 14, 2002 | British delicacies | Patrick Berry |
| MONEYBALL | Sun Nov 3, 2019 | Michael Lewis best seller with the subtitle "The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" | Kristian House |
| MULLETS | Sat Oct 10, 2015 | Retro hairstyles | Roland Huget |
| NOVE | Sun Jun 2, 2024 | Nine, in Italian | Luke K. Schreiber |
| PICTUREFRAME | Tue Mar 12, 2002 | Oil container #3 | Sarah Keller |
| PLATTSBURGH | Sat Jul 30, 2011 | Site of the War of 1812 Museum | Patrick Berry |
| PLAYEDOVER | Sat Sep 17, 2005 | Reran | Rich Norris |
| RECUTS | Sat Aug 6, 2022 | Does some further editing on | Byron Walden |
| RUMANIA | Tue Apr 14, 1998 | Transylvania's locale: Var. | Diane C. Baldwin |
| SACHEMS | Sat Nov 15, 1997 | Indian chiefs | Fred Piscop |
| SGLS | Sun Apr 9, 1995 | Ones: Abbr. | Cathy Millhauser |
| SHOULDERCUT | Tue Jan 8, 2013 | Source of ground chuck | Allan E. Parrish |
| SUBPART | Fri Apr 15, 2011 | Fraction of a fraction | Patrick Berry |
| THESANDPIPER | Tue Mar 29, 2011 | 1965 film starring 55-/17-Across | Peter A. Collins |
| TONEY | Sun Aug 31, 2003 | Cruiserweight boxing champion James ___ | Fred Piscop |
| TOOKIT | Sun Oct 7, 2007 | Accepted criticism without complaint | Nancy Salomon and Harvey Estes |
| WASASREDASABEET | Thu Dec 15, 2005 | Exhibited severe embarrassment | Patrick Merrell |
| WETLOOK | Sun Apr 20, 2014 | Slick hairstyle | Elizabeth C. Gorski |