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 50,985 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANISESEED | Tue Sep 16, 2025 | Licorice-flavored spice | Jonathan Daly |
| APPARATS | Thu Feb 11, 2021 | Communist party systems | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| AVANTPOP | Wed Mar 1, 2023 | Experimental-but-accessible music genre | Aaron M. Rosenberg |
| BACKTOWORK | Thu Aug 30, 2001 | After 34-Down, an order to a chiropractor? | Cathy Millhauser |
| BENGHAZI | Fri Jun 26, 2009 | Libya's second-largest city | Lynn Lempel |
| BREEZIEST | Sat Jun 23, 2012 | Most carefree | Laura Sternberg |
| CARBONDATE | Thu Dec 4, 2025 | Auto + Consumed | Stephan Prock and Jeff Chen |
| CARIBBEANSEA | Fri Aug 15, 2014 | One end of the [circled letters], which opened on 8/15/1914 | Jeff Chen |
| CLAIMCHECK | Tue Mar 30, 2004 | Luggage receipt | Sarah Keller |
| CLEANCOAL | Mon Jan 10, 2022 | Greener energy source | Lynn Lempel |
| COMEINTOTHEOPEN | Sat Jan 21, 2012 | Emerge | Martin Ashwood-Smith |
| COMPLETECOLUMNS | Mon Jan 26, 2004 | Connectors? | Patrick Merrell |
| CROSSHAIR | Thu Sep 5, 2002 | Target-centering aid | Michael Shteyman |
| DIGHT | Sun Aug 2, 2015 | Adorn, in old literature | Matt Ginsberg |
| ENISLED | Sun Aug 27, 1995 | Quarantined | Martin Schneider |
| EUPHRATES | Tue Nov 10, 2015 | River to the Tigris | Will Treece |
| EXCITED | Sat Jun 30, 2018 | Pumped | Andy Kravis |
| GTD | Sat Apr 21, 2001 | Ensured: Abbr. | David J. Kahn |
| HERSTORIES | Sat Feb 6, 2021 | Chronicles from a feminist perspective | Kameron Austin Collins |
| IMPROVED | Sat Jul 12, 1997 | New partner | Richard Silvestri |
| IRISED | Sun Dec 15, 2024 | Opened or closed like an eye, in film lingo | David Kwong |
| IYAMWHATIYAM | Sun Jul 13, 2014 | Declaration from Popeye | Tom McCoy |
| JARJAR | Sat Oct 19, 2013 | Sci-fi's ___ Binks | Peter Wentz |
| JAYWALK | Fri Oct 1, 2004 | Make an illegal crossing | Bob Peoples |
| KINGOFBEASTS | Mon Nov 15, 2004 | Lion, by tradition | Alison Donald |
| LARKSPUR | Wed Sep 21, 2016 | Buttercup family member with irregularly shaped blossoms | Matthew Sewell |
| LOWPRICED | Sun Feb 24, 2002 | Economical | Manny Nosowsky |
| MERCIFULLY | Tue May 19, 2020 | "Many thanks for your help in Paris," said Tom ___ | Trent H. Evans |
| MISERIES | Sun Jan 16, 1994 | Scheherazade's string of tales? | Ernst Theimer |
| MONSTERSALE | Sun Oct 25, 1998 | Halloween event? | Nancy Nicholson Joline |
| MRLONELY | Sat Aug 16, 2025 | Melancholy 1964 #1 hit for Bobby Vinton | Byron Walden |
| MTRUSHMORE | Mon Feb 21, 2005 | S. Dakota monument | Sherry O. Blackard |
| REPORTTO | Sun Dec 10, 2006 | Be under, as an officer | David J. Kahn |
| SANITIZE | Fri Dec 8, 1995 | Make hospital-clean | Frances Hansen |
| STREAMOFAIR | Fri Sep 30, 2005 | Pinwheel turner | Nancy Kavanaugh |
| TIMBERLANDS | Sat Jul 6, 2019 | Footwear with a tree logo | Erik Agard |
| TWOSIDES | Thu Feb 22, 2007 | Stories often have them | Mike Nothnagel |
| VIBISTS | Thu Oct 19, 2023 | Musicians that play with mallets | Colin Ernst |
| WISEASSES | Sun Mar 24, 2024 | People who might answer "What's up?" with "The sky" | John Kugelman |
| YOUREDARNTOOTIN | Sat Oct 22, 2016 | "And how!" | James Mulhern |