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 50,527 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIRBRUSHER | Fri Nov 4, 1994 | Photo retoucher | Matt Jones |
| BOROUGHS | Thu Feb 21, 2013 | New York City composition | Paul Hunsberger |
| CHIKA | Fri Jul 2, 2021 | One-named rapper with the 2019 video "Can't Explain It" | Brooke Husic and Ada Nicolle |
| CLOSETOYOU | Tue Jun 10, 2014 | Where the Carpenters "long to be" in a 1970 #1 hit | Pamela Klawitter |
| CRASHINGBORE | Tue May 11, 1999 | Certainly not the life of the party | Ed Early |
| DASTARDS | Sun Jul 14, 2002 | Contemptible sneaks | Patrick Berry |
| DECRIAL | Sun Jun 25, 2006 | Noisy censure | Jim Page |
| FLOUNDEREDAROUND | Tue Jan 19, 2016 | Struggled to make progress | Byron Walden |
| FREELUNCH | Wed Mar 26, 2003 | Mythical thing in the business world | Randall J. Hartman |
| GRAYED | Sat May 13, 2000 | Became overcast | William S. Cotter |
| HEMATOLOGY | Tue May 29, 2012 | Study of blood | Daniel A. Finan |
| HIPREPLACEMENT | Wed Jun 26, 2002 | Fashionable substitute? | Nancy Salomon |
| ICEBUCKETCHALLENGE | Thu Apr 2, 2020 | Social media fad that went viral in 2014 | Evan Mahnken |
| LAZIEST | Thu Sep 8, 2022 | Least likely to get up from the couch, say | Matthew Stock |
| MANGOLEMONADE | Thu Oct 31, 2024 | Summer drink made from the fruits of two tropical trees | Sarah Sinclair and Paolo Pasco |
| MEDICINEBALLS | Fri Jul 30, 1999 | Exercise equipment | John Wolting |
| MUNICIPAL | Tue Jul 4, 1995 | Kind of bond | Fran & Lou Sabin |
| ONESTEPPED | Fri Oct 7, 2005 | Danced the milonga | Manny Nosowsky |
| OVERHEADS | Sun Feb 27, 2000 | Smashes from Sampras | Harvey Estes |
| PERV | Mon Sep 19, 2016 | Deviant, in slang | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| PILLPEDDLER | Mon Oct 30, 2000 | Physician, disparagingly | Gregory E. Paul |
| PORKPIEHAT | Sat Apr 16, 2011 | Buster Keaton trademark | Robert H. Wolfe |
| PRETAMANGER | Mon May 6, 2019 | Sandwich chain whose name is French for "ready to eat" | Peter Gordon |
| REGULARS | Tue Feb 15, 2005 | Habitués | Gene Newman |
| REVERSER | Sun Sep 25, 2011 | "R" card in Uno, in effect | Paul Hunsberger |
| SAFEMODE | Fri Nov 6, 2020 | Diagnostic computer setting | Aimee Lucido |
| SAMEDIFFERENCE | Sun Mar 10, 2019 | x - y = x - y | Adam Fromm |
| SEAKALE | Fri Mar 28, 1997 | Potted maritime plant | Jim Page |
| SHELLING | Wed Jan 1, 2003 | Bombarding | Ed Early |
| SHOOTING | Wed Jun 7, 2000 | It may be the basis of wishful thinking | John Duschatko |
| STATEHOOD | Thu Dec 23, 2021 | District of Columbia advocacy subject | Stephen McCarthy |
| STOCKEXCHANGES | Fri Apr 3, 2015 | Trading places | Patrick Berry |
| THROWASPEAR | Wed Jan 2, 2002 | Hunt like a cave man | Sarah Keller |
| TOKENISM | Sun Dec 22, 2013 | Symbolic effort in support of equal rights | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| TOOKTHELEAD | Sat Nov 16, 2002 | Pulled ahead | Leonard Williams |
| TROUPED | Thu Jan 3, 2013 | Was on tour, in a way | Bruce Haight |
| UPISDOWN | Sat Aug 6, 2022 | "Nothing makes sense anymore!" | Byron Walden |
| VENTIS | Sun Dec 30, 2018 | Big Starbucks orders | Luke Vaughn |
| YEAHIMFINE | Fri Nov 9, 2007 | Hoped-for reply to 1-Across | Henry Hook |
| ZOLTAN | Sun Dec 14, 2014 | Korda who directed "Sahara" | Jim Peredo |