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 50,246 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACTINGMAYOR | Sun Apr 25, 1999 | "To govern or not to govern. That is the question." | Joe DiPietro |
| AIGLETS | Sun Nov 2, 2008 | Shoelace ends: Var. | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| ALGEBRAI | Sun Apr 8, 2007 | It often features the quadratic formula | Byron Walden |
| ALLSEWNUP | Fri Dec 10, 2010 | Totally assured, as victory | Elizabeth C. Gorski |
| AUDIOCLIP | Sat Jan 22, 2011 | Sound bite in bytes? | Victor Fleming |
| BACKPAIN | Wed Apr 29, 2015 | Lumbago | Daniel Landman |
| BAKINGBREAD | Thu Apr 23, 2020 | Acclaimed TV show concerning a science teacher-turned-drug dealer | Yacob Yonas and Erik Agard |
| BEDAUB | Wed Feb 7, 2001 | Smear | Kent Lorentzen |
| BERNICE | Sun Jan 27, 2008 | Eccentric friend on "Designing Women" | Mike Nothnagel |
| BODYMAN | Sat Aug 26, 2017 | President's personal aide | Peter Wentz |
| CHIMERAS | Tue Apr 25, 2017 | Monstrous creatures | Gary J. Whitehead |
| COMPETENT | Tue Apr 21, 2020 | Capable | Andrew Kingsley |
| DECANTED | Mon Jun 30, 1997 | Poured wine into another container | Peter Gordon |
| DUSTSOFF | Sun Nov 14, 2021 | Brings back to use | Aimee Lucido and Ella Dershowitz |
| EATINGAT | Tue Jun 6, 2006 | Bothering badly | Barry C. Silk |
| ELITEEIGHT | Sun Jan 29, 2017 | March Madness stage | Jim Hyres and David Steinberg |
| FIRSTTAKE | Sat Jan 12, 2008 | Recording session starter | Frederick J. Healy |
| FOPPISH | Sun Aug 27, 2000 | Like a coxcomb | Dana Motley |
| HANDOUTS | Sat Dec 29, 2007 | Fliers, e.g. | Bob Klahn |
| HIDEANDGOSEEK | Sat Nov 5, 2022 | Game where It always counts | John Westwig |
| IMPLORED | Mon Dec 31, 2018 | Begged earnestly | Brian Thomas |
| INQUISITIVENESS | Sat Aug 9, 1997 | Curiosity | Raymond Hamel |
| JUDGED | Thu Dec 21, 1995 | Served on a panel, maybe | Rich Norris |
| LEXICOGRAPHERS | Tue Feb 20, 2018 | Ones who produced the clues for 20-, 25- and 45-Across | Joel Fagliano |
| LUNGEDAT | Sat Mar 30, 2002 | Suddenly attacked | Mark Diehl |
| MAIDSOFHONOR | Fri Jan 15, 2021 | Shower heads, perhaps | Josh Knapp |
| MAOTSE | Sun Nov 10, 1996 | ___-tung | R. Hamel |
| NEWSPRINT | Wed Oct 17, 2001 | Forest product, or the result of a second wind | Greg Staples |
| OUTLIERS | Thu Oct 15, 2020 | Malcolm Gladwell best seller that explores the 10,000-hour rule | Lindsey Hobbs |
| PASSEDTIME | Sat Mar 8, 2025 | Did a whole lot of nothing | Joe Deeney |
| PETERMAX | Sat Feb 10, 2007 | Artist on the cover of a 1969 Life magazine | Bob Peoples |
| PETIPA | Thu Dec 2, 2004 | Marius ___, "the father of classical ballet" | Patrick Berry |
| POOLPUMP | Tue Dec 30, 2014 | Certain water circulator | Jeffrey Wechsler |
| ROMANTICHERO | Mon Sep 8, 2008 | Don Juan, e.g. | Oliver Hill |
| SEESAWING | Fri Mar 26, 2004 | Unable to decide | Nancy Kavanaugh |
| SEXTIPS | Sat May 26, 2012 | Advice from Dr. Ruth | Peter Wentz |
| SPINDOC | Sun Jul 22, 2012 | P.R. pro | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| TOMRIPLEY | Sat Feb 25, 2017 | Sociopathic role for Alain Delon (1960), Matt Damon (1999) and John Malkovich (2002) | Mark Diehl |
| WEIRDALYANKOVIC | Wed Nov 17, 1999 | Singer known for song parodies | Fred Piscop |
| ZEITGEISTY | Sat May 31, 2025 | Culturally relevant | Adam Aaronson and Ricky Cruz |