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 50,440 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABERRANTLY | Fri Oct 29, 1999 | In an unnatural way | Nancy Salomon |
| ANDAN | Sun Aug 7, 1994 | "It is a nipping _____ eager air": Shakespeare | Dean Niles |
| ANECDOTIST | Sun Jul 21, 2002 | Storyteller | Trip Payne |
| BABEINTHEWOODS | Tue Jun 6, 2017 | 1979 #1 Styx hit played for Little Red Riding Hood? | Lisa Loeb and Doug Peterson |
| BOHRATOM | Sun Aug 21, 2022 | Nuclear model named for a physicist | Brooke Husic and Will Nediger |
| BOREDTODEATH | Sat May 13, 2023 | Yawning incessantly, say | Spencer Leach |
| CALK | Sat May 27, 1995 | Projection on a shoe to prevent slipping | A.J. Santora |
| CELIBATES | Wed May 9, 2001 | Nuns, by vow | Ethan Cooper |
| DIPLOMAONTHEWALL | Sun Feb 6, 2011 | In his office, she noticed a ... | David J. Kahn |
| DROWSES | Sat May 16, 2009 | Suffers through a boring meeting, maybe | Tyler Hinman and Byron Walden |
| DRYASABONE | Sat Jul 30, 2005 | Very, very thirsty | Sherry O. Blackard |
| ELSAMAXWELL | Tue Jun 29, 1999 | Old-time journalist-socialite | Arthur S. Verdesca |
| FILMCRITIC | Sun Jun 27, 2010 | Irate | Michael J. Doran |
| GARYIN | Sun May 30, 2021 | City about 25 miles SE of Chicago, IL | Adam Wagner |
| GASGAUGE | Mon Jun 29, 2020 | Dashboard dial that goes from "E" to "F" | Peter Gordon |
| IREMEMBERITWELL | Wed Jun 5, 1996 | "Gigi" song, 1958 | G. R. Ferguson |
| LIPRING | Fri Jan 22, 2021 | Facial piercing | Daniel Larsen |
| MEALPLANS | Sat Feb 8, 2025 | Providers of college courses? | Alina Abidi |
| METROAREAS | Sat Jun 25, 2022 | They include satellite cities | Adam Aaronson |
| NOMATCH | Sat Sep 16, 2006 | Hardly a worthy competitor | Michael Shteyman |
| OXYGENIZE | Thu Aug 1, 2019 | XYZ | Patrick Merrell |
| PARATROOPER | Wed Nov 23, 2016 | High military figure? | David Steinberg |
| PRPUSH | Thu Oct 3, 2024 | Major media campaign, say | Rena Cohen |
| RATNER | Sat Dec 17, 2016 | Brett who directed "Rush Hour" | Zhouqin Burnikel |
| SATCHELS | Fri Apr 13, 2001 | Purse alternatives | Joe DiPietro |
| SEQUENTIAL | Tue Sep 14, 2010 | In consecutive order | Eshan Mitra, Brown University '12 |
| SMOKEUP | Sat Sep 2, 2000 | Opposite of "make clear" | Rich Norris |
| SOBEREST | Tue Oct 18, 2005 | Least drunk | Jay Leatherman |
| SODACRACKER | Sun Apr 16, 1995 | Thin snack | Matt Gaffney |
| STATESECRET | Sat Mar 29, 2014 | Target of a spy | Barry C. Silk |
| STATUSBAR | Sat Jan 19, 2013 | Measure of progress | David Quarfoot |
| STRONGER | Sat May 17, 1997 | More intense | Daniel R. Stark |
| SUBSECTION | Tue May 17, 2022 | Indented part of an outline | Richard D. Allen |
| TAKESSTOCK | Tue May 8, 2012 | Assesses one's options carefully | Lynn Lempel |
| THEGRUDGE | Fri Aug 28, 2009 | 2004 horror film about a passed-on curse | David Quarfoot |
| TREASURY | Fri Nov 10, 2017 | Cabinet department | Patrick Berry |
| TURINGTESTS | Thu Sep 7, 2023 | Assessments I would pass with flying colors — if I had anything to prove, which I don't, since I'm human | Ryan Patrick Smith |
| VALUESYSTEMS | Tue Aug 1, 2006 | PC's for peanuts? | David Sullivan |
| WACKYTOBACKY | Sat Jul 7, 2018 | Mary Jane | Ryan McCarty |
| WAITUNTILDARK | Thu Jan 2, 2020 | 1967 thriller for which Audrey Hepburn received an Oscar nomination | Ed Sessa |