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 51,000 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALPINISTS | Mon May 12, 2003 | Mountain climbers | Sarah Keller |
| BITTERENDER | Thu Aug 21, 2025 | *Person who persists in a hopeless cause | Simeon Seigel |
| BLUESINTHENIGHT | Mon May 24, 2004 | 1941 Priscilla Lane film whose title was a #1 song | Frederick J. Healy |
| BRIDGESTHEGAP | Tue Nov 21, 1995 | Links opposites sides | Thomas W. Schier |
| CARBONDATE | Thu Dec 4, 2025 | Auto + Consumed | Stephan Prock and Jeff Chen |
| CLOSETOYOU | Tue Jun 10, 2014 | Where the Carpenters "long to be" in a 1970 #1 hit | Pamela Klawitter |
| DILATORY | Sat Jul 5, 2008 | Dawdling | Karen M. Tracey |
| EHOWARDHUNT | Tue Jun 18, 1996 | "Nixon" character | E. C. Gorski |
| FALLOUTFIT | Sun Jan 6, 2008 | *Dress for the return of cool weather | Lynn Lempel |
| GIBING | Fri Jun 20, 1997 | Taunting | Manny Nosowsky |
| HAMMED | Fri Jan 4, 2008 | Overplayed? | Raymond C. Young |
| HAVEINSTORE | Thu Apr 11, 2019 | Plan (for) | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| HIGHSCORE | Wed Apr 22, 2015 | Arcade achievement | Alex Vratsanos and Sam Ezersky |
| HOVERCAR | Sun Jun 26, 2016 | Luke Skywalker's landspeeder, e.g. | Priscilla Clark and Jeff Chen |
| IDEATIVE | Sun Jun 6, 1999 | Entertaining thoughts | David J. Kahn |
| INSERTCOIN | Mon Apr 22, 2019 | Arcade game instruction before playing | Bruce Haight |
| ISTHEPOPECATHOLIC | Wed Nov 13, 2019 | "Obviously! (Duh!)" | Ed Sessa |
| ITAKETHATBACK | Thu Nov 9, 2017 | Words of retraction | Bruce Haight |
| JENNIE | Sun Nov 22, 1998 | Actress Garth | Nelson Hardy |
| JIMMYDORSEY | Thu Feb 29, 1996 | Noted bandleader (born 2/29/1904) | Peter Gordon |
| KARLOFF | Thu May 2, 2019 | Co-star of 28-Across | Julie Bérubé |
| MOVABLEFEAST | Mon Jun 9, 2025 | Easter or Passover, but not Christmas | Aimee Lucido |
| NEWSAGENCY | Wed Dec 11, 2019 | Reuters or Bloomberg | Jake Halperin |
| NINEMILE | Sun Nov 18, 2001 | Utah's ___ Canyon | Jim Page |
| NOHINT | Sun Oct 17, 2021 | Nary a trace (of) | Jeff Chen |
| OFFLOAD | Sat Jul 6, 2024 | Get rid of | Evans Clinchy |
| OLAJUWON | Thu Jun 12, 2025 | N.B.A. great Hakeem who is one of only four players ever to achieve a 50-Across (1990) | Daniel Bodily |
| PARTCOMPANY | Tue Jun 2, 2020 | Go their separate ways ... or a description of 17-, 24-, 35- or 47-Across? | John Guzzetta |
| POLYMATHS | Sat Sep 14, 2024 | Many Renaissance thinkers | Christina Iverson |
| PONYTAILS | Wed Dec 28, 1994 | Easy-maintenance hairstyles | Gerald R. Ferguson |
| QUOTEES | Sun Nov 19, 2000 | Those cited | Cathy Millhauser |
| RELABELS | Sun Jun 12, 2022 | Marks down, maybe | Will Nediger |
| RIOBAMBA | Thu Jun 26, 2003 | City in central Ecuador | Patrick Berry |
| SLIPSLOP | Tue Sep 23, 2014 | Twaddle | Gerry Wildenberg |
| STRICTLY | Tue Mar 28, 2006 | By the book | Jim Hyres |
| SUPERBOWLIX | Fri Jun 12, 1998 | First of four Chuck Noll championships | Matt Gaffney |
| TASTEMAKER | Thu Mar 2, 2023 | Influencer, as with fashion | Malaika Handa |
| UPPERBACKPAIN | Sun Dec 7, 2014 | *What a massage may relieve | Jeff Chen |
| WHERESTHEREMOTE | Fri Oct 11, 2013 | Universal query? | Peter A. Collins |
| WINDOWORAISLE | Mon Jun 27, 2005 | Choice at an airplane ticket counter | Kurt Mengel and Jan-Michele Gianette |