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 50,944 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANIF | Fri Jan 12, 2018 | "It's not ___, it's a when" | Erik Agard |
| BEFOULED | Tue Oct 20, 2020 | Made dirty | Jeff Chen |
| BITTERER | Sun Jul 19, 2015 | More resentful | Tom McCoy |
| BUSINESSSENSE | Sun Mar 10, 2024 | Executive's acumen | Enrique Henestroza Anguiano and Matthew Stock |
| CAKEANDICECREAM | Mon May 18, 1998 | Lawn party offering | Ed Early |
| CALLCENTERS | Fri Nov 25, 2011 | Where "operators are standing by" | Joe Krozel |
| COMMONSNIPE | Thu Jul 24, 2025 | "Nice of you to show up" | Ginny Too |
| COXIE | Thu Jul 25, 1996 | Flemish painter Michiel van___ | A. J. Santora |
| CRIMEDRAMA | Fri May 9, 2025 | Feature focused on investigation and resolution | Willa Angel Chen Miller and Erik Agard |
| DAYSPAS | Sun Nov 21, 2021 | Places for rubs and scrubs | Adam Wagner |
| DONUTSHOP | Fri Mar 7, 2025 | Enterprise with many holes in its business plan? | Malaika Handa |
| DREWASALARY | Wed Jul 19, 2000 | Wasn't on commission | Philip Lew |
| DRYWASH | Sat Apr 7, 2007 | Clean laundry that hasn't yet been ironed | Michael Shteyman |
| FALAFELS | Mon May 16, 2022 | Pita sandwiches of deep-fried chickpea balls | Lynn Lempel |
| GEMMY | Tue Jan 13, 2004 | Glittering, like a diamond | M. Francis Vuolo |
| GOINGGAGA | Thu Aug 24, 2023 | Flipping out | Robin Yu |
| HAKES | Sun Dec 13, 2009 | Codlike fishes | Mike Shenk |
| HARLEMBOYSCHOIR | Tue Nov 1, 2011 | New York singing group that last performed in 2007 | Kristian House |
| HENRIKIBSEN | Tue May 23, 2006 | Playwright who died on May 23, 1906 | Alan Arbesfeld |
| KAMALAHARRIS | Sat Nov 20, 2021 | Joint winner of Time's Person of the Year for 2020 | Mary Lou Guizzo and Jeff Chen |
| KNOCKOFF | Sat Mar 31, 2001 | Copy | Rich Norris |
| LAWABIDING | Thu Aug 16, 2001 | Like most citizens | Joe DiPietro |
| LIECHEATSTEAL | Mon May 1, 2006 | What a cadet won't do (or tolerate those who do), per the West Point honor code | Mike Torch |
| MAKEEYESAT | Fri Apr 22, 2005 | Flirt with, in a way | Myles Callum |
| MEATGRINDER | Tue Sep 11, 2007 | Butcher's device | Christina Houlihan Kelly |
| MERRYMEN | Fri May 31, 2013 | Hood's support | Josh Knapp |
| MICROSCOPESLIDE | Wed Oct 23, 2024 | M.S. in Biology? | Matthew Stock and Brooke Husic |
| MYC | Sat Aug 1, 1998 | Mushroom: Prefix | Joe DiPietro |
| NAHUATLAN | Sat Sep 5, 1998 | Mexican tongue | Thomas W. Schier |
| PENALIZES | Sun Jun 21, 2009 | Puts in a box, maybe | Matt Ginsberg and Pete Muller |
| PESCETARIANS | Fri Mar 13, 2020 | People who do not eat meat but do eat fish | Alex Eaton-Salners |
| POBLANO | Sun May 10, 2020 | Ancho pepper, before drying | Adam Fromm |
| RUNOF | Tue May 12, 2020 | ___ the mill (ordinary) | Tom Pepper and Zhouqin Burnikel |
| TAKEALOOKAROUND | Fri Jun 7, 2013 | Open house invitation | Ed Sessa |
| TALKINGBOOK | Sun Jul 23, 1995 | Recording item launched in 1945 | Fran & Lou Sabin |
| THEMANDALORIAN | Fri Sep 25, 2020 | "Star Wars" spinoff set five years after Emperor Palpatine's fall | Rachel Fabi |
| THISISPOINTLESS | Sat Jan 13, 2024 | "Aargh, why bother?!" | Hoang-Kim Vu |
| TINLIKE | Sun Oct 30, 2011 | Cheap and flimsy, as metal | Andrea Carla Michaels & Patrick Blindauer |
| TONYAWARD | Thu Aug 21, 2025 | *Musical appreciation? | Simeon Seigel |
| WHATSMYNAME | Mon Jul 22, 2019 | Fairy tale question whose answer is spelled out in the starts of 18-, 24-, 40- and 51-Across | Lynn Lempel |