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 50,793 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ABSOLUTEWORST | Tue Jul 13, 2010 | Most wretched ... or not | Peter A. Collins |
| BACKLESS | Fri Sep 30, 2011 | Like stools and many benches | Joe Krozel |
| BALDPATE | Fri Sep 7, 2018 | Chrome dome, so to speak | Josh Knapp |
| BARCRAWLS | Sun Jul 10, 2022 | Tipsy trips | Christina Iverson and Scott Hogan |
| BETATESTING | Fri Jun 24, 2011 | One stage of development | Milo Beckman |
| BRANDNAMEPRODUCTS | Sun Nov 24, 2019 | Not generics | Frank Longo |
| BREASTBONE | Tue Jun 28, 2011 | Sternum | Tom Baring |
| BRIANA | Mon Nov 18, 2024 | ___ Scurry, first Black woman in the National Soccer Hall of Fame | Rajeswari Rajamani |
| BROADCASTNEWS | Tue Apr 4, 2023 | 1987 film set in a Washington, D.C., TV station | Andrea Carla Michaels and Christina Iverson |
| CALIFORNIAPOPPY | Sat Jun 25, 2005 | Western state flower | John Underwood |
| CHIRRUPS | Sun Aug 4, 2024 | High-pitched bird calls | Scott Hogan and Katie Hale |
| DANGED | Fri Dec 7, 2012 | Doggone | Peter Wentz |
| DEFENSIVELINE | Wed Sep 23, 2015 | "I am not guilty," e.g.? | Michael S. Maurer |
| DOTCOMBUST | Wed Apr 29, 2026 | *Failed internet company? | Joseph Gangi |
| DREADLOCKS | Sat Apr 30, 1994 | Modern hairstyle | Wayne Robert Williams |
| ETHNICCLEANSING | Fri Jun 6, 2008 | Heinous war crime | Ashish Vengsarkar |
| EXCERPTED | Mon Mar 9, 1998 | Quoted (from) | Randall J. Hartman |
| GLAIR | Sun Jan 21, 1996 | Egg white | R. Wolfe |
| GODFATHERS | Mon Apr 14, 2025 | Vito and Michael Corleone | Stacy Cooper and Ken Cohen |
| GROUNDED | Thu Jan 26, 2023 | Punished for the weekend, perhaps | Dan Ziring and Quiara Vasquez |
| HEURISTIC | Sat Oct 27, 2018 | Method of solving | Byron Walden |
| INSISTSUPON | Tue Jun 20, 2017 | Demands | Jason Flinn |
| JIGGLED | Fri Aug 5, 2016 | Moved like a 20-Down | Brendan Emmett Quigley |
| MICAWBER | Sat Aug 20, 2011 | Dickens character whose first name is Wilkins | Byron Walden |
| MORNINGSHOW | Mon Oct 24, 2016 | Breakfast-time TV fare that usually includes the ends of 17-, 28-, 36- and 44-Across | John Guzzetta |
| NEGOTIATION | Sat Dec 22, 2018 | Talks about one's job, perhaps | Joon Pahk |
| OPERATIONAL | Fri Sep 23, 2005 | Working | Levi Denham |
| PANGOLIN | Wed Aug 12, 2015 | Scaly anteater | Tom McCoy |
| PREOPS | Sat Feb 10, 2018 | Hospital sections, for short | Finn Vigeland |
| PYRRHIC | Fri May 29, 1998 | Like some victories | Fred Piscop |
| RULEOFTHUMB | Sat Mar 1, 2025 | Sensible guide | Ryan Judge |
| SCALPING | Sun Jul 30, 1995 | Stadium parking lot activity | Charles M. Deber |
| SINKSTOANEWLOW | Mon Sep 15, 1997 | Declines, as a plumber? | Stephanie Spadaccini |
| SPAWNPOINT | Sat May 24, 2025 | Location where a video game character starts (or restarts) a level | Gene Louise De Vera |
| STELLARCLASSIFICATION | Sun Jul 15, 2018 | Compliment to a taxonomist? | Sam Ezersky and Byron Walden |
| TENSEEXCHANGE | Thu Oct 17, 2024 | Harsh words regarding the past and the present? | August Lee-Kovach |
| TOHIS | Thu Feb 26, 2004 | "Left ___ own devices ..." | Manny Nosowsky |
| TROUBLEDTIMES | Tue Jul 10, 2007 | Periods of unrest | Pete Muller |
| UGLYTRUTHS | Wed Oct 12, 2022 | Unpleasant realities | Drew Schmenner |
| WYNONNA | Fri Sep 21, 2001 | 1992 country album | Brendan Emmett Quigley |