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 50,644 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGARPLATE | Tue Dec 25, 2018 | Lab culture site | Bruce Haight |
| ALLAYED | Thu Nov 16, 2006 | Calmed | Kevin Donovan |
| ASACAT | Sun Sep 28, 2008 | "Vigilant ___ to steal cream": Falstaff | Cathy Allis Millhauser |
| BACKCHANNEL | Tue Aug 28, 2018 | Covert means of communication ... or what's hiding in the circled letters? | Brian Thomas |
| BASEBALLWALKOUT | Sat Sep 10, 2005 | Why 31-Across didn't happen | David J. Kahn |
| BESTRAPPERFORMANCE | Sun Apr 25, 2021 | Grammy category won multiple times by Kendrick Lamar | Jeremy Newton |
| BURGERS | Sat Jul 15, 1995 | Fast food staple | Rand H. Burns |
| BYZANTINEEMPIRE | Sat Oct 5, 2019 | The Hagia Sophia was built in it | Trenton Charlson |
| COURTVISION | Sat Jul 25, 2015 | Hoopster's playmaking ability | Kevin G. Der |
| CROSSFIRES | Wed May 2, 2012 | *Bygone Chryslers | Paula Gamache |
| DAMPENED | Tue Jun 29, 2010 | Made less intense | Peter A. Collins |
| DETHORN | Sun Oct 9, 1994 | Make roses safe to handle | Bryant White |
| DOESGOOD | Mon Feb 8, 2016 | Volunteers, gives to charity, etc. | Paolo Pasco |
| DUSTBIN | Sun Jul 31, 2005 | Refuse receptacle | Mark Feldman |
| FEASTONESEYESON | Sat Jul 10, 2021 | Gaze at with appreciation | Trenton Charlson |
| GENETICENGINEER | Thu May 18, 1995 | One who can make brown eyes blue? | Chuck Deodene |
| GROWMISTYEYED | Fri Jun 8, 2001 | Tear up | Harvey Estes and Nancy Salomon |
| HEADOFLETTUCE | Wed Feb 15, 2017 | "On top we put a ___" | Jesse Eisenberg and Patrick Blindauer |
| HEYER | Sun Dec 16, 2001 | Romance novelist Georgette | Fred Piscop |
| HOLIES | Sat Dec 29, 2001 | Sacred sites | Bob Peoples |
| HOMEMADEBREAD | Sat Nov 30, 2024 | End result of a starter | Oliver Goodridge and Juan Garavito |
| HYPNOS | Sun Apr 22, 2018 | Greek god of sleep | Ross Trudeau |
| KEEPYOURPANTSON | Tue Sep 15, 2020 | "Be patient!" ... or advice seemingly ignored by 17-, 24-, 52- and 62-Across | Amanda Rafkin and Ross Trudeau |
| LOUSINGUP | Sun Jul 10, 2011 | Botching | Ben Pall and David Kahn |
| MDCIV | Thu Mar 28, 2013 | Year "Othello" was first performed | Randolph Ross |
| MYRIGHT | Thu Mar 2, 2006 | Your left, say? (A.W.) | Patrick Merrell |
| NEWSCLIP | Sun May 10, 2020 | Lead-in to many a joke on "The Daily Show" | Adam Fromm |
| NOSHOT | Tue Sep 13, 2022 | A 0% chance, colloquially | Adam Wagner |
| OPPORTUNEMOMENT | Mon Aug 15, 2005 | Best time to act | Lynn Lempel |
| ORANGEGROVE | Mon May 19, 2025 | Starting point for Tropicana or Florida's Natural juice | Kiran Pandey |
| PRESELLS | Tue Jan 5, 1999 | Takes advance orders for | Lyell Rodieck |
| PROBLEMCHILD | Wed Jan 16, 2008 | Parent's handful | Barry C. Silk |
| PROMISER | Sun Mar 1, 1998 | Vow taker | Cathy Millhauser |
| SANTABARBARA | Sun Dec 19, 1993 | Long-running NBC soap | John M. Samson |
| SEMICIRCLES | Wed Sep 4, 2024 | First- and third-quarter moons, e.g. ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme | Kareem Ayas |
| SHACKSUP | Sun Jun 16, 2024 | Lives as lovers | Chandi Deitmer and Wyna Liu |
| STEENBOK | Sun Oct 27, 2024 | Horned antelope of southern Africa | Jeffrey Martinovic and Jeff Chen |
| SUBTLER | Thu Jan 30, 2020 | Not so obvious | Emily Carroll |
| TONAMEACOUPLE | Wed Jul 24, 2019 | Task for new parents of twins? | Jake Halperin |
| YELLOWFIN | Sun Nov 4, 2012 | Cowardly end in Cannes? | Brendan Emmett Quigley |