Dude, I’ve totally wondered this! Some days, it feels like the NYT crossword answers are just there to make you feel dumb. Like, who actually uses words like “Epee” or “Oleo” in a sentence? From what I’ve read, it’s partly because the puzzle creators have a limited set of letters to work with, especially in a 15x15 grid, so they use lots of odd words just to make everything fit. Plus, there’s some crossword “tradition” where these strange words are almost like inside jokes. It’s kind of annoying but also kind of fun once you know the usual suspects.

But yeah, a lot of these answers aren’t real Scrabble words either – I heard the May 15, 2025 NYT crossword had 28 that wouldn’t even be allowed in Scrabble. It’s a wild mix between making the puzzle a legit challenge and just squeezing weird stuff in there. I guess it keeps us guessing, right? Anyway, don’t feel bad if you don’t know all the weird words—half the internet is looking up answers too!