You’re staring at a grid. It’s a Wednesday. The coffee is getting cold, and you’re stuck on a four-letter word for "dated" or "passé." You type in DODO. Then you delete it. You try OLDY. Still nothing. Finally, the crosses reveal it: PASSE. This is the daily dance of the out of style crossword clue, a staple of the puzzling world that somehow manages to be both the easiest and the most frustrating part of your morning routine.
Crosswords are living organisms. They breathe. They change. What was a hip, "in" clue in 1994 feels like an ancient relic today. If you’ve ever noticed that the New York Times or the LA Times puzzles seem to be speaking a different language lately, you aren't imagining things. There is a quiet war happening in the world of lexicography between the "old guard" and the "new wave," and the out of style crossword clue is right at the center of the battlefield.
Why Some Clues Just Die
Language moves fast. Puzzles move slower. For decades, crossword editors like the legendary Margaret Farrar or Eugene Maleska relied on a specific set of "crosswordese"—words that you only ever see in a grid and almost never in real life. Think of words like ERNE (a sea eagle) or ETUI (a needle case). These were the bread and butter of construction because their vowel-heavy patterns helped bridge difficult sections of a grid.
But things changed. Will Shortz famously shifted the NYT toward a more "pop culture" and conversational style in the 90s. Suddenly, an out of style crossword clue wasn't just about a word being old-fashioned; it was about the clue itself being out of touch with how people actually talk.
Take the word GAY. In the 1950s, the clue would almost certainly be "Lighthearted" or "Merry." Today? Using that clue feels like a dusty artifact. It’s not that the definition is "wrong," it’s just that the usage has shifted so fundamentally that the old clue feels, well, out of style.
The Evolution of the Grid
Construction software changed everything. Back in the day, humans had to manually find words that fit together. It was brutal work. Now, builders use programs like Crossword Compiler or Tea (and databases like Matt Ginsberg’s "Cruciverb") to see what fits. This has led to a massive decline in those "glue" words that used to haunt solvers.
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If you see a clue for ALEE or ANIL (an indigo dye), you’re looking at a constructor who was in a corner they couldn't get out of. These are the quintessential examples of the out of style crossword clue. Modern editors, like Erik Agard or Tracy Bennett, are increasingly rejecting puzzles that rely on this "musty" vocabulary. They want "THEYREONIT" or "GHOSTED" or "DOOMSCROLLING."
The Cultural Shift
It isn't just about the words; it's about the perspective. For a long time, crosswords were built by and for a very specific demographic: mostly older, white, college-educated men. This meant the clues leaned heavily on opera, classical music, and 1950s sitcoms.
If you didn’t know who ALICE GHOSTLEY was, you were out of luck.
Now, there is a massive push for "inclusive" puzzling. This means the out of style crossword clue is being replaced by clues about hip-hop, diverse culinary traditions, and internet slang. Some older solvers hate this. They feel like the "standard" is being lowered. But younger solvers argue that knowing a 16th-century poet isn't "smarter" than knowing a 21st-century Twitch streamer. It's just a different kind of knowledge.
Common Answers for "Out of Style"
When you actually see "Out of style" as the clue itself, the answer usually depends on the length and the vibe of the puzzle. Here are the heavy hitters that appear most often:
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- PASSE: This is the gold standard. French origin, fits perfectly in five letters.
- OLD: Simple, three letters, usually part of a larger phrase.
- DODO: Often used metaphorically for things that are extinct or no longer trendy.
- DATED: A bit more clinical.
- HASBEEN: A bit meaner, used for people rather than things.
- FAD: Usually the answer when the clue is "Style that went out of style."
But here’s the kicker: The word OUT itself is often part of the answer. You might see NOTIN or WASIN. The meta-irony of solving a clue about being out of style while using a word that is itself going out of style in modern puzzles is a layer of nerdiness that crossword people live for.
The "Crosswordese" Hall of Fame (and Shame)
Let’s talk about the words that need to retire. Honestly, if I never see ESNE (a laborer or slave in Anglo-Saxon England) ever again, it will be too soon. It’s the ultimate "out of style" filler.
Then there’s ODO: A name from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. For a while, it was in every other puzzle. Now? It’s fading. Why? Because there are better ways to fill that space. Constructors are getting more creative. They’d rather use ODIE (the dog from Garfield) or even ODOR because those are words people actually use in conversation.
The Rise of the "Indie" Puzzle
If you want to see where the out of style crossword clue goes to die, look at the indie scene. Sites like The Inkubator, American Values Club Crossword (AVCX), or Queer Qrosswords are reinventing the wheel. They don’t care about "Farrar’s Rules."
In an indie puzzle, a clue for BRA might be "Something that provides support but is annoying to wear," rather than the clinical "Lingerie item." This shift makes the puzzle feel like it was written by a person, not a dictionary. It’s conversational. It’s kinda funny. It’s human.
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How to Solve the Tricky Ones
When you hit a clue that feels like it’s from 1940, you have to change your mindset. You have to think like a "Cruciverbalist."
- Check the Vowels: If the word is short and vowel-heavy (OLIO, AREA, ERIE), it’s likely a filler word.
- Look for Tense: If the clue is "Went out of style," look for an "-ED" ending like DATED.
- Abbreviations: If the clue is "Out of style, briefly," look for OBS (obsolete).
- Cross-Reference: Don't bang your head against the wall. Fill in the "downs" around the "across." Usually, the "out of style" words are there to make the more interesting long-form words work.
The Future of the Clue
Is the out of style crossword clue actually going away? Probably not entirely. There will always be a need for three-letter words ending in vowels. But the way we clue them is changing.
Instead of cluing AREA as "Square footage," a modern constructor might clue it as "The '51' in Nevada." It’s the same answer, but it feels fresh. It feels like 2026, not 1956.
The reality is that "style" in a crossword is a moving target. In ten years, cluing AF as "Extremely, in slang" will probably feel incredibly out of style. We’ll look back and cringe, just like we cringe at "ESNE" today. And that’s okay. That’s the beauty of it. The grid is a reflection of us—what we know, what we forget, and what we find important enough to write down in little black and white boxes.
Actionable Tips for the Modern Solver
If you’re tired of being stumped by dated references, here’s how you stay ahead:
- Diversify your puzzles. Don't just do the NYT. Try the New Yorker for high-brow current events or USA Today for a very modern, clean vocabulary.
- Learn your suffixes. Words like -IER, -OSE, and -INE are the "out of style" workhorses of constructors. Recognizing them early saves time.
- Embrace the "New." Don't get annoyed when a puzzle mentions a TikTok trend or a Marvel movie. That's the constructor trying to keep the medium alive.
- Use a Database. If you're really stuck, sites like Crossword Tracker can show you every way a word has been clued over the last 20 years. It’s a great way to see the evolution of a word in real-time.
Stop looking for the "correct" word and start looking for the "constructor's" word. Once you realize the out of style crossword clue is just a tool for building a larger, more interesting picture, the frustration turns into a game. You aren't just solving a puzzle; you're archeologically digging through the layers of language.
The next time you see "Out of style" in a grid, and the answer is PASSE, just smile. It’s a little nod from the past, a bit of "crosswordese" that survived the digital age. Fill it in, move on, and hope the next clue is something about a meme you actually understand.