A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

INIT

Wed, 3 Jan '24
Still able to win
Sat, 2 Dec '23
Still a contender
Sat, 29 Jul '23
Still fighting
Sun, 25 Jun '23
Still fighting
Sun, 6 Nov '22
Still competing
Mon, 19 Sep '22
Not out of the running
Sun, 18 Sep '22
Not out of the running
Sun, 11 Sep '22
Still competing
Thu, 28 Jul '22
Still a contender
Sun, 12 Jun '22
Still having a shot at winning
Fri, 20 May '22
Contending
Mon, 11 Apr '22
___ for the long haul
Wed, 2 Mar '22
Monogram part: Abbr.
Sat, 6 Nov '21
Still alive, so to speak