A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

PRIME

Thu, 5 Jun '25
Like 2027 and 2029, but not 2025
Fri, 21 Mar '25
Of the highest quality
Mon, 7 Aug '23
Top-quality, as beef
Thu, 16 Sep '21
Like 2017 and 2027
Wed, 5 May '21
Like the two 40-Across in the grid for this answer