A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

LEAD

Sat, 17 Feb '24
Headliner
Sun, 19 Nov '23
Bid first, say
Mon, 21 Aug '23
Metal that an alchemist "converts" into gold
Sun, 14 May '23
Start of a detective's trail
Fri, 24 Feb '23
___ climbing (discipline that debuted at the 2020 Olympics)
Tue, 21 Feb '23
Headliner
Wed, 9 Nov '22
Heavy metal
Fri, 9 Sep '22
Direct
Sat, 20 Aug '22
Help for a case
Mon, 1 Aug '22
Starring role
Tue, 7 Sep '21
One getting top billing
Wed, 12 May '21
Top-billed performer