A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

USSR

Wed, 29 Oct '25
Old map inits.
Tue, 29 Jul '25
Bygone world power, for short
Thu, 10 Jul '25
See 36-Across
Sun, 9 Mar '25
It once shared a land border with 16 countries
Wed, 27 Nov '24
Home to Leningrad, for short
Fri, 1 Nov '24
Locale of a 1991 coup attempt by the Gang of Eight, in brief
Sat, 3 Aug '24
Old map letters
Fri, 19 Apr '24
Locale in a Beatles song
Tue, 19 Mar '24
Cold War power, for short
Wed, 31 Jan '24
It's written as "C.C.C.P." in Cyrillic
Thu, 2 Nov '23
Grp. that launched 41-Across
Sun, 15 Oct '23
Former governor of Georgia?
Mon, 21 Aug '23
It broke up on Dec. 26, 1991
Thu, 29 Jun '23
One-sixth of the world's ground surface until 1991, in brief
Thu, 6 Apr '23
Old org. for Armenia
Thu, 9 Feb '23
U.N. member until 1991
Tue, 20 Dec '22
Cold War power, in brief
Sun, 9 Oct '22
Map inits. until 1991
Sun, 14 Aug '22
Old map inits.
Wed, 29 Jun '22
Geographical inits. until 1991
Fri, 1 Apr '22
Federation formed in 1922, for short
Wed, 9 Mar '22
Losing team in the "Miracle on Ice" hockey game
Fri, 18 Feb '22
Red states, once, in brief
Tue, 16 Nov '21
Leningrad's land, for short
Sat, 7 Aug '21
It raised a major red flag
Thu, 29 Jul '21
Founding member of the U.N. Security Council
Sat, 17 Jul '21
Name in a noted '90s breakup