A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

ELITE

Tue, 14 Mar '23
___ 8
Sat, 21 Jan '23
Top-notch
Sun, 13 Nov '22
A-listers
Wed, 5 Oct '22
Group at the top
Sun, 15 May '22
At the top
Thu, 21 Apr '22
Top-shelf
Mon, 20 Dec '21
Of the highest standard
Mon, 29 Nov '21
Upper crust
Thu, 22 Jul '21
Upper echelon
Sun, 10 Jan '21
High-ranking