A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

ANT

Tue, 5 Mar '24
Queen's pawn?
Sat, 10 Feb '24
Tiny social climber
Fri, 5 Jan '24
Farm creature
Thu, 4 Jan '24
Fire ___
Sun, 17 Dec '23
Crumb lugger
Tue, 5 Dec '23
Picnic pest
Sun, 12 Nov '23
Red army member?
Sun, 13 Aug '23
Word with fire or red
Sun, 6 Aug '23
Main bug in "A Bug's Life"
Sat, 15 Jul '23
Household sighting that one hopes is just a speck of dirt
Sun, 9 Jul '23
Flik was one in a Pixar flick
Sat, 8 Jul '23
Snack for a pangolin
Fri, 9 Jun '23
Hill worker
Sun, 4 Jun '23
Tiny pest
Sun, 28 May '23
Six-foot runner?
Wed, 24 May '23
Tiny hill-dweller
Mon, 22 May '23
Crumb-carrying insect
Sat, 29 Apr '23
With 18-Across, colonial-style houses?
Tue, 25 Apr '23
Aardvark's prey
Mon, 17 Apr '23
Picnic pest
Thu, 6 Apr '23
Fire ___
Sat, 11 Mar '23
Subject for a myrmecologist
Wed, 1 Mar '23
Tiny tunneler
Sat, 25 Feb '23
Farm denizen
Sun, 29 Jan '23
Hill worker
Sun, 22 Jan '23
One with an underground colony
Wed, 21 Dec '22
One able to lift 10 to 50 times its body weight
Sun, 20 Nov '22
Member of a colony
Tue, 4 Oct '22
Hill worker
Fri, 22 Jul '22
Worker in a tunnel, maybe
Sun, 22 May '22
Social worker?
Thu, 24 Feb '22
Leaf-cutter, e.g.
Fri, 11 Feb '22
Creature without ears that uses vibrations to "hear"
Mon, 10 Jan '22
"___-Man" (Paul Rudd superhero film)
Sun, 7 Nov '21
Symbol of industry
Sat, 30 Oct '21
Its larva is eaten as a delicacy in the Mexican dish escamoles
Thu, 28 Oct '21
___-Man
Sun, 17 Oct '21
Sight on an M. C. Escher Möbius strip
Mon, 11 Oct '21
Tiny builder of tunnels and hills
Mon, 13 Sep '21
Tiny hill dweller
Mon, 5 Jul '21
Insect that can carry up to 50 times its body weight
Tue, 1 Jun '21
Carpenter ___
Mon, 24 May '21
It might be confused with a termite
Sun, 9 May '21
Prey for a formicivorous creature
Sat, 1 May '21
Fire ___
Sun, 18 Apr '21
Echidna's prey
Fri, 9 Apr '21
Amazon ___
Sun, 4 Apr '21
Word with red or army
Tue, 9 Feb '21
Member of a colonial army?
Sun, 10 Jan '21
Carpenter ___