A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

CROSS

Thu, 1 Feb '24
Sects' symbol?
Tue, 20 Dec '22
What five horizontal answers do with this one
Sun, 13 Mar '22
Irritable
Tue, 22 Jun '21
With 36-Down, intersection ... as suggested by the circled letters in the middle of this puzzle?