Read this article from the Times.
When my wife and I drove to the Fenwick Island, DE for our anniversary a few years ago, we saw signs along the way for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. The ferry connects the lower part of Delaware with New Jersey, and we decided, what the heck, let's go explore. When we got there we discovered a bus would take us into downtown Cape May; once we got off the bus and did some exploring, we discovered an Irish street festival. Who knew? Popping off on that side trip was one of the highlights of our honeymoon. And that's usually what happens when I look up something in the dictionary: I stumble upon a word like skirr or agrestic (which I will use tomorrow at work–watch me), follow its etymology or look up synonyms, and thus embark on an adventure I wouldn't have taken if the word hadn't been there for me to find. I'm praying that other dictionaries do not follow suit.
Thanks! I hadn't seen that article yet. I'm all for obscure words, though there's a bit of a paradox. Once a prestigious newspaper like the Times starts campaigning on their behalf, then it kind of undermines the joy of finding them because they've just blithely gone and listed a bunch of them.