What is a Mostly Ruddy Word™?

Question

_{This is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.}

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Mostly Ruddy Word™.

Use the following examples below to find the rule.

Mostly Ruddy Words™	Not Mostly Ruddy Words™
NAMETAG	IDENTIFICATION
RAILWAY	TRACK
WHIMPER	BLUBBER
WATERJET	AIRJET
MONOLOGUE	SPEECH
INDULGE	ENTERTAIN
ZOOLOGY	MEDICINE
ALLERGEN	IRRITANT
SCALLOPS	CRAWFISH
CLOUDSCAPE	SCENERY
SOLILOQUY	DISCOURSE
BOOKKEEPER	LIBRARIAN
HALLELUJAH*	ALLELUIA
STYLOGRAPHY**	ELABORATENESS

* Showing off
** Impractical

And, if you want to analyze, here is a CSV version:

Mostly Ruddy Words™,Not Mostly Ruddy Words™
NAMETAG,IDENTIFICATION
RAILWAY,TRACK
WHIMPER,BLUBBER
WATERJET,AIRJET
MONOLOGUE,SPEECH
INDULGE,ENTERTAIN
ZOOLOGY,MEDICINE
ALLERGEN,IRRITANT
SCALLOPS,CRAWFISH
CLOUDSCAPE,SCENERY
SOLILOQUY,DISCOURSE
BOOKKEEPER,LIBRARIAN
HALLELUJAH,ALLELUIA
STYLOGRAPHY,ELABORATENESS

Addition 1:

I have added two footnotes to the image. The words are in the order they're in on purpose although there's no direct correlation between one word and the next. The words at the bottom are more mostly than those at the top with the exception of the last word, which is more ruddy.

Addition 2:

You may think I made a typo or left out a word in Addition 1, but I assure you that is not the case. Here's a new idea: none of the words in the table above are ruddy as they currently appear. They are all extremely mostly, though. With a quick transformation, they all become mostly ruddy except for HALLELUJAH (which is too mostly) and STYLOGRAPHY (which is too ruddy).

@GentlePurpleRain I can confirm that MOSTLY RUDDY is a Mostly Ruddy Phrase™ . — Engineer Toast, Aug 31 '16 at 21:20
@Engineer Toast Is it surprising that no one has come up the plate with anything at all? Or was this expected? — bill bsl, Sep 02 '16 at 02:49
@TylerJohnson It's an entirely different idea from my last few puzzles so it's not shocking. I was waiting an extra day before posting hints but I have one ready for tomorrow. — Engineer Toast, Sep 02 '16 at 03:07
@GentlePurpleRain Your username is also mostly ruddy although it's not a very good one because your ruddy is all wrong. — Engineer Toast, Sep 02 '16 at 13:32
All I can see is that Nametag is an obvious anagram, but I don't know if one can build something with it. — IAmInPLS, Sep 02 '16 at 13:36
"the words on the bottom are more mostly than those at the top" What does that mean? — Areeb, Sep 02 '16 at 13:42
@IAmInPLS one possible anagram is magenta. Ruddy's meaning has to do with the color red, So I think that is a possible link. Also Since GentlePurpleRain's username is mostly ruddy, I think I'm on the right track. — Areeb, Sep 02 '16 at 13:46
@Engineer Toast I've had so many trains of though derailed by the word "Zoology." This is a very interesting/frustrating one!
Your hint implies that "Mostly" and "Ruddy" are two separate qualities to consider. Is this true, or a typo? — TwoBitOperation, Sep 02 '16 at 14:12
@Areeb You may think I made a typo or omitted a word, but I assure you that is not the case. — Engineer Toast, Sep 02 '16 at 14:43
@TwoBitOperation You are correct. A word must be mostly and ruddy (and in that order) in order to be Mostly Ruddy. Both the words "mostly" and "ruddy" are themselves mostly ruddy. — Engineer Toast, Sep 02 '16 at 14:44

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 03 '16 at 06:24

24

The simple transformation is

to write the words in lowercase.

Then a mostly word is

a word that has a letter that ascends above the midline (dots do not count).

and a ruddy word is

a word that has a letter that descends below the baseline.

and a mostly ruddy word is

a word that has an ascending letter before a descending letter (i.e. is mostly before it is ruddy).

I think mostly ruddy refers to

the idea that if the word were a boat then the ascending letter could be a mast (most) and the descending letter could be a rudder (ruddy), so naturally the mast should come before the rudder.

answered Sep 03 '16 at 06:24

finsternis

716
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Finally this puzzle will stop bothering my day ^_^ – greenturtle3141 Sep 03 '16 at 06:34
3

You get the tick for having the right answer. You get +1 for getting my hilarious pun. – Engineer Toast Sep 03 '16 at 12:13

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 02 '16 at 16:58

1

It would appear that the first word is a slightly more specific type of what the second word is. For example, a name tag isn't necessarily tied to all forms of identification, but it is a type of identification. Zoology is a type of medicine. So, the rule is: 'first word' is a type of 'second word'

edited Sep 02 '16 at 16:58

JMP

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answered Sep 02 '16 at 16:54

ToTheMax

469
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can't seem to make it fit with waterjet.... – Sid Sep 02 '16 at 16:56
They can't all be winners, eh? Best answer I could come up with. – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 16:59
Although water is partially air..? – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 17:00
What about allergen, scallops, and hallelujah? – Engineer Toast Sep 02 '16 at 17:01
Allergens irritate, therefore are an irritant. – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 17:02
Scallops are (supposedly) a species of crawfish. – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 17:25
Hallelujah was derived from alleluia. Solution seems to work. – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 17:26
Ahhh, I missed your point before. They all line up because I picked a synonym as the example of a Not Mostly Ruddy Word™. Whether or not a word is a Word™ is typically self-contained and not reliant upon any other example given nor the anti-examples given. Such has been the trend in the What is a Word/Phrase™ series. It looks like you're new here so welcome to Puzzling! I have failed to specify such quantifiers because I wrongly presumed readers would have the background. Perhaps a caveat should be added to the OP – Engineer Toast Sep 02 '16 at 17:43
Well, thanks for the welcome wagon. I still don't see how this answer is reliant on any others, though..? The pairings all seem to work independently, at least to me. I'm open to responses. – ToTheMax Sep 02 '16 at 17:48

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 02 '16 at 16:04

-1

Not a complete answer:

I noticed that most Mostly Ruddy Words are made up of two words that are not the same length.
Name-tag
Rail-way
Whim-per
Water-jet
Etc.

It didn't follow the pattern for some words. This is probably a dead end, it might inspire someone though.

edited Sep 02 '16 at 16:04

JMP

35,612
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answered Sep 02 '16 at 15:51

Areeb

1,654
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-1: This should probably be a comment, not an answer. – Deusovi Sep 02 '16 at 16:12
What about allergen, scallops, and hallelujah? – Engineer Toast Sep 02 '16 at 17:01
@EngineerToast yeah I said it didn't follows the rule for every word. I should've put it in a comment – Areeb Sep 02 '16 at 17:35

What is a Mostly Ruddy Word™?

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