What is a Racist 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 Racist Word™. (Disclaimer: In case anyone feels nervous about this puzzle, Racist Words™ are not actual racist words.)

In addition, the Not Racist Words™ are Not Racist in a related way. Can you also determine what that is?

Use the following examples below to find the rule:

Racist Words™	Not Racist Words™
BLACK	ALBUM
BROAD	CHANT
GREAT	CRYPT
LARGE	EARTH
LIGHT	FIELD
NOBLE	GLAND
QUICK	HEATH
SWEET	OUNCE
THICK	TRIES

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

Racist Words™,Not Racist Words™  
BLACK,ALBUM  
BROAD,CHANT  
GREAT,CRYPT  
LARGE,EARTH  
LIGHT,FIELD  
NOBLE,GLAND  
QUICK,HEATH  
SWEET,OUNCE  
THICK,TRIES

Random trivia: 'album' is Latin for 'white'. Of course that's not racist ... — Glorfindel, Oct 25 '16 at 06:43
@Rubio Fair Gwen tried to play the White Album for the candidate but found that it was blank. — Robert Columbia, Oct 25 '16 at 15:38
Did anyone try comparative frequency analysis in certain politicians' speeches? — WBT, Oct 25 '16 at 19:07

hexomino · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-26T13:56:15.200

45

I think the answer is

All words in the list, both Racist™ and Not Racist™, can be appended or prepended with the letters EN. For the Racist Words™, the result is just an extension of the root word, while for the Non-Racist Words™, the meaning changes completely.

Racist Words™

BLACKEN
BROADEN
GREATEN
ENLARGE
LIGHTEN
ENNOBLE
QUICKEN
SWEETEN
THICKEN

Non-Racist Words™

ALBUMEN
ENCHANT
ENCRYPT
EARTHEN
ENFIELD
ENGLAND
HEATHEN
ENOUNCE
ENTRIES

They are called Racist™ because

I think this is a reference to the "N-word", adding EN to the Racist Words™ does not fundamentally change them while adding EN to the Non-Racist Words™ completely changes the meaning.

edited Oct 26 '16 at 13:56

answered Oct 25 '16 at 09:07

hexomino

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If this is not the answer, it should be. – David Conrad Oct 25 '16 at 10:24
1

@hexomino: That's correct - well done. What I had in mind is that modifying the words on the left in the way you have stated gives words that mean "to make ___", while doing the same to the words on the right does not. – paolo Oct 25 '16 at 12:06
6

Awesome. Clever question, clever answer. – Oct 25 '16 at 12:42
6

By this explanation, I find it strange to consider "earth" a non-racist word. – Daniel Wagner Oct 26 '16 at 20:16
1

@Daniel Wagner I see where you're coming from: earthenware is made of earth. However, the words on the left are all adjectives that are turned into verbs with the sense "to make ", and that isn't true for EARTH. – paolo Oct 27 '16 at 16:38

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 25 '16 at 06:26

8

Here's my answer:

Each of the words on the left can be made into a new word by adding the >! letters 'E', 'E', 'N', 'D'
BLACKENED BROADENED GREATENED ENLARGED LIGHTENED ENNOBLED QUICKENED SWEETENED THICKENED

answered Oct 25 '16 at 06:26

quarkle

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I think this doesn't work with ENCRYPTED or ENCHANTED, which are not supposed to fit the pattern. – tmpearce Oct 25 '16 at 06:29
@quarkle: Very close. If you look at the title, you might see how to modify your answer to get the correct one. – paolo Oct 25 '16 at 06:29
@tmpearce: You are right to notice this. In this particular puzzle, the Not Racist Words™ are Not Racist in a related way. – paolo Oct 25 '16 at 06:34
Oohh, close. well done! Deserves more votes I think. – n00dles Oct 25 '16 at 14:39
@tmpearce You've never chantened some weapons in your Minecraft world stored on your cryptened hard drive? – user253751 Oct 26 '16 at 04:52

score 8 · Answer 3 · 2016-10-25T07:06:11.533

8

Racist words are words that

can end with "EST"

So:

BLACKEST, BROADEST, GREATEST, LARGEST, LIGHTEST, NOBLEST, QUICKEST, SWEETEST, THICKEST

are racist words.

edited Oct 25 '16 at 07:06

answered Oct 25 '16 at 06:58

this doesn't work for NOBLE or LARGE. – Rubio Oct 25 '16 at 07:14
1

Noblest and Largest - Both words can end with "EST". The fact that the base words already end with 'e' is irrelevant. – Oct 25 '16 at 07:24
ah. i guess that makes sense. gotcha. – Rubio Oct 25 '16 at 07:26
6

Ermmm... Am I wrong or is it simpler to say they are adjectives in this case? – geisterfurz007 Oct 25 '16 at 07:58
1

@geisterfurz007 - Could be. I'm stuck on how the "est" relates to "racist" and how to define the "non racist" words. I'm hoping that someone who's had more coffee than me can supply a fuller answer. – Oct 25 '16 at 08:12
2

@Pete: clearly they are, in fact, "racest" and "non-racest" words. – flith Oct 26 '16 at 06:28
1

I dunno... the planet we live on is the Earthest of all the planets in our Solar system. – Ian MacDonald Oct 26 '16 at 14:06

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 25 '16 at 06:23

5

~~Racist words are words that~~

~~can be postfixed with NESS to make another word.~~

There is a simpler explanation:

all adjectives

are racist words.

answered Oct 25 '16 at 06:23

Glorfindel

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They are, but that isn't the link. – paolo Oct 25 '16 at 06:30
Naq aba-enpvfg jbeqf ner abhaf. (Forgive my old-fashioned ROT13ing. I don't know how else to hide a spoiler in a comment.) – Daniel Wagner Oct 26 '16 at 20:21

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 25 '16 at 07:22

4

The words which have superlatives or in racist terms superior-

BLACKEST BROADEST GREATEST LARGEST LIGHTEST NOBLEST QUICKEST SWEETEST THICKEST
Means the one which can end with ST as the title says "Racist"

answered Oct 25 '16 at 07:22

Techidiot

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This isn't it. The Not Racist Words have been carefully chosen, and part of the puzzle is working out how they fit. – paolo Oct 25 '16 at 08:53

What is a Racist Word™?

5 Answers5