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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 an Odious Word™.

Use the following examples below to find the rule.

A table of Odious and Not Odious Words

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

Odious Words™,Not Odious Words™
Cabanas,Bungalows
Canvas,Linen
Chunky,Bulky
Embassy,Sector
Fuzzy,Fluffy
Iguana,Lizard
Ladybug,Beetle
Laudanum,Tincture
Oak,Elm
Quagga,Zebra
Rhumba,Samba
Rugby,Football
Thanks,Gratitude
Wumpus,Mugwump

P.S.: This is my first puzzle! Any feedback on its strengths and weaknesses is much appreciated.

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    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling Stack Exchange™! $\endgroup$
    – EKons
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 14:38
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    $\begingroup$ Iguanas and ladybugs aren't odious! :P $\endgroup$
    – Beastly Gerbil
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 15:01
  • $\begingroup$ Since you asked for feedback: I guess the question score speaks for itself, but I also think it's a very nice first question! Well defined and fairly difficult to solve. Can't point out any weaknesses to be honest. Looking forward to seeing (and maybe even solving :P) more puzzles from you! $\endgroup$
    – user14478
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 19:09

1 Answer 1

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An Odious Word™ is a word that

when converted to the decimal ASCII-representation of each letter, only contains odious numbers, and no evil numbers.

A more detailed explanation:

Convert each letter of the word to the decimal ASCII-represantion:
- If it has odious numbers only, it is odious.
- A word is thoroughly evil if it only contains evil numbers.
- If both of these cases don't apply, it is not odious (aka evil)
Here's a list of the words displaying if a letter is odious or evil:



 Odious Words™            Not Odious Words™

 Cabanas  OOOOOOO         Bungalows   EOOOOEEEO

 Canvas   OOOOOO          Linen       OEOEO

 Chunky   OOOOOO          Bulky       EOEOO

 Embassy  OOOOOOO         Sector      EEEEEE

 Fuzzy    OOOOO           Fluffy      OEOEEO

 Iguana   OOOOOO          Lizard      OEOOEO

 Ladybug  OOOOOOO         Beetle      EEEEEE

 Laudanum OOOOOOOO        Tincture    OEOEEOEE

 Oak      OOO             Elm         OEO

 Quagga   OOOOOO          Zebra       EEOEO

 Rhumba   OOOOOO          Samba       EOOOO

 Rugby    OOOOO           Football    OEEEOOEE

 Thanks   OOOOOO          Gratitude   EEOEEEOOE

 Wumpus   OOOOOO          Mugwump     EOOEOOO

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  • $\begingroup$ I was typing up an answer when you posted this! Great work. I agree that Samba appears to be odious, unless having a NON-odious first letter is a requirement? $\endgroup$
    – TwoBitOperation
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 17:55
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    $\begingroup$ @TwoBitOperation I think so too. I updated my answer, since I also made some embarrassing mistakes in my list. Now I think it's clearly a requirement that the first letter must be evil for an odious word. (and for a thoroughly evil word the first letter must be odious). This is kind of confusing IMO, since 00000 would then be considered evil, but I guess it's not that easy to find reasonable words. $\endgroup$
    – user14478
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 17:59
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    $\begingroup$ So, so close! Try analyzing the words exactly as I typed them, that is, the case is relevant. $\endgroup$
    – Phlarx
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 18:13
  • $\begingroup$ @Phlarx Hm... I tried using arrays A-z, a-Z and Aa-Zz, but no results... The cheeky answer would be to just "reverse the boolean value of the first letter", but that's certainly not what you want to hear :P I'm working on it, would be a shame if I fail at this part (for anyone who figured it out: feel free to post your own answer) $\endgroup$
    – user14478
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 18:30
  • $\begingroup$ Does it help if I say that hyphenated words are automatically Not Odious, but phrases (two or more words separated by a space) can be Odious? $\endgroup$
    – Phlarx
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 18:32

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