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In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.


If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it an Exclusive Word™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

Exclusive Words™ Not Exclusive Words™
BY NEAR
PA DAD
ERR ERROR
LED LEAD
SHY BOLD
ANTE POST
BRED SIRED
BRIG JAIL
DIES LIVES
IRON STEEL
SPIT SALIVA
BLEST CURSED
BRING LEAVE
CLING CLEAVE
COMMS RADIOS
GRADS STUDENTS
HOVER FLOAT
MATED JOINED
MEERS TARNS
STOUT STURDY
HOLLER SHOUT
SHOPPER CONSUMER
REPRIMED REPAINTED

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

Exclusive Words™,Not Exclusive Words™
BY,NEAR
PA,DAD
ERR,ERROR
LED,LEAD
SHY,BOLD
ANTE,POST
BRED,SIRED
BRIG,JAIL
DIES,LIVES
IRON,STEEL
SPIT,SALIVA
BLEST,CURSED
BRING,LEAVE
CLING,CLEAVE
COMMS,RADIOS
GRADS,STUDENTS
HOVER,FLOAT
MATED,JOINED
MEERS,TARNS
STOUT,STURDY
HOLLER,SHOUT
SHOPPER,CONSUMER
REPRIMED,REPAINTED

This puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt rule that each word can be tested for whether it is an Exclusive Word™ without relying on the other words.
These are not the only examples of Exclusive Words™; many more exist.

What is the special rule these words conform to?
Why are they called Exclusive Words™?

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1 Answer 1

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An 'Exclusive Word' is...

...a word which can have the substring 'AND' inserted somewhere among its letters to make another real word.

All the words on the left satisfy this:

BANDY
PANDA
ERRAND
LANDED
SHANDY
ANDANTE
BRANDED
BRIGAND
DANDIES
ANDIRON
SANDPIT
BLANDEST
BRANDING
CANDLING
COMMANDS
GRANDADS
HANDOVER
MANDATED
MEANDERS
STANDOUT
HOLLANDER
SANDHOPPER
REPRIMANDED

The name 'Exclusive Word' suggests a connection with...

...the logical operator XAND, or 'exclusive and' (the equivalent of 'XNOR' and logical complement to 'XOR'), since all of these words have excluded 'AND'...

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