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If a word has a certain property, I call it an Alpha Word™. Based on the following list, determine the rule governing if a word is an Alpha Word™.

Alpha Words          Not Alpha Words
AND                  AN
BIOLOGY              APPLE
CODE                 AUTHORS
CONCEPTUAL           BASKETBALL
FANS                 BUT
INFORMATION          CODED
LAW                  CYTOPLASM
LEVEL                DESPITE
LITERATE             GOLF
MINING               LIFESTYLE
MOVIE                MACROECONOMICS
PASSIONATE           MEDIA
POWER                PICTURESQUE
RELATED              REALISTIC
SERIOUS              SEVERANCE
SYSTEM               SIGNAL
THOSE                SYNERGY
TRAIN                THULIUM
WARRIORS             VITAL
WISH                 XYLOPHONE

Hint 1

Because the classifications of some of these words may change over time, it should be noted that this challenge was written on December 4, 2015.

Hint 2

"FOR" demonstrates itself as an Alpha Word very much.

Hint 3

Alpha Words are not Beta Words.

Hint 4

If you are reading this, you are exactly one click away from finding the rule in this challenge. Want to use your click on this?

Hint 5 (makes this much easier)

You are also one click away from finding all of the Beta words.

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    $\begingroup$ I haven't clicked through to the link, but if that really is a link to the answer I would delete it. $\endgroup$
    – Dr Xorile
    Dec 5, 2015 at 17:28
  • $\begingroup$ As one day has passed since the time of posting, I have added another hint. $\endgroup$
    – Arcturus
    Dec 6, 2015 at 0:29
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I have to say the solution in the link is very creative. $\endgroup$
    – AvZ
    Dec 6, 2015 at 15:37
  • $\begingroup$ Does the font or capitalization matter? $\endgroup$
    – Dr Xorile
    Dec 6, 2015 at 17:29
  • $\begingroup$ @DrXorile No, they don't. $\endgroup$
    – Arcturus
    Dec 6, 2015 at 18:59

2 Answers 2

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I think I've got it!

All the alpha words can all be found on here: http://stackexchange.com/sites, which is a page accessible with one click (Hint 4,5) on any of the "more" hyper links at the bottom of the page. Make sure you're using list view and displaying all sites.

Alpha words are words that can be found in the subtitles of NON-BETA stackexchanges. Non-alpha words are conversely any words that cannot be found in the NON-BETA subtitles.

Just control-f the words and click on the stackexchange to see if it's non-beta.

Hint 1 references the time-sensitivity of these words (since stackexchanges can gain / lose beta status over time). Hint 2 is because the word FOR is in every single subtitle.

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  • $\begingroup$ That's right, you got it! $\endgroup$
    – Arcturus
    Dec 7, 2015 at 12:42
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Adding to @AZGreenTea's discovery:

  • If a word exists in non-beta sites' description, its an ALPHA word, even if it also exists in beta sites.
  • If a word does not exist in alpha sites' description or exists in beta sites' description, its a BETA word.

Here are a few examples: LINK

Alpha Words : 

AND                  Stack Overflow
BIOLOGY              Biology
CODE                 Codereview
CONCEPTUAL           Programmers
FANS                 Anime and Manga
INFORMATION          Information Security
LAW                  Mi Yodeya
LEVEL                Mathematics
LITERATE             Personal Finance & Money
MINING               Cross Validated
MOVIE                Movies & TV
PASSIONATE           Arqade
POWER                Super User
RELATED              Mathematics
SERIOUS              Home Improvement
SYSTEM               Server Fault
THOSE                Christianity
TRAIN                Bicycles
WARRIORS             Travel
WISH                 Database Administrators
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