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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 the name of an animal conforms to a special rule, I call it a Cardinal Animal™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

Cardinal Animal™ Not Cardinal Animal™
EAGLE GOOSE
GIRAFFE CARIBOU
MONITOR LIZARD GENTOO PENGUIN
FALCON TURKEY
DUCK COOT
HEDGEHOG PLATYPUS
CAT DOG

CSV Version:

Cardinal Animal™,Not Cardinal Animal™
EAGLE,GOOSE
GIRAFFE,CARIBOU
MONITOR LIZARD,GENTOO PENGUIN
FALCON,TURKEY
DUCK,COOT
HEDGEHOG,PLATYPUS
CAT,DOG

The puzzle relies on the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is a Cardinal Animal™ without relying on the other words.

These are not the only examples of Cardinal Animals™, many more exist.

Hint:

The pairing across each row tells you something about one half of the pattern

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1 Answer 1

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An animal is a Cardinal Animal™ if

The first letter of its name, converted to a number via A1Z26, is the length of its name.

They are called Cardinal because

Their first (cardinal, maybe?) letter can be treated as a cardinal number for the length of its name.

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    $\begingroup$ So a cardinal, oddly, is not a Cardinal Animal! $\endgroup$
    – LowIntHighCha
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 9:55
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    $\begingroup$ The name may also refer to the idea of cardinality in mathematics, which is the number of elements in a set. $\endgroup$
    – Kevin Long
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 15:43
  • $\begingroup$ But a Cat is. :p $\endgroup$
    – JohnP
    Commented Dec 14, 2016 at 17:51
  • $\begingroup$ The name 'Cardinal Animal' was intended to be a play on words, an attempt to distract with no actual tie to animals and the actual pattern, and also a minor hint at the solution -- which of course you guys found in a matter of hours. Since this is my first ever attempt at writing one of these, feedback and thoughts on how to improve are much welcomed. $\endgroup$
    – Zymurge
    Commented Dec 15, 2016 at 16:51

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