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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 a Plus Word™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

Plus Words™ Not Plus Words™
ALERTEST DROWSIEST
BULLIEST DANDIEST
CLEANLIEST GODLINESS
COARSEST CORSAGES
CRANKIEST CRANKSHAFT
CREEPIEST CREEPIER
CULTURE COUNTERCULTURE
ECSTASIES ECSTASY
FITLIEST FITTEST
FRESHEST STALEST
HONORING HONORABLE
HUMBLEST HUMBLED
KNOWLEDGED KNOWLEDGEABLE
LEVELEST LEVELHEADED
LIGHTEST LIGHTHEADED
LUCKIEST LUCKY
MATCHLESS PEERLESS
NAPPIEST HAPPIEST
REPUTABLE DISREPUTABLE
SIGHTLY UNSIGHTLY
SLENDERER SLENDER
SPICIEST MILDEST
STANDARDS STANDARDIZE
STATUS STATIC
STRESS STRESSFUL
STYLES STYLISH
TOASTY WARM
UNMATCHABLE UNMATCHED

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

Plus Words™,Not Plus Words™
ALERTEST,DROWSIEST
BULLIEST,DANDIEST
CLEANLIEST,GODLINESS
COARSEST,CORSAGES
CRANKIEST,CRANKSHAFT
CREEPIEST,CREEPIER
CULTURE,COUNTERCULTURE
ECSTASIES,ECSTASY
FITLIEST,FITTEST
FRESHEST,STALEST
HONORING,HONORABLE
HUMBLEST,HUMBLED
KNOWLEDGED,KNOWLEDGEABLE
LEVELEST,LEVELHEADED
LIGHTEST,LIGHTHEADED
LUCKIEST,LUCKY
MATCHLESS,PEERLESS
NAPPIEST,HAPPIEST
REPUTABLE,DISREPUTABLE
SIGHTLY,UNSIGHTLY
SLENDERER,SLENDER
SPICIEST,MILDEST
STANDARDS,STANDARDIZE
STATUS,STATIC
STRESS,STRESSFUL
STYLES,STYLISH
TOASTY,WARM
UNMATCHABLE,UNMATCHED

The puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is a Plus Word™ without relying on the other words.
These are not the only examples of Plus Words™; many more exist.

What is the special rule these words conform to?

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2 Answers 2

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A Plus word is a word where

The value of the letters (A1Z26 - A=1, B=2...Z=26) adds up to 100

Examples:

ALTEREST:

1-12-5-18-20-5-19-20 = 1+12+5+18+20+5+19+20 = 100

REPUTABLE:

18-5-16-21-20-1-2-12-5 = 18+5+16+21+20+1+2+12+5 = 100

It is called a plus word because

Plus refers to the addition between each letter value

Or as Rubio originally intended

The title says 'a plus word' or an A+ word which is 100% (roughly)

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5
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Well for at least few:

SLENDERER -> to numbers
19-12-5-14-4-5-18-5-18
= 100 total
REPUTABLE
18-5-16-21-20-1-2-12-5
= 100 total
tried for 10 and still 100 total, so this rule?

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  • $\begingroup$ Sorry beat you to it :) $\endgroup$ Mar 2, 2017 at 7:12

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