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Really enjoyed creating this kind of puzzle, here's another one.

If a word conforms to a special rule I call it an Elegant Word™

Elegant Words™ Not Elegant Words™
VISCOUS FLUID
JOINING MERGING
PUBLIC PRIVATE
BIG TINY
MUSIC MOZART
GO STOP
DOZING WORKING
SUCCUBUS SAINT
UNICORN HORSE
POISON TOXIC

The CSV version: (it won't help this time)

Elegant Words™, Not Elegant Words™
VISCOUS, FLUID
JOINING, MERGING
PUBLIC, PRIVATE
BIG, TINY
MUSIC, MOZART
GO, STOP
DOZING, WORKING
SUCCUBUS, SAINT
UNICORN, HORSE
POISON, TOXIC

Can you tell me what the rule is?

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2
  • $\begingroup$ These usually do better the longer the list is too, makes it a little harder (sometimes) to get right away. :) $\endgroup$ – n_plum Aug 1 '17 at 11:15
  • $\begingroup$ True, but I was having trouble trying to come up with related words on the right columns with "I,O,U" vowels. Since using too much of A and E would be too obvious that the vowels are clearly segmented into Elegant and Not Elegant @n_palum $\endgroup$ – bolt997 Aug 1 '17 at 13:49
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An elegant word is a word where

each letter can be written without stopping. Not elegant letters include T, F, E, K, H.

The csv version is unhelpful because

the I is written as I and would therefore not be elegant.

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6
  • $\begingroup$ I think this is more than likely correct (especially since I would agree with the term 'elegant' for such words), but wouldn't this also mean that the serifs in the OP's very first table ruin the supposedly elegant words there? $\endgroup$ – Falc Aug 1 '17 at 12:03
  • $\begingroup$ I like this but the image above uses all serifed letters. Note that the I does not have a cross-beam on the top and bottom like the T does. All it has are serifs. If the I cannot be drawn with a single version, then nothing can. If this is right - and I bet it is - then OP needs to update the image to use a sans serif font. $\endgroup$ – Engineer Toast Aug 1 '17 at 12:07
  • $\begingroup$ How do I do that? The reason I used the > notation is to show that I don't want the serif (but kept it in that table since that's the template for all What's a ... word) $\endgroup$ – bolt997 Aug 1 '17 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ The table is indeed unfortunate. I only noticed that there seemed to be a set of letters that would divide the words into elegant/not elegant. Then it took a while to get the exact rule which I found by looking at the differences between the csv and quote block where the I was the only letter that changed significantly. $\endgroup$ – w l Aug 1 '17 at 14:29
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    $\begingroup$ Table is fixed for you. Enjoy. $\endgroup$ – Rubio♦ Aug 1 '17 at 14:48

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