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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 B1K1N1 Word™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

B1K1N1 Words ™ Not B1K1N1 Words ™
ABANDONMENT* ALTERNATIVELY
ABDUCTION† TAKEN
AGENT FANFARE
CENSOR ALLOW
CHAPERONE† SIBLING
CLEANLY CLEANEST
DIJON KETCHUP
GIGABYTE TYKE
LAMBDA DELTA
LOTION SUNSCREEN
MACABRE DARK
PEAS PLEASE
PENSIONABLE‡ ELDERLY
PERSONABLE* FRIENDLY
SKIN ALBINO
SNUB ACKNOWLEDGE
SUBCATEGORY SUBMARINE
SUNBURN TAN
UNBEARABLE† TOLERATED
UNBUCKLE BUCKLE
WHISKY VODKA

† Double B1K1N1 words

* Triple B1K1N1 words

‡ Quadruple B1K1N1 words

CSV Version:

ABANDONMENT*,ALTERNATIVELY
ABDUCTION†,TAKEN
AGENT,FANFARE
CENSOR,ALLOW
CHAPERONE†,SIBLING
CLEANLY,CLEANEST
DIJON,KETCHUP
GIGABYTE,TYKE
LAMBDA,DELTA
LOTION,SUNSCREEN
MACABRE,DARK
PEAS,PLEASE
PENSIONABLE‡,ELDERLY
PERSONABLE*,FRIENDLY
SKIN,ALBINO
SNUB,ACKNOWLEDGE
SUBCATEGORY,SUBMARINE
SUNBURN,TAN
UNBEARABLE†,TOLERATED
UNBUCKLE,BUCKLE
WHISKY,VODKA

The puzzle satisfies the series' inbuilt assumption, that each word can be tested for whether it is a B1K1N1 Word™ without relying on the other words.

These are not the only examples of B1K1N1 Words™, many more exist.

Hint

Jamie brings up a good point in the comments. The fact that a bikini is actually two parts might help you see the large hint hidden in plain sight. If not though, here's a list of a couple more B1K1N1 words:

 ABALONE†
 AGAPE
 ARABIC
 ATONAL
 BELONG
 BRISKET
 CHAPEL
 COLONS
 DATABLE
 DESK
 EMBOSS
 LIMB
 LULLABY
 OZONE
 PEAR
 RUPEE
 SKINNY
 TUMBLE
 ZOMBIE

Hint #2

I wanted to call them D0M1N0 words, but I would have had to call them K0M1N0 instead if I wanted the title to be a valid [redacted].

Hint #3

With Hint #2 plus the knowledge tag, you should be able to get this.

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  • $\begingroup$ is whiskey intentionally spelled wrong? $\endgroup$
    – Quintec
    Commented Aug 13, 2017 at 21:51
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @thecoder16 Correction to my previous comment: As far as I know, 'WHISKY' (a B1K1N1 word) usually refers to the Scottish drink, while 'WHISKEY' (also a B1K1N1 word) usually refers to the Irish drink. $\endgroup$
    – Morgan G
    Commented Aug 13, 2017 at 23:46
  • $\begingroup$ Is this something to do with top and/or bottom? $\endgroup$
    – Jamie Barker
    Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 9:12
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Been a while and this is still unsolved. Would you mind adding another hint to push us in the right direction/get this more visible again? $\endgroup$
    – Barker
    Commented Nov 29, 2017 at 1:17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Is BIKINI a B1K1N1 word? $\endgroup$
    – ibrahim mahrir
    Commented Dec 10, 2017 at 19:47

2 Answers 2

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A B1K1N1 word is a word that

contains one or more of the Canadian province/territory abbreviations. A double B1K1N1 word contains 2 non-overlapping abbreviations (note that COLONS isn't counted as a double since ON and NS overlap), a triple B1K1N1 word contains 3, etc.

Based on the hints, I believe they are called B1K1N1 words because

The string "B1K 1N1" is a Canadian postal code (specifically for Grand Mira North), which is another way to reference regions of Canada. Not every combination of letters and numbers is used. "D0M 1N0" doesn't exist ("D" isn't used), but "K0M 1N0" does. Also, a bikini is a two-piece bathing suit, and province abbreviations have two letters.

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  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Nice job! Thanks for finally closing this :) $\endgroup$
    – Morgan G
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 23:16
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    $\begingroup$ Congratulations and thanks for finally solving this. Why are these words called B1K1N1 words? $\endgroup$
    – M Oehm
    Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 7:22
  • $\begingroup$ @MorganG: Thanks for the challenge! I really racked my brain on that one. $\endgroup$
    – gnovice
    Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 15:22
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This seems almost too obvious...

A B1K1N1 word is

A word where alternate letters can be substituted with numbers, according to the following rule: 1 = I or L, 2 = Z, 3 = E, 4 = A, 5 = S, 6 = H or U, 7 = Y or T, 8 = B, 9 = R, 0 = O

So for example:

AGENT => 4G3N7
GIGABYTE => G1G4B7T3
SUBCATEGORY => 5U8C4T3G0R7
WHISKY => W6I5K7
BIKINI => B1K1N1

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Good attempt @F1Krazy. How about substituting 'H' or 'U' ... or for that matter ..it requires full set of numbers for 26 alphabets...I think..:-) $\endgroup$
    – Mea Culpa Nay
    Commented Aug 14, 2017 at 9:38
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    $\begingroup$ now you can write TYKE in this form too $\endgroup$
    – ffao
    Commented Aug 14, 2017 at 10:48
  • $\begingroup$ @ffao I thought this solution was too obvious... $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Aug 14, 2017 at 10:49
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    $\begingroup$ Since SUBCATEGORY, MACABRE and LOTION are B1K1N1 words, wouldn't that approach also make SUBMARINE a B1K1N1 word? $\endgroup$
    – Moghwyn
    Commented Aug 14, 2017 at 11:49

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