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I was in the library the other day, and a strange fellow sat down next to me. We chatted for a bit about random things, and then he mentioned something about words being heavy. I was confused as we weren't talking about any subject that was particularly heavy, so I asked him to explain. He replied that some words weigh more than others. I agreed with him, and asked how he measured the weight of words. He smiled and said, "I won't tell you how, you must discover that for yourself. But, I will help you. Your first clue is that HEAVY weighs the same as LIGHT." Since I was bored, I decided to play his game, but even with the other clues he gave me, I couldn't figure it out, and now it's bugging me. Can you help me figure out how he determines the weight of words?

Other clues received (Bold word indicated that it is heavier, no bold word indicates that both weigh the same).

I, TO
TO, TWO
TWO, THREE
THREE, EIGHT
BOLD, LEFT
WEIRD, WONKY
THREE, UNIVERSAL
OTHER, NEED
NEED, KEEP
PAPER, OTHER
ZOO, TO
QUILT, VIABLE
REAR, AXES
CREED, JUXTAPOSE
CREED, READ
OTHER, WEIGHT
READ, NEED
READ, UNIVERSAL

He came back again today to see if I had figured it out yet. I had not, so he asked if I need some more clues. I said yes, but give me a bit to think about which clues I wanted to ask. What words should I weigh? I can weigh 6 sets of words today.

OH, HI
WAVE, OTTO
EYE, READ
GIVE, DOG
ANGER, PEN
PEAR, READ

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    $\begingroup$ The real question is how long it took till you both got kicked out of the library... $\endgroup$ – Just a browsing guest Apr 11 '18 at 20:12
  • $\begingroup$ Are they transitive, such that if "NEED" > "READ" and "READ" > "UNIVERSAL" (in terms of weight), then "NEED" > "UNIVERSAL"? $\endgroup$ – Alex Apr 12 '18 at 19:23
  • $\begingroup$ @Alex yes, they are transitive $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 12 '18 at 19:25
  • $\begingroup$ OH and HI, WAVE and OTTO, EYE and READ, GIVE and DOG $\endgroup$ – NetJohn Apr 12 '18 at 20:28
  • $\begingroup$ @NetJohn updated. $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 12 '18 at 21:03
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Since @Dragonrage mentioned use arial font,
I assume that comparison based on

90 degree angle inside the corresponding letter

which lead

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0 4 0 2 4 3 1 4 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

and transform the letter

HEAVY, LIGHT 8 = 8
I, TO 0 < 2
TO, TWO 2 = 2
TWO, THREE 2 < 17
THREE, EIGHT 17 > 11
BOLD, LEFT 7 < 10
WEIRD, WONKY 9 > 2
THREE, UNIVERSAL 17 > 8
OTHER, NEED 13 > 10
NEED, KEEP
PAPER, OTHER 13 = 13
ZOO, TO 0 < 2
QUILT, VIABLE 3 < 9
REAR, AXES 10 > 4
CREED, JUXTAPOSE 13 > 10
CREED, READ 13 > 9
OTHER, WEIGHT 13 > 11
READ, NEED 9 < 10
READ, UNIVERSAL 9 > 8
OH, HI 4 = 4
WAVE, OTTO 4 = 4
EYE, READ 8 < 9
GIVE, DOG 5 > 3
ANGER, PEN 8 > 7
PEAR, READ 10 > 9

As you see, it's still error on 1 argument

NEED, KEEP

EDIT :

as @Dragonrage commented below, that

NEED, KEEP
should be
NEED, KEEP
then all becomes true since
NEED, KEEP 10 < 13

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  • $\begingroup$ seems like i forgot to make keep bold. it was bold on my spreadsheet i made. but yes, this is the way i was determining the weight $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 13 '18 at 6:37
  • $\begingroup$ I edit the answer, thanks for the revision. Glad to answer your riddle. $\endgroup$ – nathoenk Apr 13 '18 at 6:43
  • $\begingroup$ hope you had fun, and nice job :) $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 13 '18 at 6:45
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The letters are valued as such:

L, T = 1
D, F, H, P, R = 2
B, E = 3
A, K, N (and I assume M and Z) = -2
All others are worth 0

The values are determined:

By the number of times a horizontal line meets a vertical line in a right angle (+1) and number of times a vertical or horizontal line meets another line at an acute angle (-1). Curves have no effect (C, J, O, Q, S), neither do two non-horizontal, non-vertical lines meeting (V, W, X, Y?), or a single straight line (I, which apparently is sans-serif).

This assumes that G is worth 0, possibly due to the font the OP is looking at. It would appear that G would be worth at least 1, but OTHER (7) > WEIGHT (6 + G).

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  • $\begingroup$ hmm, close. I am using Arial as the font. possibly i shouldve added more clues up front to make it easier to check weights. if you would like, i can add 4 more sets of words to help. just let me know which sets of words you would like to have $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 12 '18 at 20:13
  • $\begingroup$ OK, I posted a list in the comment on the main question. Hopefully I'm closer than I am far away. $\endgroup$ – NetJohn Apr 12 '18 at 20:29
  • $\begingroup$ you are looking in the right place. just in slightly the wrong way. $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 12 '18 at 21:24
  • $\begingroup$ If R = 2 (because the non-vert, non-horiz line hits the curve rather than the straight), and A = -1, everything works out except for the new READ < NEED. $\endgroup$ – NetJohn Apr 12 '18 at 22:29
  • $\begingroup$ ill add 2 more words that i think might help you. $\endgroup$ – Dragonrage Apr 12 '18 at 23:06
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with the words given above,

single 'O' and 'AE' > words containing no 'E';
single 'E' > single 'O';
'EE' > 'E' > 'O',
'EA' and 'OE' > 'EE'
and 'EA' = words containing no E or O

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    $\begingroup$ Pretty sure this doesn't make any sense... Need<Read<Creed $\endgroup$ – Sconibulus Apr 11 '18 at 20:19
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling. Please try NOT to answer a puzzle with a puzzle :) $\endgroup$ – ABcDexter Apr 12 '18 at 22:19

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