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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 Bedspread Word™.
Use the following examples below to find the rule.

Bedspread Words™ Not Bedspread Words™
XEROX PHOTOCOPY
FLUFFY ARAGOG
JUJITSU KARATE
BUBBLES BUTTERCUP
ECLECTIC ASSORTED
PINEAPPLE RASPBERRY
CHIHUAHUA DOGSLEDDED
CLOCKWORK SMOOTHNESS
COMMUNISM COLLECTIVISM
ZIGZAGGING* UNDULATING

                                        * This is a Double Bedspread Word™

 

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

Bedspread Words™,Not Bedspread Words™
XEROX,PHOTOCOPY
FLUFFY,ARAGOG
JUJITSU,KARATE
BUBBLES,BUTTERCUP
ECLECTIC,ASSORTED
PINEAPPLE,RASPBERRY
CHIHUAHUA,DOGSLEDDED
CLOCKWORK,SMOOTHNESS
COMMUNISM,COLLECTIVISM
ZIGZAGGING*,UNDULATING

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

What is the special rule these words conform to?

Hint:

Title: Reference the Greek lizard.

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  • $\begingroup$ I had been waiting for a lull in the flow of puzzles of this type to post one of my own, but that lull has never come - so here we go regardless...! $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 9:08
  • $\begingroup$ Is ECLECTIC a typo? $\endgroup$
    – Conifers
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 9:39
  • $\begingroup$ @Conifers Nope! :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 9:40
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    $\begingroup$ Oops I just thought you may want to type "ELECTRIC"... I have to appoint an eye doctor for someday :( $\endgroup$
    – Conifers
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 10:00

2 Answers 2

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The following words are Bedspread Words™ because:

Using the standard number of tiles in a Scrabble set, a blank tile will be needed to write out the word. If you lookup "Bedspread" in a thesaurus, you will find the word "Blanket", which makes sense in this case.

Table:

number of scrabble pieces in standard set

Proof:

XEROX (1 X in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
FLUFFY (2 Fs in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
JUJITSU (1 J in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
BUBBLES (2 Bs in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
ECLECTIC (2 Cs in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
PINEAPPLE (2 Ps in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
CHIHUAHUA (2 Hs in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
CLOCKWORK (1 K in Scrabble, 1 blank tile);
COMMUNISM (2 Ms in Scrabble, 1 blank tile).

Words which are not Bedspread Words™

can be made with the standard Scrabble letter count.

ZIGZAGGING is a Double Bedspread Word™ because:

ZIGZAGGING (3 Gs and 1 Z in Scrabble, 1 blank tile for G, 1 blank tile for Z)...

Therefore, two blank (bedspread) tiles are needed.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ You're pretty much there, although you've missed BUBBLES in your 'Proof' section. You also need the title - I'll add a hint... $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Aug 27, 2019 at 10:20
  • $\begingroup$ @Stiv The only thing I was able to come up with was the greek lizard type of camo, which could make sense for the blank tiles. But I wasn't able to make a connection to "Bedspread". $\endgroup$
    – Kyle Williamson
    Commented Aug 27, 2019 at 20:51
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    $\begingroup$ I've made a small edit to your answer to make the text content of the 'Proof' section image more accessible to screen readers, etc. (hope you don't mind). For the final explanation I recommend looking up the word 'bedspread' in a reference book which is not a dictionary...! $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Sep 1, 2019 at 18:23
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    $\begingroup$ I think the key word for explaining the title is rot13(_oynax_rg), though I'm not sure where the Greek lizards come in. $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Commented Sep 18, 2019 at 22:11
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    $\begingroup$ Oh, sorry, the Greek lizard is just explaining what sort of reference book to look in: rot13(gur_fnhehf_). $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Commented Sep 18, 2019 at 22:12
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I didn't check everything rigorously yet, but I think a Bedspread Word

can be spelled using a standard Scrabble set, but only with the help of the blank wildcard tile(s).

(Those kind of look like bed sheets, too.)

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  • $\begingroup$ Well, check it rigorously, add some explanatory detail for each word (including the Double Bedspread word) and nail down that title... and then the green checkmark can be yours! :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 13:06

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