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up vote 9 down vote favorite

This is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Racist Word™. (Disclaimer: In case anyone feels nervous about this puzzle, Racist Words™ are not actual racist words.)

In addition, the Not Racist Words™ are Not Racist in a related way. Can you also determine what that is?

Use the following examples below to find the rule:

enter image description here

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

Racist Words™,Not Racist Words™
BLACK,ALBUM
BROAD,CHANT
GREAT,CRYPT
LARGE,EARTH
LIGHT,FIELD
NOBLE,GLAND
QUICK,HEATH
SWEET,OUNCE
THICK,TRIES

share|improve this question
9  
Of course, just saying the word "BLACK" is racist now. – Meiffert 7 hours ago
6  
Random trivia: 'album' is Latin for 'white'. Of course that's not racist ... – Glorfindel 7 hours ago
9  
so the White Album is ... like ... really white? – Rubio 6 hours ago
up vote 17 down vote accepted

I think the answer is

All words in the list, both Racist™ and Not Racist™, can be appended with the letters EN either at the beginning or the end. For the Racist Words™, the result is just an extension of the root word, while for the Non-Racist Words™, the meaning changes completely.

Racist Words™

BLACKEN
BROADEN
GREATEN
ENLARGE
LIGHTEN
ENNOBLE
QUICKEN
SWEETEN
THICKEN

Non-Racist Words™

ALBUMEN
ENCHANT
ENCRYPT
EARTHEN
ENFIELD
ENGLAND
HEATHEN
ENOUNCE
ENTRIES

They are called Racist™ because

I think this is a reference to the "N-word", adding EN to the Racist Words™ does not fundamentally change them while adding EN to the Non-Racist Words™ completely changes the meaning.

share|improve this answer
    
If this is not the answer, it should be. – David Conrad 3 hours ago
    
@hexomino: That's correct - well done. What I had in mind is that modifying the words on the left in the way you have stated gives words that mean "to make ___", while doing the same to the words on the right does not. – paolo 1 hour ago
1  
Awesome. Clever question, clever answer. – Pete 1 hour ago
up vote 2 down vote

Racist words are words that

can be postfixed with NESS to make another word.

There is a simpler explanation:

all adjectives

are racist words.

share|improve this answer
    
They are, but that isn't the link. – paolo 7 hours ago
up vote 2 down vote

Racist words are words that

can end with "EST"

So:

BLACKEST, BROADEST, GREATEST, LARGEST, LIGHTEST, NOBLEST, QUICKEST, SWEETEST, THICKEST

are racist words.

share|improve this answer
    
this doesn't work for NOBLE or LARGE. – Rubio 6 hours ago
    
Noblest and Largest - Both words can end with "EST". The fact that the base words already end with 'e' is irrelevant. – Pete 6 hours ago
    
ah. i guess that makes sense. gotcha. – Rubio 6 hours ago
3  
Ermmm... Am I wrong or is it simpler to say they are adjectives in this case? – geisterfurz007 5 hours ago
    
@geisterfurz007 - Could be. I'm stuck on how the "est" relates to "racist" and how to define the "non racist" words. I'm hoping that someone who's had more coffee than me can supply a fuller answer. – Pete 5 hours ago
up vote 2 down vote

The words which have superlatives or in racist terms superior-

BLACKEST BROADEST GREATEST LARGEST LIGHTEST NOBLEST QUICKEST SWEETEST THICKEST Means the one which can end with ST as the title says "Racist"

share|improve this answer
    
This isn't it. The Not Racist Words have been carefully chosen, and part of the puzzle is working out how they fit. – paolo 4 hours ago
up vote 1 down vote

Here's my answer:

Each of the words on the left can be made into a new word by adding the >! letters 'E', 'E', 'N', 'D' BLACKENED BROADENED GREATENED ENLARGED LIGHTENED ENNOBLED QUICKENED SWEETENED THICKENED

share|improve this answer
1  
I think this doesn't work with ENCRYPTED or ENCHANTED, which are not supposed to fit the pattern. – tmpearce 7 hours ago
    
@quarkle: Very close. If you look at the title, you might see how to modify your answer to get the correct one. – paolo 7 hours ago
    
@tmpearce: You are right to notice this. In this particular puzzle, the Not Racist Words™ are Not Racist in a related way. – paolo 7 hours ago

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