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


For certain integers, there exist some corresponding Electronic Words™. Examples and non-examples include:

Number Electronic Words™ Not Electronic Words™
0 CHALK BLACKBOARD
0 CABLE WIRE
1 WRONG CORRECT
1 BORON CARBON
2 DEN LAIR
2 DRY WET
3 BANGER SAUSAGE
3 LONGER SHORTER
4 SLOWLY QUICKLY
4 LOVELY HATED
5 ENTER EXIT
5 GENIE DJINN
6 FUEL EMPTY
6 TUBE UNDERGROUND
7 TOILET RESTROOM
7 MOTIVE MOTIF
8 ARMY NAVY
8 YANG YIN
9 EIGHT NINE
9 TWICE THRICE

CSV Version:

Number, Electronic Words™, Not Electronic Words™
0, CHALK, BLACKBOARD
0, CABLE, WIRE
1, WRONG, CORRECT
1, BORON, CARBON
2, DEN, LAIR
2, DRY, WET
3, BANGER, SAUSAGE
3, LONGER, SHORTER
4, SLOWLY, QUICKLY
4, LOVELY, HATED
5, ENTER, EXIT
5, GENIE, DJINN
6, FUEL, EMPTY
6, TUBE, UNDERGROUND
7, TOILET, RESTROOM
7, MOTIVE, MOTIF
8, ARMY, NAVY
8, YANG, YIN
9, EIGHT, NINE
9, TWICE, THRICE

What is the criterion to be an Electronic Word™?

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1 Answer 1

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For a particular integer, an Electronic Word is a word which is...

...an anagram of the corresponding electronic resistor colour with a single letter changed.

These integer-colour pairs are: 0 BLACK, 1 BROWN, 2 RED, 3 ORANGE, 4 YELLOW, 5 GREEN, 6 BLUE, 7 VIOLET, 8 GRAY, 9 WHITE.

Resistor colours

This can be seen like so:

0 BLACK = C[H]ALK, CABL[E]
1 BROWN = WRON[G], BOR[O]N
2 RED = DE[N], DR[Y]
3 ORANGE = [B]ANGER, [L]ONGER
4 YELLOW = [S]LOWLY, LO[V]ELY
5 GREEN = EN[T]ER, GEN[I]E
6 BLUE = [F]UEL, [T]UBE
7 VIOLET = [T]OILET, [M]OTIVE
8 GRAY = AR[M]Y, YA[N]G
9 WHITE = EI[G]HT, TWI[C]E

None of the counter-examples share this characteristic.

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