Well there doesn't seem to be anyone in favour of
eland remaining rare, so it will be treated as common once again from now on.
The standard for making a word common has drifted somewhat over the years. My original thinking is reflected in this explanation, which is still found
on the Q&A page:
What do you mean by "common" and "rare" words?
The terms are relative - the words classed as "common" are meant to be more widely known and used than those classed as "rare". The aim is that a reasonably well-read English-speaking person will be likely to have encountered all of our "common" words at some time. There are indicators to show you how many of these common words you've found, and how many still haven't been found.
But the list relies on subjective judgement, so don't get angry if it includes some words you've never seen. You'll know them next time, right? (If you have any complaints or suggestions about the word lists, send them in, or post a message on the forum.)
There was a clear implication that not every common word would be known to every player. Perhaps it was when I began producing Chihuahua books, using the same common/rare word classification, that I started becoming more cautious about which words were treated as rare. In any case, I do seem to have ended up feeling that a word should be rare if there's any risk that some players wouldn't know it.
I'm not sure where exactly
eland sits on the scale, but it's obviously a word that many people around the world are familiar with, so I'm restoring it to common status.