Karrothmelu wins.

Next one...
Sally likes pyromaniacs but not arsonists.
Sally likes theology but not religion.
Sally likes aesthetics but not design.

I believe I am roughly thinking in the right area.. but It's difficult to come up with a coherent answer, so I'll throw some random guesses out.

Does Sally like fascinations?

As with the last puzzle, the answer has more to do with the words themselves than their meanings. As for now, another clue:

Sally likes heliostats but not solar panels.

OK, this might be a stretch, but... Sally likes words of Greek origin?

Karrothmelu wins again!

Karrothmelu: 2

I thought that last clue might be a giveaway; ah well. It's a lot of fun coming up with these.

Here's another one:

Sally likes cooperation but not teamwork.
Sally likes naive but not uneducated.
Sally likes preeminence but not perfection.

Does Sally like words that include a diaeresis?

Istalris wins.

Karrothmelu: 2
Istalris: 1

Well, technically they all contain a hiatus; The diaeresis is kind of being phased out of english writing with words such as preeminent and cooperation being written with a hyphen (pre-eminent) instead, so some people might say that in modern writing some of those words don't technically contain the diaeresis symbol. I still like the diaeresis, though.

Number 4:

Sally likes Aesop but not fables.
Sally likes equations but not algebra.
Sally likes foliage but not trees.

(Note: I think this game is usually played verbally, which makes it a lot harder. I've got to figure out a way to make it more challenging in written form....)

There are several ways to describe those words if I remember correctly, the only one that surfaced was diaeresis. It's probably phased out in the English language because those marks are usually associated with other Eastern European languages.

Sally likes words that cover a large area of meanings.

Foliage: other random plants
Aesop: person, fable writer
equations: chemical equations, 1+1=2, 2a+b=9

Istalris wrote:There are several ways to describe those words if I remember correctly, the only one that surfaced was diaeresis. It's probably phased out in the English language because those marks are usually associated with other Eastern European languages.

I would have just called it a diphthong. Never knew the term "diaeresis" before.