Can't Target Specific LI Elements Using Child Selectors

I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm trying to only select the LI elements that descend from the class(.list). Invariably, the children of the class(.sublist) are

Solution 1:

Use the direct child combinator, >, in order to only select direct children elements:

ul.list > li

But since this still selects the li that contains the .sublist element, use a combination of the :not()/:has() selectors:

$('ul.list > li:not(:has(.sublist))').on('click', function () {
    // ...
});

Example Here

$('ul.list > li:not(:has(.sublist))').on('click', function () {
    alert('working');
});

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<ul class="list">
    <li>One</li>
    <li class="special">Two</li>
    <li>Three</li>
    <li>
        <ul class="sublist">
            <li>1</li>
            <li>2</li>
            <li>3</li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>