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I found this problem in an Indian Highschool Reasoning Olympiad. (image)

If 'SILVER' is coded as 'LESIRU' and 'GOLDEN' is coded as 'LEGOND', then in the same code language how 'NATURE' will be coded as?

  • (A) TARNEU
  • (B) RTANEAU
  • (C) RATNEAU
  • (D) TRNAEU

I tried dividing the word from its middle and reversing it, and some other manipulations.

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6 Answers 6

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It looks like there's a typo in the question:

The "U" in LESIRU looks like it should be a "V"

If so, here is how I solved it:

I assigned each letter a number in the order it appears in the initial word, making it 123456. Then I looked at the scrambled word to see where the letters ended up, and wrote down the numbers of each letter in their scrambled order (such as 253641, for example, though this wasn't it). Then I compared the two scrambled number-words to see if they were the same. When they were, then I knew the third would follow the same pattern.

Then the answer is:

D. If the letters in the words are replaced with numbers, so that the word becomes 123456, then the scrambled state is 351264. That is, write the 3rd letter, then the 5th, then the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 4th.

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    $\begingroup$ I thought the U/V thing could be due to it being latin, where U is written as V $\endgroup$
    – MechMK1
    Nov 21 at 13:23
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    $\begingroup$ @MechMK1 Silver is not a Latin word or even a word of Latin origin. It comes from proto-Germanic and may not even be natively Indo-European. The Latin word for silver is argentum. $\endgroup$
    – Hearth
    Nov 21 at 16:32
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    $\begingroup$ @Hearth I am aware. I was just talking about how words are being written, not the language itself. $\endgroup$
    – MechMK1
    Nov 22 at 9:40
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There is a typo in the letters 'LESIRU', it should be 'LESIRV' The trick is to give each letter a number, and then cross reference it to the original:

1 2 3 4 5 6 -> 3 5 1 2 6 4
S I L V E R -> L E S I R V

1 2 3 4 5 6 -> 3 5 1 2 6 4
G O L D E N -> L E G O N D

1 2 3 4 5 6 -> 3 5 1 2 6 4
N A T U R E -> T R N A E U
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  • $\begingroup$ Got my vote as answer is visually clear! $\endgroup$
    – FreeSoftwareServers
    Nov 21 at 23:53
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SILVER -> LESIRU

123456
SILVER

351264
LESIRV*

* (corrected typo U -> V)

GOLDEN -> LEGOND

123456
GOLDEN

351264
LEGOND

Now do the same for NATURE and use the second sequence of numbers to rearrange the resulting word:

123456
NATURE

351264
TRNAEU

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Breaking up the encryption into steps I get:

normal -> move the first 2 letters over 3 -> place the second letter at the end -> swap characters.

SILVER -> LVESIR -> LESIRV -> LESIRU
GOLDEN -> LDEGON -> LEGOND -> LEGOND
NATURE -> TURNAE -> TRNAEU -> ??????

What is the 3rd and final step? Well out of "LESIRGONDV", the only letter that transitions is 'V' which becomes a 'U'. Therefore, we know that the letters RNE don't transition in TRNAEU. This leaves only T and A as possible transition candidates; however, none of the possible answers have either letter transition, so we must assume that they don't either. Thus the answer is TRNAEU or (D).

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Looking at the options B and C can be easily ruled out. Either A or D is correct.

S I L V E R -----> L E S I R V (123456 ---> 351264) Similarly NATURE -----> TRNAEU

So done! Its option (D).

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GOLDEN -> LEGOND

It's a spiral that alternates.

Start in the center at 'G' then circle around to 'O', then alternate to the perimeter 'L', 'D' then alternate back to middle. 'E', 'N'.

That gives the answer to the 'NATURE' code but I won't spoil it for anyone.

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