If SUPREME is coded as DLDSRTO, how would BROUGHT be coded?
2018
If SUPREME is coded as DLDSRTO, how would BROUGHT be coded?
- A.
SGFVQAN
- B.
SGFNVAQ
- C.
SGFVAQN
- D.
SGFNQNA
Attempted by 46 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: This type of coding puzzle first rearranges the letters of a word — commonly by reversing one block of letters and placing it in front of the rest — and then shifts every letter of that rearranged sequence by one alphabet position, with the single middle letter of the sequence shifting in the opposite direction from all the others. Decoding a new word means recovering this exact rearrange-and-shift rule from the worked example, then reapplying it unchanged.
Applying it to the example (SUPREME → DLDSRTO):
Split SUPREME into its first three letters (S, U, P) and its last four letters (R, E, M, E).
Reverse the last four letters: R, E, M, E becomes E, M, E, R.
Place this reversed block before the first-three block: E, M, E, R, S, U, P.
Shift every letter of this seven-letter sequence one step back in the alphabet, except the middle (4th) letter, which shifts one step forward instead: E→D, M→L, E→D, R→S, S→R, U→T, P→O.
Reading the shifted letters in order gives D, L, D, S, R, T, O — exactly the given code DLDSRTO, confirming the rule.
Applying the same rule to BROUGHT:
Split BROUGHT into its first three letters (B, R, O) and its last four letters (U, G, H, T).
Reverse the last four letters: U, G, H, T becomes T, H, G, U.
Place this reversed block before the first-three block: T, H, G, U, B, R, O.
Shift every letter one step back, except the middle (4th) letter, which shifts one step forward instead: T→S, H→G, G→F, U→V, B→A, R→Q, O→N.
Reading the shifted letters in order gives the code for BROUGHT: S, G, F, V, A, Q, N.
Cross-check: Reversing the shift on S, G, F, V, A, Q, N — one step forward on every letter, one step back only on the middle letter — recovers T, H, G, U, B, R, O. Splitting this back into a leading four-letter block and a trailing three-letter block, then reversing the leading block, gives U, G, H, T followed by B, R, O, which reassembles to BROUGHT. This confirms the coding is consistent in both directions.
Answer: SGFVAQN