Select the pair which follows the same pattern as that followed by the two…

Concept: In a letter-pair analogy every letter is read as its position in the alphabet (A = 1, B = 2, ... , Z = 26), and the alphabet is treated as cyclic, so one step back from A returns to Z. Such a pattern has two parts, and both must hold: the sequence of steps taken inside a group of letters, and the constant letter-by-letter shift that carries the first group of a pair to the second group.

Applying this to the two given pairs:

1. Read the positions of the first pair. In JIF, J = 10, I = 9 and F = 6, so the steps inside the group are 1 back and then 3 back. In IHE, I = 9, H = 8 and E = 5, giving the same steps of 1 back and then 3 back.

2. Read the positions of the second pair. In ONK, O = 15, N = 14 and K = 11, so the steps inside the group are again 1 back and then 3 back. In NMJ, N = 14, M = 13 and J = 10, giving 1 back and then 3 back.

3. Compare the two groups of each pair letter by letter. J to I, I to H and F to E are each one step back, and O to N, N to M and K to J are each one step back as well.

4. So the rule has two halves. The first group of three letters must step 1 back and then 3 back, and the second group is obtained by moving every letter of the first group one step back.

5. Test the offered first groups against that rule. In A, Z, W the step from A to Z is one back on the cyclic alphabet and the step from Z to W is three back, so this group carries the required internal steps. Moving A, Z and W each one step back gives Z, Y and V, that is ZYV.

Cross-check of every offered pair, where a negative number means that many letters back:

Only AZW − ZYV carries both halves of the rule, so the pair that follows the same pattern is AZW − ZYV.