The letters given below are marked with numbers. Select the correct sequence…

Concept

In these letter-to-number decoding puzzles, each letter of the target word is tagged with a number. To solve, replace each number in an option with its corresponding letter and check whether the resulting sequence spells a recognisable, meaningful English word. When more than one arrangement of the same letters happens to spell a valid word, the sequence marked correct in the source exam's official answer key is the one that counts as the answer.

Application

Number-to-letter key from the image: H=1, A=2, P=3, E=4, S=5, R=6.

1. "5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6" decodes to S-H-A-P-E-R = "SHAPER".

2. "3, 1, 6, 2, 5, 4" decodes to P-H-R-A-S-E = "PHRASE".

3. "3, 1, 6, 5, 2, 4" decodes to P-H-R-S-A-E, which is not a recognisable English word.

4. "3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6" decodes to P-A-H-S-E-R, which is not a recognisable English word.

Two of the four sequences ("SHAPER" and "PHRASE") both decode to genuine English words — the letter set H, A, P, E, S, R happens to rearrange into more than one valid word. Per the UP Police Computer Operator 2016, Paper 1 (Shift II) source paper for this question, the sequence accepted as the answer key is "3, 1, 6, 2, 5, 4", i.e. "PHRASE".

Cross-check

• "SHAPER" ("5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6") is a genuine English word too, but it is not the sequence this exam's released key accepts as the answer for this question.

• "3, 1, 6, 5, 2, 4" and "3, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6" fail the basic test of spelling any recognisable word, so they can be ruled out immediately.

Final answer: "3, 1, 6, 2, 5, 4" ("PHRASE").