If KFWHJ represents FARCE, what does INXRFQ stand for?

2024

If KFWHJ represents FARCE, what does INXRFQ stand for?

  1. A.

    DISMAL

  2. B.

    DECMAL

  3. C.

    DISLAM

  4. D.

    DECLAM

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A

Concept: This is a letter-shift (Caesar-shift) substitution cipher — every letter of the coded word is obtained by moving a fixed number of places forward in the alphabet from the corresponding letter of the plain word. To decode a new coded word, first find this fixed shift from the given example, then apply the reverse shift to every letter of the new code.

Application:

  1. Note the alphabet position of each letter in the example pair KFWHJ (code) and FARCE (plain): K=11↔F=6, F=6↔A=1, W=23↔R=18, H=8↔C=3, J=10↔E=5.

  2. Subtract the plain-letter position from the code-letter position at each spot: 11-6=5, 6-1=5, 23-18=5, 8-3=5, 10-5=5 — every letter is shifted forward by exactly 5 places, so the fixed shift is 5.

  3. Apply the same shift to INXRFQ by subtracting 5 from each letter's position: I(9)-5=4=D, N(14)-5=9=I, X(24)-5=19=S, R(18)-5=13=M, F(6)-5=1=A, Q(17)-5=12=L.

  4. Reading the results in order gives D, I, S, M, A, L.

Cross-check: Re-encoding this result by adding 5 to each letter regenerates the original code exactly — D+5=I, I+5=N, S+5=X, M+5=R, A+5=F, L+5=Q — i.e. INXRFQ, confirming the decoding. It is also the only one of the four options that is an actual English word.

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