Each letter in a word is assigned a specific number, as shown below. From the four given arrangements of these numbers, identify…

Question

Each letter in a word is assigned a specific number, as shown below. From the four given arrangements of these numbers, identify which one represents a meaningful word when the numbers are translated back to their corresponding letters.

N=1, D=2, I=3, O=4, I=5, T=6, C=7, A=8, R=9

1. A. 2, 5, 1, 8, 7, 3, 4, 6, 9
2. B. 5, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 6, 4, 9 (Correct answer)
3. C. 4, 9, 1, 3, 2, 8, 6, 7, 5
4. D. 5, 2, 1, 9, 8, 4, 3, 7, 6

Correct Answer

Option B — 5, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 6, 4, 9

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is 5, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 6, 4, 9.

Key Points

• Build the key from the given assignment:
  • 1 = N, 2 = D, 3 = I, 4 = O, 5 = I, 6 = T, 7 = C, 8 = A, 9 = R
• Decode the keyed option in order: 5, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 6, 4, 9
  • I, N, D, I, C, A, T, O, R → INDICATOR, a genuine English word.
• The other arrangements decode to letter strings that spell nothing — for instance 2, 5, 1, 8, 7, 3, 4, 6, 9 gives D, I, N, A, C, I, O, T, R.

Additional Information

• Note that two different numbers (3 and 5) both map to I, since the source word contains two I's. Overlooking a repeated letter is the usual reason a correct decode is rejected.
• Decode systematically rather than pattern-matching: write the nine letters out in order and only then judge whether they form a word.
• A quick filter is the opening letter — a nine-letter English word rarely begins with D followed by I-N-A, so option A can be discarded almost immediately.
• These questions always resolve to exactly one real word, so once a genuine word appears there is no need to test the remainder.