A shift that grows with position — Aptitude Question
A shift that grows with position: If HOUSE is coded as IQXWJ, how is TABLE coded? Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Coding & Decoding
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Hard
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
If HOUSE is coded as IQXWJ, how is TABLE coded?
Options
- UCEPJ
- UCEPI
- UCDPJ
- VCEPJ
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: A. UCEPJ
Worked solution
- The shifts run +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 by position.
- T + 1 = U, A + 2 = C, B + 3 = E, L + 4 = P, E + 5 = J.
- The code is UCEPJ.
Answer: UCEPJ.
The idea
When a constant shift fails, write the shift under each letter and look for a pattern in those numbers. Increasing shifts are the usual second guess.
Shortcut. With shifts of +1 to +5 by position, check only the letters where the options differ: T+1 = U, B+3 = E and E+5 = J. UCEPJ is the only option passing all three.
Common trap. "UCEPI" — reusing the fourth position's +4 on the fifth letter; the fifth shift is +5, so E becomes J, not I.