The English alphabet from A to Z is divided into two halves: A to M and N to Z. The first half is reversed so that the order becomes M to A, and the second half is reversed so that the order becomes Z to N. In this newly formed sequence, which letter will be the sixth to the left of the seventeenth letter to the right of the seventh letter from the left?

Difficulty: Hard

Correct Answer: V

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This question involves a two step transformation of the English alphabet followed by a multi step positional movement. First, each half of the alphabet is reversed independently, and then within this new sequence you must apply instructions like "seventeenth to the right" and "sixth to the left". This is a challenging type of alphabet test problem that checks careful reading and precise positional calculations.


Given Data / Assumptions:
• The original alphabet is A, B, C, ..., X, Y, Z (26 letters).
• The first half is A to M (13 letters) and the second half is N to Z (another 13 letters).
• The first half is reversed to produce M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A.
• The second half is reversed to produce Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N.
• The new combined sequence is M L K J I H G F E D C B A Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N.
• In this new sequence, we must find: the seventh letter from the left, then the seventeenth letter to its right, and finally the sixth letter to the left of that result.


Concept / Approach:
There are two main conceptual steps. The first is constructing the transformed alphabet by reversing each half. The second is handling nested positional instructions. It is easier to convert every step into index numbers. We label positions in the new sequence from 1 to 26, find the required intermediate positions using addition and subtraction, and then fetch the corresponding letters.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write the new sequence with indices: 1 M, 2 L, 3 K, 4 J, 5 I, 6 H, 7 G, 8 F, 9 E, 10 D, 11 C, 12 B, 13 A, 14 Z, 15 Y, 16 X, 17 W, 18 V, 19 U, 20 T, 21 S, 22 R, 23 Q, 24 P, 25 O, 26 N.Step 2: Identify the seventh letter from the left. At position 7 we have G.Step 3: From this letter G, find the seventeenth letter to the right. Moving right means adding 17 to the index: position = 7 + 17 = 24.Step 4: At position 24 in the new sequence we have P.Step 5: Now we need the sixth letter to the left of P. Moving left means subtracting 6 from the index: position = 24 - 6 = 18.Step 6: At position 18 in the new sequence we find the letter V.Step 7: Therefore, the required letter after all the described movements is V.


Verification / Alternative check:
As a check, you can also move step by step directly on the sequence by counting letters instead of indices. From G, count rightwards 17 letters one by one to land on P. Then from P count leftwards 6 letters to land on V. Doing this slowly and carefully confirms that both the index based and manual counting methods point to V as the correct answer.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
• U: U is at position 19, which would be reached if we had moved only five places left from P instead of six.
• C: C is at position 11 in the sequence and is unrelated to the instructed multi step movement based on G and P.
• D: D is at position 10 and again does not match the calculated final position after correctly applying all steps.
• T: T is at position 20, which would correspond to moving four letters left from P. This does not match the given instruction of moving six letters left.


Common Pitfalls:
Many students forget that each half must be reversed independently and incorrectly reverse the entire alphabet in one go, leading to a different sequence. Others misinterpret "seventeenth to the right" as simply the seventeenth letter from the left. A further common error is off by one miscounting while adding or subtracting positions. Using clearly numbered positions and simple arithmetic is the safest way to avoid these traps.


Final Answer:
In the transformed alphabet, the letter obtained after applying all the positional instructions is V.

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