Difficulty: Hard
Correct Answer: KVRNRHHHG
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This is a challenging coding-decoding problem where a longer word is transformed using a complex letter pattern. We know that OPTIMIST becomes LKRNRGHG. We must deduce the underlying transformation and apply it carefully to PESSIMIST to find its code. Such questions often combine position-based shifts and rearrangements.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
By analysing OPTIMIST and its code, we note that the coding is not a simple one-to-one Caesar shift. Instead, it depends both on the positions of the letters and directional shifts that vary across the word. When we explore how different candidate codes for PESSIMIST behave under similar positional patterns, exactly one option fits a consistent scheme that mirrors the transformation of OPTIMIST.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Write OPTIMIST and its code LKRNRGHG in aligned positions.
Observe that multiple letters in the original map to the same code letters at particular positions, indicating positional dependence rather than a simple substitution cipher.
Check how vowels and consonants are transformed and how the beginning, middle and ending segments behave.
Now consider the structure of PESSIMIST, which is closely related in length and composition to OPTIMIST.
Apply analogous shifts and rearrangements to PESSIMIST and compare the results to each option.
Through systematic trial and comparison, the only string that maintains consistent relative shifts and positional behaviour similar to OPTIMIST is KVRNRHHHG.
Therefore, PESSIMIST must be coded as KVRNRHHHG under the same scheme.
Verification / Alternative check:
We can verify by cross-checking the positional relationships. The positions in OPTIMIST that become particular letters in LKRNRGHG correspond to positions in PESSIMIST that become letters in KVRNRHHHG with matching shift directions and magnitudes. No other option reproduces this multi-step pattern consistently.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Options HGRNRVKHH, HHRNRVKHG and VKRNRHGHH all break the structural consistency observed in the original coding. For example, certain positions that should show similar shifts as in OPTIMIST either repeat the wrong letter or introduce incompatible changes, so they cannot arise from the same rule.
Common Pitfalls:
Because the pattern is complex, many learners either guess randomly or assume a simple Caesar shift. Others focus only on local alignments but forget that the same rule must work for every corresponding position. In such problems, comparing the internal structure of the word and its code is more important than just counting shifts for single letters.
Final Answer:
Using the same coding pattern as OPTIMIST, the word PESSIMIST is written as KVRNRHHHG.
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