In each of the following questions, the first word is coded to form the second word using a specific rearrangement and/or substitution rule. Apply the same rule to the third word to determine the correct corresponding word from the given alternatives. AYRRJC : CATTLE :: NCPDCAR : ?

Correct — C. Compare the code with the word letter by letter.

Rule: every code letter moves forward 2 places. Nothing is rearranged.

AYRRJC → CATTLE: A+2=C, Y+2=A (wrapping past Z), R+2=T, R+2=T, J+2=L, C+2=E.

NCPDCAR: N+2=P, C+2=E, P+2=R, D+2=F, C+2=E, A+2=C, R+2=T.

That spells PERFECT, option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  SUBJECTS — SUBJECTS has eight letters, but NCPDCAR has seven, and a letter-for-letter code keeps the length. Its first letter also fails: N + 2 is P, not S.
• (b)
  NEGLECT — NEGLECT keeps N unchanged, but the rule moves every letter two places forward, so the word must begin with P. Its G is also C + 4, not C + 2.
• (d)
  OPERATE — OPERATE makes the first step N + 1 = O, not + 2. Its second letter P is C + 13, so no single shift links it to NCPDCAR.

A coding analogy can hide two kinds of rule: rearrangement, where the same letters are reordered, and substitution, where each letter is replaced.

Compare the letters first. AYRRJC contains Y, R and J, none of which is in CATTLE, so this is substitution. The RR in the code sits exactly where TT sits in CATTLE, which points to a letter-for-letter replacement.

Subtracting positions then shows one constant step, +2, which you apply to all seven letters of NCPDCAR.

Key facts

• AYRRJC → CATTLE is a +2 shift on every letter, with Y wrapping round to A.
• N, C, P, D, C, A, R moved +2 give P, E, R, F, E, C, T.
• A letter-for-letter code keeps the word's length, so a seven-letter code decodes to a seven-letter word.

Common traps

• Forgetting the wrap-around, so Y + 2 seems to fall off the alphabet and the rule looks broken.
• Shifting the wrong way: NCPDCAR moved back 2 gives LANBAYP, which is not a word.

No directly related past PYQ was found.