YES, DECODING is harder than CODING.
Let's assign integer numbers to letters according to their place in the English ABC (a=1, b=2,...,z=26.)

We then "code" a given word by 2 parameters, e.g:
YES SIR⇒(49,2375)(46,3078)
NO WAY⇒(29,210)(49,575)

Once you find how the coding was done, you will understand that
a) There is no one-to-one-correspondence between the word
and the ordered couple, so STAR, ARTS and RATS produce identical couples.
b) The correct decoding of a meaningful phrase might be possible.

NOW DECODE THE FOLLOWING PHRASES
(only one 5-letter word - all other words less than that):
a. (26,100)(39,1620)(58,6900)
b. (49,2375)(28,115)(18,42)
c. (46,2760)(19,60)(61,7875)(19,60)
d. (52,3680)(18,65)(99,2794500)

The first number is the sum of the letters. The second number is the product of the letters.

Posted by Math Man on 2013-03-29 20:55:24