FIST and SOFT Code Analysis

This problem involves a coding language where letters are represented by numbers. We are given two examples: 'FIST' is coded as '3962' and 'SOFT' is coded as '3562'. Our goal is to determine the specific code assigned to the letter 'O' based on the provided examples.

Comparing Letters and Codes

Let's analyze the given information by listing the words and their corresponding codes:

• Word 1: FIST, Code 1: 3962
• Word 2: SOFT, Code 2: 3562

By comparing these two sets, we can identify patterns:

• Common Letters: The letters 'F', 'S', and 'T' appear in both the word 'FIST' and the word 'SOFT'.
• Common Digits: The codes '3962' and '3562' share the digits '3', '6', and '2'.

Code Deduction for 'O'

We can use the comparison between the words and codes to deduce the code for individual letters:

1. Identifying the code for 'T': Notice that the letter 'T' occupies the last position in both 'FIST' and 'SOFT'. Correspondingly, the digit '2' is in the last position of both codes '3962' and '3562'. This strong positional correspondence suggests that the code for 'T' is '2'.
   FIST -> ???2
   SOFT -> ???2
2. Analyzing remaining letters and codes:
   • Now, let's consider the letters and digits remaining after assigning '2' to 'T':
   • For 'FIST': The remaining letters are {F, I, S} and the remaining digits are {3, 9, 6}.
   • For 'SOFT': The remaining letters are {S, O, F} and the remaining digits are {3, 5, 6}.
3. Finding the code for 'O':
   • We compare the remaining sets: {F, I, S} vs {3, 9, 6} and {S, O, F} vs {3, 5, 6}.
   • Look for unique letters and unique digits within these remaining sets.
   • The letter 'I' is present in the set {F, I, S} but not in {S, O, F}.
   • The digit '9' is present in the digits {3, 9, 6} but not in {3, 5, 6}. Since 'I' is unique to the first set and '9' is unique to the first code's remaining digits, it's highly probable that 'I' corresponds to '9'.
   • Similarly, the letter 'O' is present in the set {S, O, F} but not in {F, I, S}.
   • The digit '5' is present in the digits {3, 5, 6} but not in {3, 9, 6}. This indicates that 'O' corresponds to '5'.

Final Answer Confirmation

Based on this step-by-step deduction:

• We identified that T = 2.
• We deduced that O = 5.
• We also inferred that I = 9.
• This leaves the letters F and S to correspond to the remaining common digits 3 and 6. This assignment is consistent across both coded words ('FIST' and 'SOFT').

Therefore, the code for the letter 'O' in the given coding language is '5'.