Old Phone Keys: 2283
Read the puzzle
An old phone keypad shows: 2 = ABC, 3 = DEF, 4 = GHI, 5 = JKL, 6 = MNO, 7 = PQRS, 8 = TUV, 9 = WXYZ; key 1 has no letters. The target number is 2283. Which word types 2283: A) CAKE, B) CAVE, C) CAGE or D) CAME?
Which of the four words types 2283?
The third letter decides it: which key is it on?
CAVE
C and A are on 2, V on 8, E on 3: 2283.
How to solve it
Code each word into keypad digits, and focus on what differs.
All four options start with C and A, which are both on key 2 (ABC), so each begins 22. All four end in E, which is on key 3 (DEF). The only letter that changes is the third one, and it must sit on key 8 to match 2283.
Now check the third letters. CAKE: K is on key 5, giving 2253. CAVE: V is on key 8 (TUV), giving 2283. CAGE: G is on key 4, giving 2243. CAME: M is on key 6, giving 2263. Only CAVE fits, so the answer is B, CAVE.
A common slip is to think a repeated digit must mean a repeated letter, which wrongly rules out CA, or to place V on key 9 next to W. V belongs to TUV on key 8.
Quick check: C 2, A 2, V 8, E 3 reads 2283. Takeaway: shared letters cancel out, so test only the letter that varies.
