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mandy
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suslik
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dil66
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C E I N P R

C, E, I, N - 4*5! = 480

P - C, E, I, N - 4*4! = 96

PR - C, E = 2*3! = 12

PRI - C, E = 2 * 2! = 4

PRINCE

480 + 96 + 12 + 4 = 592
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not easy, quite long...

I found 593, so close to dil66's 592

total ways : 6! = 720

It is in alphabetical order so the best way is to do : 720 - excluded

To know what possibilities will be exluded :

1) All possibilities begining by R (120 possibilities)
2) we have to stoip after PRINCE and I've already excluded all words begining with R, so P is the first letter, then R is the least possible so there will be no other words after with another letter here (R is the lowest one here considering the alphabetical order), then we have I who is not the lovest one so we an have words with I and N.
words with I (but behind PRINCE in alphabetical order) : PRINEC = 1 word
words with letter N instead of I : 1*1*1*3*2= 6 words

Total Excluded : 120+6+1=127
Rank of the word PRINCE : 720-127=593
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jdtomatito
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I agree with antmavel's solution. 593.

Suslik, your reasoning is correct but: 4*5! = 480, and you also forgot to add 1 to your result. You have calculated the number of words before prince, you still need to add 1.
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nisha_qutu
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Can someone explain the question in more detail...

I didnt understand what the question asks for..
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The question asks you to take the word prince and arrange its letters in all possible ways. You obtain 6! words (does not matter if they are not real words).

Then, you have to take those 6! words and list them like in a dictionary.

1 ceinpr
2 ceinrp
....

593 prince

I hope this helps....
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@Antmavel - your solution was excellent. Thank you.

Sreeni
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MBAhereIcome
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let's see how many are below PRINCE.

R*5! = 120
PRN*3! = 6
PRINEC = 1
total = 127

rank = 6! - 127 = 593
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Word P R I N C E

Alphabetical arrangement of the letters is C E I N P R

1.) Word starting with letter C _ _ _ _ _ can be done in 5! ways but its not our destination.

2.) Word starting with letter E _ _ _ _ _ can be done in 5! ways but its not our destination.

3.) Word starting with letter I _ _ _ _ _ can be done in 5! ways but its not our destination.

4.) Word starting with letter N _ _ _ _ _ can be done in 5! ways but its not our destination

5.) Word starting with letter "P", here we got our first letter. Next letter will be "C' as per dictionary arrangement.
Word starting with P C _ _ _ _ can be done in 4! ways.
6.) Word starting with P E _ _ _ _ can be done in 4! ways.

7.) Word starting with P I _ _ _ _ can be done in 4! ways.

8.) Word starting with P N _ _ _ _ can be done in 4! ways.

9.) Word starting with "P R", here we got our first two letters. We will jump on to third letter
P R C _ _ _, can be done in 3! ways.
10.) P R E _ _ _, can be done in 3! ways.

11.) P R I, here we got 3 required letters. now for 4th letter.
P R I C _ _ can be done in 2! ways.

12.) P R I E _ _ can be done in 2! ways.

13.) P R I N, here we got 4 required letter. Jumping on to 5th letter.
P R I N C E, so at this step we have go all the required letters. So + 1 for this step

total = 5! x 4 + 4! x 4 + 3! x 2 + 2! x 2 + 1 = 593. Th word PRINCE will appear on 593rd position.
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