7

Given the product codes of 10 fruits and vegetables in the chart below, can you figure out the product code of Broccoli?

Fruit / Vegetable Product Code™
Lemon CNL
Carrot DSB
Plum CAC
Tomato CME
Strawberry GAE
Pumpkin EOB
Granny Smith Apple KAT
Garlic DMJ
Pomegranate FME
Cucumber EST
Broccoli ???

Text-only version:

Fruit / Vegetable    Product Code™
Lemon                CNL
Carrot               DSB
Plum                 CAC
Tomato               CME
Strawberry           GAE
Pumpkin              EOB
Granny Smith Apple   KAT
Garlic               DMJ
Pomegranate          FME
Cucumber             EST
Broccoli             ???

Hint:

All of to the information necessary can be found on Wikipedia.

Related questions:
Can you name the Country Code™? (@eyl327)
Can you name the Country Code™? (#2) (@eyl327)
Can you name the country code? (@kacase)

bobble
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DenverCoder1
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2 Answers2

7

The first letter is

the number of consonants in the product, converted to A-Z. Broccoli has five of them, so it's an E.

The last letter is related to

the product's color; a broccoli is green, so it has the same letter as the cucumber and Granny Smith apple, T
(as @El-Guest notes in the comments, you need to take the first letter of the color, G, and rot13 it)

As for the second letter,

the values we see so far are A, M, N, O, S; those probably correspond to months of the year (April, May, November, October, September) but I don't see the connection.
National Pumpkin Day is on October 26th, so the O there fits, but International Carrot Day is April 4th, which is not an S.

Glorfindel
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    Try rot13-ing your final letter, Glorfindel! – El-Guest Apr 30 '20 at 12:55
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    The middle letters rot13(NYY ortva gur anzrf bs zbaguf bs gur lrne... V'ir pbafvqrerq uneirfg gvzrf, cynagvat gvzrf, naq gur yvxr ohg pna'g cva vg qbja cebcreyl. Vg frrzf gbb ovt n pbvapvqrapr gb vtaber! V qba'g xabj vs jungrire pevgrevba unf orra fryrpgrq vf gur fnzr va obgu urzvfcurerf...) – Stiv Apr 30 '20 at 13:29
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    @Stiv what a coincidence, I was just in the middle of writing that. – Glorfindel Apr 30 '20 at 13:30
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    Ha! I do wonder whether it will be hemisphere-specific though... Note also that you have two options for both A and M... – Stiv Apr 30 '20 at 13:31
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    @Stiv rot13(Uneirfg gvzrf zngpu sbe nyy gur irtrgnoyrf nffhzvat abegurea urzvfcurer. V unira'g orra noyr gb svaq bar fbhepr bs qngn juvpu yvfgf rkcyvpvg enatrf bs zbaguf gubhtu. Naq uneirfgvat qngr qbrf qrcraq ba gur pyvzngr pbaqvgvbaf.) – kacase Apr 30 '20 at 14:20
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    @kacase Cool. I think my problem with not being able to pinpoint it exactly was that it really depends on what source you use for deriving the information, as rot13(uneirfgf hfhnyyl ynfg frireny zbaguf ng n gvzr fb vg jbhyq arrq gb or gur 'fgneg' bs gur uneirfg gb trg n fvatyr yrggre... ohg gura gung pna nyfb inel orgjrra qvssrerag fcrpvrf/trahf/inevrgl/jungrire gbb (yrzbaf, sbe rknzcyr), fb V whfg pbhyqa'g frggyr ba gur npghny fbhepr juvpu cebivqrf gurfr yrggref fcrpvsvpnyyl... ) Perhaps if Glorfindel edits his answer to match, the OP can guide on their original source for the data. – Stiv Apr 30 '20 at 14:45
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    All of to the information necessary can be found on Wikipedia. – DenverCoder1 May 02 '20 at 14:15
6

@Glorfindel found the first and last letters of the Product Code™. Please don't forget to upvote his answer, for he solved two-thirds of the Product Code (and also with help from @El-Guest).

The second letter of the Product Code works as such:

It is the last letter of the scientific name of the product.

In the case of broccoli,

Its scientific name is Brassica oleracea, and notice that the last letter is A.

Therefore, we shall mark the broccoli with the Product Code™

EAT (hey, that's appropriate by the way, hehe).

(Also, one assumption is made in determining the first letter:)

Y is not considered as a consonant.

How the table works (image).

(Open image in new tab to enlarge, the quality isn't that good at first glance)

productcode

oAlt
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    Nice, I was sure we were on the right track with the month names but that was just an amazing coincidence. – Glorfindel May 03 '20 at 09:17