[Yossarian]

BTW, I'm getting faster by quickly identifying:

1. Single letter words. It's going to be 'A' or 'I'.
   To decide, I scan the three letter words. If any start with the stand-in for 'I', I go with 'A' for sure. If the majority of the second letter is the stand-in for 'A', I go with 'A';
2. ABC'D: 90% of the time C='N' and D = 'T';
3. "THE" / "THEM" / "THEN" / "THEY" / "THERE" / "THESE";
4. "YOU" / "YOUR" / "YOU'LL" / "YOU'VE" / "YOU'RE";
5. How to differentiate between scrambled "THE" and "YOU"?
   Look at any two letter words, and see if the stand-in for 'Y' or 'U' or 'E' are in the first letter, or if the stand-in for 'H' or 'U' are in the second letter. These are rejection criteria;
6. Once you find "THE*" / "THE**" , it's easy to spot "WHEN" / WHY" / "WHO" / "WHOM" / "WHERE"
7. "EVER" / "EVEN" / "NEVER";
8. Author names to look for:
   • "ALBERT EINSTEIN",
   • "RONALD REAGAN",
     "WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE",
   • "ABRAHAM LINCOLN",
   • "(any) ROOSEVELT",
   • "PLATO",
   • "CICERO",
   • "ARISTOTLE", etc.;

[nikos1121]

you’ve become an animal on these!

[nikos1121]

great tips!!!!

[nikos1121]

I look for common words like “PEOPLE” and “ALWAYS” frequently found at the beginning of the quotation.

[Political Junkie Too]

How to differentiate between scrambled "THE" and "YOU"?

For "the:"

The simplest way is to know that "e" and "t" are the two most commonly used letters, in order. Look for words where the first and third letters are high count, and the middle letter is low count.

Then know that "a" is the third most used letter, and "h" and "r" are right next to each other in usage order, so "the" and "are" can often fit the same pattern. You will have to determine which based on context.

You can eliminate potential "the" words if the "e" shows up in the beginning of two-letter words where the "a" would be. "e" can be in the second letter, but those are less used words (be, he, me, we).

-PJ