How many different eight letter words can be formed (the words need not be meaningful) using the letters of the word MEDITERRANEAN such that the first letter is E and the last letter is R?  Choose the most appropriate option:  A) 59  B) 11!/(2!*2!*2!)  C) 56  D) 76  E) 11!/(3!*2!*2!*2!)
E- -R   We are left with the following 11 letters: {M, D, I, T, R, EE, AA, NN} out of which 8 are distinct: {M, D, I, T, R, E, A, N}.   We should consider two cases:   1. If the two middle letters are the same, we'd have 3 words: EEER, EAAR and ENNR.   2. If the two middle letters are distinct, then we are basically choosing 2 letters out of 8 when the order of the selection matters, so it's 8P2 = 56.   Total = 56 + 3 = 76.   Answer: 76.
<result>D</result>
How many different eight letter words can be formed (the words need not be meaningful) using the letters of the word MEDITERRANEAN such that the first letter is E and the last letter is R?