How many ways can one re-arrange the letters in the word quibble to form a string of 7 letter strings or words, sensible or not?

If the two s are considered distinct, then the number of such words is



If the two s are indistinct,



To clarify, "quibble" has 7 possible character positions, and as we draw 1 letter from the pool , we have 1 less letter to choose from for the next character position. So there are



possible words.

If, however, we consider the two s to be indistinct, so that, for example, and both count as the same word, then we have to divide the previous total by the number of ways we can rearrange the s, which is .

You multiply them and you will get the correct answer
3×3=9
9×3=27
Therefore, 3×3×3 is a factor of 27