Puzzles
About 8 min · Reasoning Ability · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 670 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
They test your ability to organize scattered information, apply constraints systematically, and extract answers under time pressure. Unlike standalone questions, puzzles reward patience and method—rushing leads to cascading errors.
Key ideas
- Variable identification: Every puzzle has entities (persons, items, floors, days) and attributes (profession, colour, age, position). Identify all variables before solving.
- Definite vs. conditional clues: Definite clues give fixed placements ("A lives on floor 5"). Conditional clues depend on others ("B is above C"). Always process definite clues first.
- Negative information is powerful: "A does not live on floor 3" eliminates one cell. Multiple negatives often pinpoint the correct answer through elimination.
- Linking clues: Some clues connect two people without fixing either ("A is two floors above B"). Mark both possibilities and resolve when other clues narrow options.
- Case-making: When multiple arrangements are possible, create Case 1 and Case 2. Proceed with both until one contradicts a clue—then eliminate it.
Watch out for
- Starting with conditional clues → Leads to multiple wrong assumptions. Fix: Always begin with definite/fixed information.
- Confusing "above" with "immediately above" → "Above" allows gaps; "immediately above" means adjacent. Fix: Underline such words while reading.
- Forgetting negative clues → "A is not on Floor 3" is easy to overlook. Fix: Mark ✗ in your grid immediately.
Quick reference
- Identify variables first: persons, positions, attributes.
- Definite clues → fill first; conditional clues → apply after.
- "Immediately" = adjacent; without "immediately" = anywhere in that direction.
- Create cases when stuck; eliminate the one that contradicts.
- Floor puzzles: Floor 1 = bottom; Day puzzles: Monday = start.
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Five friends – Amit, Binita, Chetan, Deepa and Esha – are sitting in a row facing north. Each person is wearing a different coloured shirt among Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and White, not necessarily in the same order. Amit sits at one of the extreme ends. Two persons sit between Amit and Binita. Chetan sits to the immediate left of Binita. The person wearing Red shirt sits at one of the extreme ends. Deepa wears a Blue shirt. Esha does not sit at any extreme end. The person wearing Green shirt sits to the immediate right of the person wearing Yellow shirt. Amit does not wear Red or Yellow shirt. Who sits at the middle position?
2. Seven persons – J, K, L, M, N, O and P – live on seven different floors of a building numbered 1 to 7 from bottom to top. Each person owns a different brand of car among Honda, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Maruti, Tata and Mahindra, not necessarily in the same order. The following information is known: • J lives on an odd-numbered floor below the 4th floor. • The person who owns Honda lives on the 5th floor. • L lives immediately above the person who owns Maruti. • M owns Toyota and lives on an even-numbered floor. • The person who owns Ford lives on the 3rd floor. • N lives on the 7th floor and does not own Honda. • O lives on an even-numbered floor but does not live on the 2nd floor. • K lives immediately below the person who owns Hyundai. • P owns Mahindra. • The person who owns Tata lives on the 1st floor. Question: Who lives on the 4th floor?
3. Six boxes – A, B, C, D, E and F – are stacked one above another. Each box contains a different type of fruit among Apple, Banana, Cherry, Dates, Elderberry and Fig, not necessarily in the same order. The following information is known: • Box C is placed immediately above the box containing Cherry. • Box A is placed at the bottom. • There are exactly two boxes between the box containing Apple and the box containing Fig. • Box D contains Banana and is placed immediately above Box E. • The box containing Dates is placed immediately below Box F. • Box B does not contain Apple. • The box containing Elderberry is placed at the top. Question: Which box contains Cherry?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 21 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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