Puzzles

About 7 min · Reasoning and Aptitude · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 478 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Puzzles form a time-consuming section in MPESB reasoning papers. They test your ability to organise scattered information, eliminate contradictions and arrive at a unique arrangement.

Key ideas

Linear arrangement: People or objects sit in a row facing one direction (single-row) or two directions (double-row). Positions are numbered left-to-right; "immediate left" means one position to the left.
Circular arrangement: People sit around a table. Facing centre means neighbour on your left is clockwise; facing outward reverses this. Always mark direction arrows on your diagram.
Scheduling puzzles: Assign entities to days (Monday–Sunday) or months. Treat the timeline like a linear row; conditions often use "before," "after," "gap of two days."
Grouping / Distribution: Divide n persons into k groups. Use a grid where rows = groups and columns = slot numbers. Sometimes groups also have attributes (e.g., Team Red, Team Blue).
Fixed vs Floating clues: A fixed clue locks a position ("A sits at end"); a floating clue shows relation ("B is two places from C"). Always process fixed clues first.

Watch out for

Confusing "left" in circular tables → In facing-centre circles, your left is clockwise. Draw arrows; don't rely on mental rotation.
Ignoring negative clues until the end → Negative clues ("not adjacent") are easy to forget. Write them in a separate list and verify each time you fix a seat.
Misinterpreting "third to the right" → Students sometimes count the starting person. Correct method: start counting from the next seat, not the person's own seat.

Quick reference

Always draw the diagram before reading conditions—linear row, circle with direction arrows, or day grid.
Process fixed/absolute clues first; floating/relative clues second; negative clues last.
In circular facing-centre: left = clockwise, right = anticlockwise.
"Immediately" = adjacent (no gap); "second to the right" = one seat gap; "gap of 2" = two seats gap.
If multiple arrangements satisfy all clues, answer only what is common to all or test via options.

Check yourself: 3 questions

1. Five friends A, B, C, D and E are sitting in a row facing north. C is sitting between A and E. B is sitting to the immediate right of E. D is sitting at the left end. Who is sitting in the middle?
2. Six people P, Q, R, S, T and U are sitting around a circular table facing the center. P is sitting second to the right of Q. R is sitting immediate left of S. T is sitting second to the left of R. U is sitting between P and S. Who is sitting immediate right of Q?
3. A, B, C, D and E have to attend a meeting on different days of the same week starting from Monday to Friday. D attends the meeting two days before C. A attends the meeting on Wednesday. B attends the meeting one day after E. On which day does C attend the meeting?

This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 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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