Part II — Reasoning Ability: Puzzles & Arrangements

Chapter 2: Seating Arrangements, Puzzles & Machine Input-Output

2.1 Linear and Circular Seating Arrangements

Linear seating arrangements place individuals in a row (facing a single direction or split into two facing rows), while circular seating arrangements place individuals around a table (facing the centre or facing outward). Both require systematically diagramming each clue and eliminating configurations that violate any given condition until a unique valid arrangement remains.

2.2 Box-Based and Floor-Based Puzzles

Box-based puzzles (e.g., items in stacked boxes) and floor-based puzzles (people living on different floors of a building) apply the same systematic-elimination approach, often combined with additional attributes (e.g., each person also has a distinct profession or favourite colour) that must be cross-matched consistently.

2.3 Scheduling and Ranking Puzzles

Scheduling puzzles assign events (e.g., days of the week, months) to entities based on given clues. Ranking puzzles establish relative order (e.g., tallest to shortest, highest to lowest score) from comparative statements.

2.4 Machine Input-Output

Machine Input-Output questions present a word/number input that undergoes a step-by-step transformation (e.g., rearranging words alphabetically, shifting numbers) across several steps, shown for one example, and require applying the same rule to a new input or identifying an intermediate/final step.

2.5 Practice Set — Puzzles & Arrangements (16 MCQs)

1. Seating arrangement puzzles are best solved by:
   (a) Guessing randomly (b) Systematically diagramming clues and eliminating impossible arrangements (c) Ignoring negative clues (d) Solving only the first clue
2. In a circular arrangement of 8 people facing the centre, how many people sit between two people who are seated exactly opposite each other, counting one way around?
   (a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5
3. In a linear arrangement, if a person is simultaneously 3rd from the left end and 3rd from the right end, the total number of people in the row must be:
   (a) 5 (b) 6 (c) 7 (d) 8
4. In a floor-based puzzle (10 floors, ground = 1), if the topmost floor is floor 10 and a person lives exactly midway between floors 4 and 10, they live on floor:
   (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 8 (d) 9
5. In a box-based puzzle with 6 stacked boxes (box 1 at the bottom), a box placed exactly in the middle position is:
   (a) Box 3 or Box 4 (b) Box 1 (c) Box 6 (d) Cannot have a single "middle" with an even count; both box 3 and box 4 are equally central
6. In a ranking puzzle, if A is taller than B, B is taller than C, and C is taller than D, who is the shortest?
   (a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D
7. In a scheduling puzzle involving 5 weekdays (Monday-Friday), if a meeting cannot be held on Monday or Tuesday, and must be held exactly 2 days after the first available day, on which day is it held?
   (a) Wednesday (b) Thursday (c) Friday (d) Cannot be determined
8. Machine Input-Output questions primarily require candidates to:
   (a) Identify a consistent step-by-step transformation rule and apply it to a new input (b) Guess the final output randomly (c) Only count the number of words in the input (d) Ignore intermediate steps entirely
9. In a box-based puzzle, if 5 boxes are stacked and box P is directly above box Q, and box Q is directly above box R, then P is how many positions above R?
   (a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) Cannot be determined
10. In a circular arrangement of 6 people facing outward (away from the centre), a person's "right" hand direction is:
    (a) Opposite to what it would be if facing the centre (b) The same as if facing the centre (c) Undefined in circular arrangements (d) Always north
11. Puzzles combining seating arrangement with an additional attribute (e.g., profession) require:
    (a) Solving only the seating part and ignoring the attribute (b) Cross-matching both the seating positions and the additional attribute consistently across all given clues (c) Assuming the attribute is irrelevant (d) Solving the attribute assignment before any seating clue is read
12. In order and ranking, if a runner finishes 4th from the last in a race of 12 runners, their rank from the first is:
    (a) 8th (b) 9th (c) 10th (d) 7th
13. In a linear arrangement, if exactly 3 people sit to the left of M and exactly 4 people sit to the right of M, the total number of people in the row is:
    (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 8 (d) 9
14. A "Machine Input-Output" question showing a multi-step word rearrangement is best solved by:
    (a) Working only from the final step backward without checking intermediate steps (b) Identifying the pattern from the given example step-by-step and replicating it precisely (c) Assuming every step reverses the word order (d) Ignoring the given example entirely
15. In a floor-based puzzle, if the ground floor is floor 1 and floor 10 is the top, and a person lives exactly as many floors from the top as from the bottom, they live on floor:
    (a) 5 (b) 5.5, i.e., no such single floor exists for an even count of floors (c) 6 (d) 4
16. In box-based puzzles, "immediately above" and "immediately below" refer to:
    (a) Boxes with no other box directly between them, one position apart (b) Any box that is generally higher or lower (c) Boxes that are two positions apart (d) Boxes on opposite ends of the stack

Answer Key

1.(b)

2.(b)

3.(a)

4.(b)

5.(d)

6.(d)

7.(c)

8.(a)

9.(b)

10.(a)

11.(b)

12.(b)

13.(c)

14.(b)

15.(b) 16.(a)