Puzzle Solving
🔑 Quick Facts
- Puzzle types asked: Seating Arrangement, Blood-Relation, Direction, Coding-Decoding, Inequality, Syllogism, Calendar, Clock, Series, Analogy, Classification.
- Golden minute rule: 45–60 s max per puzzle; skip & mark if stuck.
- Negative marking: ⅓; attempt only if 80 % sure.
📏 Universal Formulas
- Relative speed (circular seating):
gap = (total persons – 1) – |posA – posB|
(smallest arc) - Calendar odd days:
odd days = (total days mod 7)
100 yr → 5 odd days, 200 yr → 3, 300 yr → 1, 400 yr → 0. - Clock angle (H:M):
|30H – 5.5M|; if >180°,360 – angle. - Coding shortcut:
reverse alphabet sum = 27(A↔Z, B↔Y…).
🧠 Mnemonics
| Trick | Expansion |
|---|---|
| FANBOYS | For inequality: For All Neither But Or Yet So → symbol direction |
| RIGHT = LEFT | Circular right = clockwise; left = anticlockwise |
| FATHER-MOTHER | Blood-relation: Father’s side = Male, Mother’s side = Female (quick gender check) |
📊 Comparison Table: Seating vs Direction
| Feature | Linear Seating | Circular Seating | Direction Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anchor point | Extreme ends | Facing centre / outward | Cardinal N-S-E-W |
| Counting | Left-to-right serial | Clockwise = right | Left turn = 90° anti-clock |
| Quick sketch | 1-line tick marks | Circle + arrows | Cross-axis N↑ S↓ E→ W← |
⚡ 10 Rapid-Fire MCQs
-
If TAP is coded as SZO, then FREEZE is
A) EQDDYD B) EQDFYD C) FQDDYD D) EQDDYB -
A is 15th from left, B is 20th from right in 40 students. How many between A & B?
A) 5 B) 6 C) 7 D) 8 -
1 Aug 2024 is Thursday; 1 Aug 2025 will be
A) Fri B) Sat C) Sun D) Mon -
Mirror image of 8:20 is closest to
A) 3:40 B) 4:35 C) 3:35 D) 2:25 -
If > means ÷, < means ×, + means –, – means +, then 16 > 4 + 6 – 2 =
A) 2 B) 4 C) 6 D) 8 -
Syllogism: All pens are pencils. Some pencils are rubber.
I. Some pens are rubber. II. Some rubber are pencils.
A) Only I B) Only II C) Both D) Neither -
Series: 3, 8, 18, 38, ?
A) 58 B) 68 C) 78 D) 88 -
Direction: Raj walks 10 m N, turns right 20 m, turns right 10 m. He is ___ m ___ from start.
A) 20, S B) 20, N C) 10, E D) 20, E -
Inequality: P ≥ Q = R < S ≤ T ⇒ which is definitely true?
A) P > S B) Q ≤ T C) P ≥ R D) S = Q -
Calendar: Which year has same calendar as 2020?
A) 2048 B) 2044 C) 2046 D) 2052
BETA
