Logical puzzles are often asked in a number of competitive exams. Such questions intend to test your logical, analytical and deductive skills. Sometimes, the information given in the question is jumbled up and you need to organize it before solving the puzzle. Logical Reasoning puzzles can be classified into the following main types:
- Classifications
- Arrangements
- Comparisons
- Blood Relations
- Conditional Selection
Given below are some solved examples based on different types of logical puzzles:
Classification type question:
1. There are 6 friends Vivek, Rohit, Shubham, Dinesh, Rahul, Puneet and each likes at least one of the type of games i.e. Football, Cricket, Hockey. Shubham and Puneet like all types of games. Rohit is not Cricket lover. Rahul loves both Cricket and Hockey. Vivek does not love Hockey. Rohit and Rahul do not love Football. Dinesh does not love Cricket. Vivek and Dinesh do not love Football. Vivek and Rohit do not like same game.
Solution:
| |
Vivek |
Rohit |
Shubham |
Dinesh |
Rahul |
Puneet |
| Football |
X |
X |
√ |
X |
X |
√ |
| Cricket |
√ |
X |
√ |
X |
√ |
√ |
| Hockey |
X |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
√ |
(Vivek does not love Hockey so, we put a cross under the column and in front of Hockey Row- this reduces the number of options for us.(similarly for all the other people.))
Arrangements type question:
2. 6 friends-Andrew, Bailey, Charles, Daniel, Edward and Fab are sitting in 2 rows, 3 in each row facing North. Daniel is second to the left of Fab. Edward is not at the end of any row. Bailey is the neighbour of Fab. Charles, the neighbour of Edward, is sitting diagonally opposite to Daniel.
Solution: Here A stands for Andrew, B for Bailey ,C for Charles, D for Daniel, E for Edward, F for Fab.
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Comparison Type Question:
3. There are four girls- Alexis, Becky, Claire and Diana. Alexis is taller than Becky, who is shorter than Diana. Alexis is shorter than Diana and Diana is not the tallest.
Solution: The given sequence becomes: C > D > A > B (Where we have used the initials for all the names)
Blood Relations:
4. All the six people Andrea, Bruce, Cameron , Denice, Evan and Falcon are travelling together. Andrea and Cameron is a married couple. Bruce is the son of Cameron but Cameron is not the mother of Bruce. Evan is the brother of Cameron. Falcon is the brother of Bruce. Denice is the daughter of Andrea.
Solution:
5. There are six persons- P, Q, R, S, T and U in the film industry. They are Actor, Choreographer, Lyricist, Cameraman, Director, and Editor.
- The Choreographer, S is married to P.
- R, the Cameraman, is married to the Lyricist.
- Q is the mother of U and T.
- There are 2 married couples in the film industry.
- The Director is the grandfather of U, who is an Actor.
Solution: Solving the above given question we get the following solution:
(Director)P(+) =S(-) (Choreographer)
(Cameraman)R(+)=Q (-)(Lyricist)
(Actor)U(+/_) = T(+/_) (Editor)
Here we cannot deduce the gender of the editor and the actor.
Conditional selection:
Read the given information and answer the questions that follow:
- A, B, C, D, E and F are six students doing their vocational courses in six different fields— Agriculture, Journalism, Engineering, Medical Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, and Legal.
- 2 of them like Table Tennis, 2 like Chess and the remaining two like Cricket.
- E studies Visual and Performing Arts and D studies Medical Sciences.
- The students studying Agriculture and Legal do not like Cricket.
- C does not like Cricket and studies Journalism .
- B likes Chess and E likes Cricket .F and D like Table Tennis
6. Who is studying Engineering?
A. C
B. D
C. E
D. F
E. None of these
Solution: (I) D likes Table Tennis, E likes Cricket; B likes Chess, F likes Table Tennis.
C does not like Cricket. So, A likes Cricket. Clearly, C likes Chess.
(II) C studies Journalism, D studies Medical Sciences; and E studies Visual and Performing Arts. A who likes Cricket does not study Legal or Agriculture. So, A studies Engineering
| |
Likes |
Courses |
| A |
Cricket |
Engineering |
| B |
Chess |
Legal or Agriculture |
| C |
Chess |
Journalism |
| D |
Table Tennis |
Medical Sciences |
| E |
Cricket |
Visual and Performing Arts |
| F |
Table Tennis |
Legal or Agriculture |
A studies engineering. Hence Option E
7. Which of the following combinations of course and game is not correct?
A. Engineering — Table Tennis
B. Visual and Performing Arts —Cricket
C. Journalism — Chess
D. Medical Science -- Table Tennis
E. None of these
Solution : Clearly from the explanation which is described in ques 6 , it is concluded that the incorrect combination is Engineering — Table Tennis. Hence Option A.
8. Which of the following pairs of students like Chess and Table Tennis?
A. BC
B. DC
C. FD
D. None of these
E. Data inadequate
Solution : Clearly from the explanation which is described in ques 6 , it is concluded that D likes Table Tennis and C likes Chess. Hence Option B.
9. B is studying which of the following subjects?
A. Agriculture
B. Legal
C. Agriculture or Legal
D. Engineering
E. None of these
Solution : Clearly from the explanation which is described in ques 6 ,it is concluded that B studies Agriculture or Legal. Hence Option C.
10. Which of the following pairs of students like Chess?
A. AB
B. BC
C. CD
D. DE
E. None of these
Solution : Clearly from the explanation which is described in ques 6 , it is concluded that B and C likes Chess. Hence Option B.
Puzzles: Concept & Strategy