Puzzle Test Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The ages are 9, 2, 2.

The sets of three ages with product 36, and their sums, are: 1, 1, 36 (38); 1, 2, 18 (21); 1, 3, 12 (16); 1, 4, 9 (14); 1, 6, 6 (13); 2, 2, 9 (13); 2, 3, 6 (11); 3, 3, 4 (10).

The agent knew the sum, the number of shops, yet still could not tell, so the sum must be shared by two sets: 13, from 1, 6, 6 and 2, 2, 9. The clue that John has an 'eldest son' rules out 1, 6, 6, where the two oldest would be twins of the same age. That leaves 9, 2, 2.

The sets 9, 4, 1 and 6, 3, 2 have unique sums, so the agent would not have needed more data, and 6, 6, 1 has no single eldest.

Answer: C

The subject before Science is Economics.

The course runs 22 to 29 July with 23 July a holiday, leaving seven days for seven subjects: 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29. Psychology is on 22 July (I), Philosophy on 24 July, right after the holiday (V), and Mechanics on 29 July (IV). That leaves Sociology, Economics, Science and Engineering for 25 to 28 July.

Science is the day before Engineering (III), Economics and Engineering have one day between them (VI), and Sociology and Economics have two days between them (VII). Sociology and Economics must then be on 25 and 28. If Sociology were on 25, Economics on 28 would push Engineering to 26 and Science to 25, a clash. So Economics is on 25, Science on 26, Engineering on 27 and Sociology on 28.

Economics comes immediately before Science.

Answer: A

The statement that must be false is Aman knows Bimal.

Chris knows both of the others: he plays cards with Aman and is a good friend of Bimal. The lawyer and the businessman do not know each other, so Chris cannot be either of them, since he would then know the other one. Chris must therefore be the doctor, and Aman and Bimal are the lawyer and the businessman, who do not know each other.

So 'Aman knows Bimal' is necessarily false. The other statements are in fact true: Chris is the doctor, and since Bimal did not study beyond class X he cannot be the lawyer, which makes Bimal the businessman and Aman the lawyer.

Answer: D

The correct option is Leena Gray - yellow colour handbag, Hina Yellow - red colour handbag.

The lady with the red handbag made a remark and Leena Gray replied to her, so Leena does not have the red handbag. Her name rules out gray, so Leena has the yellow handbag.

That leaves red and gray for Hina Yellow and Jhanvi Red. Jhanvi cannot carry red, which matches her name, so Jhanvi has gray and Hina has red.

The two options giving Leena the red handbag contradict the fact that she replied to the lady with the red bag, and the option giving Jhanvi Red a yellow handbag clashes with Leena already holding yellow.

Answer: C

The champion is Rohtak Rockers.

Four teams playing each other once make six matches, and the statements settle all six:

• Warangal Warriors beat Vellore Vikings and Thapar Thunders.
• Thapar Thunders beat Vellore Vikings.
• Rohtak Rockers beat Thapar Thunders, Warangal Warriors and Vellore Vikings.

So Rohtak Rockers win all three of their matches, Warangal Warriors win two, Thapar Thunders one and Vellore Vikings none. Warangal Warriors are the trap: they win twice, but one of their matches is a defeat by Rohtak Rockers.

Answer: C

If Aman is not selected, Raghavan must be selected.

Without Aman, the team of three comes from Pavan, Sravan, Raghavan, Dhawan and Bhavan. Pavan and Sravan cannot both be chosen, and Raghavan and Dhawan go together or not at all.

If Raghavan and Dhawan were both left out, the team would have to be Pavan, Sravan and Bhavan, which breaks the first rule. So Raghavan and Dhawan are both in, and the third member is any one of Pavan, Sravan or Bhavan.

Bhavan and Pavan are each only one possible choice for the third place, so neither must be selected. Since Raghavan always is, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Answer: B

At most 4 lights can be on together.

The rules are: kitchen on means study off; dining on means kitchen on; study on means hall on. The kitchen and study lights can never be on together, so all 5 is impossible.

Switch on the kitchen, dining room, hall and bedroom lights, with the study off. Every rule holds: the kitchen is on, so the study is off; the dining room is on and so is the kitchen; the study rule does not apply.

Choosing the study instead forces the kitchen off, which forces the dining room off, leaving at most study, hall and bedroom: only 3. So 4 is the maximum, and 3 and 2 are below it.

Answer: C

The person is Nirmala.

Two of the four sociology postgraduates (Amala, Kamla, Komala and Nirmala) are bank employees. Kamla is one; Amala and Komala are unemployed, so the other must be Nirmala.

Nirmala is also named among the tennis players, so she is both. Kamla's tennis status is not given, Komala is unemployed, Amala is unemployed, and Shyamala (the commerce postgraduate) is not shown to be either.

Answer: B

The teacher with the most subjects is B.

Collect each teacher's subjects:

• A: Hindi, English, Mathematics (3).
• B: Hindi, English, Geography, History, French (5).
• C: English, Geography (2).
• D: Mathematics, Hindi (2).
• E: History, French (2).

B appears in three of the four pairs, which is why B teaches the most.

Note that each sentence names a pair of teachers and a pair of subjects, so a teacher named in more sentences picks up more subjects.

Answer: D

All six cousins have different ages, the youngest is 17 and the oldest, E, is 22, so A, B, C, D and F take the ages 17 to 21. F lies between B and D in age.

If F were 20, then one of B and D would be 21 and the other younger. B cannot be 21 because A is older than B and nobody except E (22) is older, and D cannot be 21 because C is older than D. So F is 20 is not possible, option D. The other cases (D = 20, F = 18, F = 19) can be fitted.