Circular Seating Arrangement Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: A

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

The professions fall out as shown, and the businessman is A.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Second to the right

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

E is the politician. Counting two seats to E’s right - anticlockwise - gives A and then F.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Only the doctor

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

The teacher is F and the engineer is C, and they have exactly one seat between them - H’s, and H is the doctor.

Answer: E

Correct answer: The doctor sits second to the right of the businessman.

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

The businessman is A; two seats to his right - anticlockwise - gives F and then H, the doctor, so that statement holds. Of the others: D is not beside G, G is the pilot rather than the banker, the banker D and the teacher F are three seats apart, and the pilot G sits between the architect B and the engineer C rather than the businessman.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Pilot

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

Once the other seven professions are placed, only the pilot is left for G - and the seat suits it, since the pilot may not sit beside the politician and G’s neighbours are B and C.

Answer: D

Correct answer: E- Politician

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

G is the pilot, E the politician, H the doctor and D the banker - so G–Doctor, E–Architect, H–Businessman and D–Pilot are all mismatches. E–Politician is the one pairing that is actually correct, which is what makes it the odd one out.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Politician

Everyone faces the centre, so each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise.

Put G in place. The politician sits three to G’s right, and C beside G; of C’s two possible seats, only one leaves room for an architect two seats to C’s right without clashing with the politician. B three to H’s right, with H barred from both the politician’s and the architect’s seat, then leaves one workable placing, and A and F must be neighbours with neither of them the politician - which forces E into the politician’s seat and settles A and F. The banker two to A’s left and the doctor two to A’s right complete the picture.

Clockwise the table reads G (pilot) → C (engineer) → H (doctor) → F (teacher) → A (businessman) → E (politician) → D (banker) → B (architect). The teacher is two seats from C as required, the engineer three from D, and the pilot G is clear of the politician.

The politician sits three seats to G’s right, and that seat is E’s - the only occupant not excluded, since A, F, D and H are all barred from the post.

Answer: E

Correct answer: None of these

Facing the centre, each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise. Fix S; P sits two to S’s left, M three beyond P and T three to S’s left. Of the three seats left, Q must take the one that does not touch S and N the one that does not touch M, leaving R the last. Clockwise the circle reads S → N → P → T → Q → M → R.

Counting three seats to N’s right - anticlockwise - gives S, R and then M. M is not among the choices offered, so the answer is none of these.

Answer: C

Correct answer: S

Facing the centre, each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise. Fix S; P sits two to S’s left, M three beyond P and T three to S’s left. Of the three seats left, Q must take the one that does not touch S and N the one that does not touch M, leaving R the last. Clockwise the circle reads S → N → P → T → Q → M → R.

Counting two seats to M’s left - clockwise - gives R and then S. The arrangement is fully determined, so the position can indeed be settled.

Answer: C

Correct answer: N

Facing the centre, each person’s left is the next seat clockwise and their right the next seat anticlockwise. Fix S; P sits two to S’s left, M three beyond P and T three to S’s left. Of the three seats left, Q must take the one that does not touch S and N the one that does not touch M, leaving R the last. Clockwise the circle reads S → N → P → T → Q → M → R.

P and S have exactly one seat between them, and N occupies it. R sits on the far side of S, not between the two.