Letter and Symbol Series Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The next cluster is AN.

In the first letters G, I, M, S the jumps are +2, +4 and +6, so the next jump is +8: S is the 19th letter and 19 + 8 = 27, which wraps round to A. In the second letters T, V, Z, F the jumps are again +2, +4 and +6, so the next jump is +8: F is the 6th letter and 6 + 8 = 14, which is N.

YL, AL and YN each get one of the two letters wrong, so only AN follows both patterns.

A quick check is to write the letters of the two series side by side: G-T, I-V, M-Z, S-F. Each pair moves by the same amount in both letters at every step, so the same +8 jump applies to both letters of the answer. Wrapping past Z to A is needed in both positions, which is why the answer starts with A.

Answer: D

The pair that follows the same logic is BUYER-UBYER-BUYRE.

In AVOID-VAOID-AVODI, the first step swaps the first two letters (AVOID to VAOID), and the second step swaps the first two letters again and also the last two letters (VAOID to AVODI). BUYER to UBYER swaps the first two letters, and UBYER to BUYRE swaps the first two again and the last two (E and R), which is the same logic.

The other options reverse or scramble whole words rather than swapping those pairs of letters.

Check the rule on the remaining options to see why they fail. In CALIF-LIFAC the letters are moved in blocks, and in DREAM-MAERD the whole word is reversed. EXIST-IXSTE shifts letters round in a cycle. None of them swaps only the first two and then the first two together with the last two letters, as the given triad does.

Answer: A

The next term is OV.

Write the letters as their positions in the alphabet:

The first letters rise by 2, 3, 4, so the next rise is 5: 10 + 5 = 15, O. The second letters rise by 3, 4, 5, so the next rise is 6: 16 + 6 = 22, V.

OW and PW put the second letter at 23, and PV and PW put the first at 16, each breaking one of the two growing gaps.

Answer: A

The missing letters are abba.

Filling the blanks in order with a, b, b, a gives

abba baab ab baba aba = abba baab abba baab a

The series is the block 'abba' followed by its mirror 'baab', repeated. Trying abab or aabb breaks the abba/baab alternation (aabb, for instance, makes the second block baaa), and ccac brings in a letter that does not occur in the series at all.

Answer: B

The next term is K25I.

Each term has three parts, each following its own pattern:

• First letter: C, E, G, I, so skipping one letter each time, next K.
• Number: 1, 4, 9, 16, the squares of 1 to 4, next \(5^{2} = 25\).
• Last letter: A, C, E, G, also skipping one, next I.

That gives K 25 I. J27L, L26Q and M25P each break at least one of the three patterns; M25P has the right number but the wrong letters.

Answer: B

There are 2 such Ms.

Look for the pattern W M V in the series XUVMRSWMVNVMWOPMWUVMWACWMVHPNVWMWTUN. It occurs twice: in ...S WMV N... and in ...C WMV H...

The other Ms fail one side of the test: for example, in ...V W M W T..., the M is preceded by W but followed by W, and in ...O P M W..., it is preceded by P.

Answer: D

The next term is G225H.

The letters are consecutive pairs: A B, C D, E F, so the next pair is G and H.

The numbers are squares of numbers going up by 4: \(9 = 3^{2}\), \(49 = 7^{2}\), \(121 = 11^{2}\), so the next is \(15^{2} = 225\).

All four options start with G and end with H, so only the number decides. 199, 221 and 281 are not squares, so none of them can continue the pattern.

Answer: D

The next term is KS13.

Each term has three parts that follow separate rules:

• First letters B, E, H move forward three places, so the next is K.
• Second letters Y, W, U move back two places, so the next is S.
• The numbers 5, 7, 11 are successive prime numbers, so the next is 13.

The distractors each break one rule: J moves only two places, T moves back only one place, and KT13 has the wrong middle letter.

Answer: B

The letters are abab.

Filling the gaps in order gives

a a a b b b a a a b b b

which is the block aaabbb written twice: three a's, three b's, three a's, three b's.

The other choices break the repetition. cbbb and accb bring in a c, which appears nowhere else in the series, and bacb also brings in a c, breaking the runs of a's and b's.

Answer: A

The next term is MPF.

Treat each letter position as its own series:

• First letters E, G, I, K: each two places on, so M.
• Second letters H, J, L, N: each two places on, so P.
• Third letters J, I, H, G: each one place back, so F.

That gives MPF. LOH and ILF break the first-letter series, and MPI gets the first two letters right but continues the third series forward instead of backward.