Puzzle Test Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The person who plays polo is a Professor.

From the clues, Ajay is the Architect and plays Tennis, and Eknath is the Manager and plays Hockey. The other three, Bhushan, Chandru and Dinesh, are the Professor, the Doctor and the Writer, and play Cricket, Polo and Squash.

The Doctor plays Cricket and the Writer plays Squash, so whoever plays Polo is neither of them and must be the Professor. This holds whichever of the three plays Polo, which is why 'Cannot be determined' is wrong. The Architect plays Tennis, not Polo.

Answer: A

The Architect is Ajay.

Ajay plays Tennis, so he is not the Doctor (Cricket) or the Writer (Squash). Clue 1 says he is not the Professor, and clue 5 makes Eknath the Manager. The only profession left for Ajay is Architect, the fifth profession named in clue 6.

Eknath is the Manager. Bhushan and Chandru are among the Professor, Doctor and Writer, so neither can be the Architect.

Answer: C

The Manager plays Hockey.

The Manager is Eknath (clue 5), who does not play Polo. Squash belongs to the Writer and Cricket to the Doctor, both of whom are other people, and Ajay plays Tennis. Of the five games only Hockey remains, so Eknath plays Hockey.

Squash and Tennis are taken by the Writer and Ajay, and the answer is fully determined, so 'Cannot be determined' is wrong.

Answer: C

E can start at 2 p.m.

A takes 9 to 11 a.m. With B now taking 2 hours, B runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and C, which needs A and B done, runs 1 to 2 p.m. D runs alongside B and C, from 11 a.m., for 3 hours, which ends at 2 p.m. E needs A, B, C and D all complete, so it starts at 2 p.m., when both C and D end.

12 noon and 1 p.m. are too early, since B or C are still running. 3 p.m. would add an hour of idle time that nothing in the information requires.

Answer: B

All tasks can be done by 3 p.m.

With B taking one hour, A runs 9 to 11, B 11 to 12 and C 12 to 1. D runs alongside B and C from 11 a.m. for 3 hours, so it ends at 2 p.m. E needs A, B, C and D complete, so it starts at 2 p.m. and takes one hour, ending at 3 p.m.

C finishes at 1 p.m. but D does not, so 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. are too early. 4 p.m. needs a delay that is not in the information.

Answer: A

The two women arrived in the order 1 and 2.

The order of arrival is: 1 Ashutosh and Nitu (Furniture), 2 Prem and Rinku (Garments), 3 Rajiv and Rosy (Jewellery), 4 Pappu and Rupu (Publishing, the "Books" of the paper).

The clues give three chains of couples in a row of four: the Garments couple, then Rajiv, then Rupu's couple; Prem, then Rosy's couple; Ashutosh, then Rinku's couple, then the Jewellery couple. If Rajiv were second he would clash with Ashutosh in the third chain unless both sat in the first two places, and that leaves Rinku with Rajiv in Furniture, which the clues forbid. So Rajiv is third and Ashutosh first. The Garments couple is then second and is Rinku's, and the Jewellery couple is Rajiv's. Prem, who must come just before Rosy, is second, so Rosy is Rajiv's wife. Pappu (Books) is fourth with Rupu, and Nitu is with Ashutosh in Furniture.

Furniture is the first couple (Nitu) and Garments is the second couple (Rinku), so the two women come in the order 1 and 2. 2 and 1 reverses them, and 3 is the Jewellery couple.

Answer: C

The true statement is Rosy is the wife of Rajiv.

The order of arrival is: 1 Ashutosh and Nitu (Furniture), 2 Prem and Rinku (Garments), 3 Rajiv and Rosy (Jewellery), 4 Pappu and Rupu (Publishing, the "Books" of the paper).

The clues give three chains of couples in a row of four: the Garments couple, then Rajiv, then Rupu's couple; Prem, then Rosy's couple; Ashutosh, then Rinku's couple, then the Jewellery couple. If Rajiv were second he would clash with Ashutosh in the third chain unless both sat in the first two places, and that leaves Rinku with Rajiv in Furniture, which the clues forbid. So Rajiv is third and Ashutosh first. The Garments couple is then second and is Rinku's, and the Jewellery couple is Rajiv's. Prem, who must come just before Rosy, is second, so Rosy is Rajiv's wife. Pappu (Books) is fourth with Rupu, and Nitu is with Ashutosh in Furniture.

Rupu is married to Pappu and deals in Books (Publishing), not Garments. Prem deals in Garments, not Jewellery. Nitu deals in Furniture, not Books. Only the third statement fits.

Answer: B

The city with no industry, no university and no hill station is N.

Work out the cities. N and O are not industrial, so the three industrial cities are L, M and P. M is a port, and an industrial city with a university has no port, so M has no university; the two industrial cities with universities are L and P. O is the hill station with a university, so the three university cities are L, O and P. The ports are M and one more: not O (not a port), not L or P (they have universities), so N. Summary: L is industrial with a university, M is industrial with a port, N has a port only, O is the hill station with a university, P is industrial with a university.

N is not industrial, has no university and is not the hill station (that is O). M is industrial, and L and P are industrial and have universities.

Answer: B

The two port cities are M and N.

Work out the cities. N and O are not industrial, so the three industrial cities are L, M and P. M is a port, and an industrial city with a university has no port, so M has no university; the two industrial cities with universities are L and P. O is the hill station with a university, so the three university cities are L, O and P. The ports are M and one more: not O (not a port), not L or P (they have universities), so N. Summary: L is industrial with a university, M is industrial with a port, N has a port only, O is the hill station with a university, P is industrial with a university.

L and P cannot have ports because they are industrial cities with universities, and O is stated not to be a port, so the ports are M and N.

Answer: E

Given F is a psychologist.
B is the mother of F and E is the brother or sister of F.
There are only two married couples in the family. Since, D is married to A, so C, the jeweller, who is married to a lawyer, will be married to B.
Again, the Manager D is married to A means A is the doctor and Grandfather of F and E.
Also, no one else is an Engineer. So, E must be an Engineer.
Clearly, E is an Engineer. So, the answer (e).