Each of the following questions is based on the following information: Six…
2024
Each of the following questions is based on the following information: Six flats on a floor in two rows facing North and South are allotted to P, Q, R, S, T and U. Q gets a North-facing flat and is not next to S. S and U get diagonally opposite flats. R, next to U, gets a South-facing flat, and T gets a North-facing flat. If the flats of P and T are interchanged, then whose flat will be next to that of U?
- A.
P
- B.
Q
- C.
R
- D.
T
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
In a two-row seating puzzle, each row of three flats faces one fixed direction (North or South), and the two rows stand opposite each other in three matching columns. Two flats are “directly opposite” when they share a column across the rows, and “diagonally opposite” when they sit in the two different outer columns (the left column of one row pairs diagonally with the right column of the other). “Next to” always means adjacent within the SAME row. The method is: fix which row faces which direction from the direction clues, use the adjacency/diagonal clues to lock every column, and only then trace which columns an interchange actually disturbs.
Q and T are both stated to face North, so both sit in the North-facing row; the row's third member is found later by elimination.
R faces South and is next to U, so R and U both sit in the South-facing row, in two consecutive columns.
S is diagonally opposite U. Diagonal pairs always sit in different rows, so S must be in the North-facing row — that completes the North-facing row as {Q, S, T} and the South-facing row as {R, U, P} (P is the one flat left over).
Within the North-facing row, Q is “not next to S.” In a row of three columns, only the two outer columns are ever non-adjacent to each other, so Q and S occupy the two outer columns and T takes the middle column.
Within the South-facing row, R must be adjacent to U (already fixed), and U must sit in the outer column that is diagonal to S's outer column. That places U in one outer column, R in the middle column beside U, and P in the remaining outer column.
This fixes the starting layout — South-facing row: P, R, U (left to right); North-facing row: S, T, Q (left to right) — with S diagonally opposite U exactly as required.
Now interchange P and T: P sits in the outer column of the South-facing row, T sits in the middle column of the North-facing row, so only these two seats swap places — P moves into T's old (North-row, middle-column) seat and T moves into P's old (South-row, outer-column) seat. The South-facing row becomes T, R, U and the North-facing row becomes S, P, Q.
U's row-neighbour is whichever flat occupies the middle column of the South-facing row — currently R. The interchange only moves P and T themselves, and neither of them is R or U, so both the South-facing row's middle-column occupant (R) and its outer-column occupant (U) stay exactly where they were. U's neighbour is therefore unchanged: R.
Row | Left column | Middle column | Right column |
|---|---|---|---|
South-facing row (before swap) | P | R | U |
North-facing row (before swap) | S | T | Q |
South-facing row (after P–T swap) | T | R | U |
North-facing row (after P–T swap) | S | P | Q |
Cross-check — confirming the starting layout against every original clue:
Q not next to S: in the North-facing row (S, T, Q), Q is adjacent only to T, never to S. Holds.
S and U diagonally opposite: S occupies the outer column of the North-facing row that is diagonal to U's outer column in the South-facing row. Holds by construction.
R next to U and R faces South: R sits in the South-facing row's middle column, directly beside U. Holds.
T faces North: T's original seat is in the North-facing row. Holds.
Since the P–T interchange only relocates P and T themselves — and neither of them is R — the flat beside U in the South-facing row's middle column never changes. Flat R remains next to flat U after the interchange.