Eight people — Anand, Babita, Cedric, Dinky, Ela, Fida, Gita, and Hemant — sit…

Concept

In a same-direction, multi-row seating puzzle, each row has fixed column positions — Left, Middle, Right. Two people are parallel when they occupy the same column in different rows (they line up directly one behind another). Two people are diagonal when their row differs by exactly one AND their column differs by exactly one — a one-step offset in both directions at once, never a straight-line match. A person is “sitting between 2 people” only when both neighbouring seats in their own row are filled, which forces that person into the Middle column. A clue that fixes several names “in one line” (the same column) is the fastest anchor — pin that column first, then use the parallel/diagonal clues to place everyone else, and whichever seat is never assigned is the single vacant seat.

Application

1. Anand sits between two people, so Anand takes the Middle column of their row.

2. Cedric, Anand, and Gita come in one line from North to South, and Anand's column is Middle, so all three sit in the Middle column, one per row, in that order: Cedric in the northernmost row, Anand in the middle row, Gita in the southernmost row.

3. Dinky sits last in the third row counted from the south — the northernmost row, the same row as Cedric — in the row's last (Right) seat. That row now reads: unassigned (Left), Cedric (Middle), Dinky (Right).

4. Gita is second from both Hemant and Fida. Since Gita already holds the Middle seat of the southernmost row, Hemant and Fida take the two end seats (Left and Right) of that same row, with Gita between them — though which end each takes is not yet fixed.

5. Exactly one person is parallel to both Dinky and Hemant. A single third person can be parallel to both only if Dinky and Hemant already sit in the same column — parallel means matching one column, and one person occupies only one column. Dinky sits in the Right column, so Hemant must also sit in the Right column, which fixes Hemant at the Right end of the southernmost row and Fida at its Left end (completing the previous step).

6. Ela is parallel to Dinky, so Ela sits in the Right column as well. The other two Right-column seats already belong to Dinky and Hemant, so Ela takes the Right seat of the middle row — and Ela is therefore the one person who is parallel to both Dinky and Hemant.

7. Babita is diagonal to Cedric. Cedric sits in the Middle column of the northernmost row, so a diagonal seat is one row and one column away — the Left or Right seat of the middle row. The Right seat there is already Ela's, so Babita takes the Left seat of the middle row.

8. Ela is diagonal to Gita. Gita sits in the Middle column of the southernmost row, so a diagonal seat is the Left or Right seat of the middle row — Ela, already placed at the Right seat of the middle row, satisfies this and confirms the previous step.

9. Every seat is now filled except the Left seat of the northernmost row left unassigned in step 3 — that is the puzzle's single vacant seat.

Completed seating

Cross-check

Checking every statement against this completed grid: Cedric's other row-neighbour (Left seat, northernmost row) is the vacant seat; Dinky's only row-neighbour is Cedric, who is seated, not vacant; Fida (Left, southernmost row) and Babita (Left, middle row) share the Left column, so they are parallel; Hemant (Right, southernmost row) and Anand (Middle, middle row) are one row and one column apart, so they are diagonal. Three of the four statements hold; only the claim that places the vacant seat beside Dinky fails.

So the statement that is incorrect is: the vacant seat is next to Dinky — Dinky's only row-neighbour, Cedric, is in fact seated.