Seven cars of different companies - Cadillac, Ambassador, Fiat, Maruti,…

2024

Seven cars of different companies - Cadillac, Ambassador, Fiat, Maruti, Mercedes, Bedford and Fargo - are standing in a single row, all facing east, such that:

  • Cadillac is immediately to the right of Fargo.

  • Fargo is fourth to the right of Fiat.

  • Maruti is between Ambassador and Bedford.

  • Fiat, which is third to the left of Ambassador, is at one end of the row.

Which cars are on both sides of Cadillac?

  1. A.

    Ambassador and Maruti

  2. B.

    Maruti and Fiat

  3. C.

    Fargo and Mercedes

  4. D.

    Ambassador and Fargo

Attempted by 1 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C

Concept

In a single-row seating/arrangement puzzle, first convert every relative clue ("right of", "left of", "nth from", "between", "at one end") into a fixed numeric position, working from the clue that anchors an end of the row outward; only once every element has a fixed position can "who is on both sides of X" be read off directly as the elements at position (X-1) and position (X+1).

Application

  1. Fiat is at one end of the row, and Fiat is third to the left of Ambassador - so Ambassador's position equals Fiat's position + 3. If Fiat were at the right end (position 7), Ambassador would need to be at position 10, which does not exist in a 7-seat row; so Fiat must be at the left end: position 1.

  2. Fargo is fourth to the right of Fiat: position 1 + 4 = position 5.

  3. Cadillac is immediately to the right of Fargo: position 5 + 1 = position 6.

  4. Ambassador is third to the right of Fiat (position 1): position 1 + 3 = position 4.

  5. The remaining positions are 2, 3 and 7, to be filled by Maruti, Bedford and Mercedes. Maruti is between Ambassador (4) and Bedford, so Bedford and Maruti must occupy the two positions immediately before Ambassador: Bedford at position 2 and Maruti at position 3.

  6. The only position left, 7, goes to Mercedes.

  7. Final row (1 to 7): Fiat, Bedford, Maruti, Ambassador, Fargo, Cadillac, Mercedes. Cadillac is at position 6, so the cars on either side of it are at position 5 (Fargo) and position 7 (Mercedes).

Cross-check

Verify every original clue against the final row Fiat-Bedford-Maruti-Ambassador-Fargo-Cadillac-Mercedes: Cadillac is right of Fargo (yes); Fargo is fourth right of Fiat (1 to 5, yes); Maruti sits between Ambassador and Bedford (3 is between 2 and 4, yes); Fiat is third left of Ambassador and at an end (1 to 4, and position 1 is an end, yes). All four clues hold, confirming the arrangement and the answer.

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