Read the given information carefully and answer the related questions: Six…
2024
Read the given information carefully and answer the related questions:
Six boxes - A, B, C, D, E and F are placed one above another. These boxes are of different types – Jute, Steel, Iron, Wood, Leather, Brass. All the information is not necessarily in the same order. Box D is placed three places above leather box. Same number of boxes are placed above box D and below steel box. Box B is placed just below box F and juts above wood box. Box A is placed two places below iron box. More than one box is placed below box C which is placed below brass box.
Box F is of which type?
- A.
Iron
- B.
Jute
- C.
Brass
- D.
Steel
- E.
Leather
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
In a stacked linear-arrangement puzzle, fix the most rigid clue first — one that anchors an exact gap or an exact count between two items — then place the remaining items by elimination. “Three places above” means an exact difference of 3 positions; “just below/above” means an adjacent position; “same number above X as below Y” is a counting constraint that pins both X and Y.
Application
Number the stack 1 (bottom) to 6 (top). “D is three places above the Leather box” means pos(D) = pos(Leather) + 3, which allows exactly three pairs: Leather at 1 with D at 4, Leather at 2 with D at 5, or Leather at 3 with D at 6.
“The number of boxes above D equals the number below the Steel box.” Test each pair: with D at 4, two boxes sit above it, so Steel must be at 3, and the only three consecutive open positions for the next clue are 1–2–3 — but position 1 is already the Leather box, so the Wood box of that block cannot fit there, and D at 4 fails. With D at 5, one box sits above it, forcing Steel to position 2 — the very position the Leather box would occupy, a direct conflict, so D at 5 fails. With D at 6, zero boxes sit above it, so zero sit below Steel, placing Steel at the bottom (1); this is the only survivor, so D is at 6, Leather at 3, Steel at 1.
“B is just below F and just above the Wood box,” so F, B and Wood occupy three consecutive positions with B in the middle. With D at 6 and Steel at 1, the only consecutive triple that fits is F at 4, B at 3, Wood at 2. So B sits at 3 — already fixed as Leather — making B the Leather box, and the box at 2 the Wood box.
“A is two places below the Iron box,” i.e. pos(A) = pos(Iron) − 2. With 1, 2 and 6 already typed and F locked at 4, the only 2-gap available puts A at 2 and the Iron box at 4. Since F is the box at 4, F is the Iron box, and A (at 2) is the Wood box.
“More than one box is below C, and C is below the Brass box.” The only boxes left for positions 1 and 5 are C and E, and the only types left for positions 5 and 6 are Jute and Brass. C needs at least two boxes beneath it, so C cannot be at the bottom — C is at 5 and E at 1. C must lie below Brass, so Brass is the top box at 6 (the D box) and C at 5 is the Jute box.
Cross-check
The completed stack, top to bottom:
Position | Box | Type |
|---|---|---|
6 (top) | D | Brass |
5 | C | Jute |
4 | F | Iron |
3 | B | Leather |
2 | A | Wood |
1 (bottom) | E | Steel |
Every clue holds: D (6) is exactly three above Leather (3); zero boxes lie above D and zero below Steel (1); F–B–Wood occupy 4–3–2; A (2) is two below Iron (4); three boxes lie below C (5), which is below Brass (6).
Result
Box F sits at position 4 and is the Iron box.