In a car exhibition, seven cars of seven different companies — Cadillac,…

2021

In a car exhibition, seven cars of seven different companies — Cadillac, Ambassador, Fiat, Maruti, Mercedes, Bedford and Fargo — were displayed in a row facing east, such that:

  1. Cadillac was to the immediate right of Fargo.

  2. Fargo was fourth to the right of Fiat.

  3. Maruti was between Ambassador and Bedford.

  4. Fiat, which was third to the left of Ambassador, was at one of the ends.

Which of the following groups of cars is to the right of Ambassador?

  1. A.

    Cadillac, Fargo & Maruti

  2. B.

    Maruti, Bedford & Fiat

  3. C.

    Mercedes, Cadillac & Fargo

  4. D.

    Bedford, Cadillac & Fargo

Attempted by 7 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C

Concept

A linear seating puzzle is solved by anchoring the most constrained clue to a fixed reference point, then placing the remaining items by their stated relative distances and adjacencies until exactly one consistent ordering survives. “Nth to the right/left of X” fixes an exact gap, and “between A and B” forces an adjacency block. A group answer asks only WHICH cars fall on one side of a reference car — it is a set, so the order in which the three are listed does not matter.

Application

Number the seats 1 to 7 from left to right. Start with the clue that pins a car to an end: Fiat is at an end and is third to the left of Ambassador, so they sit three seats apart with two cars between them.

  1. Place Fiat at seat 1; then Ambassador is three to its right, at seat 4. Frame so far: Fiat _ _ Ambassador _ _ _ (the underscores are empty seats).

  2. Fargo is fourth to the right of Fiat, so Fargo takes seat 5; Cadillac, immediately to Fargo’s right, takes seat 6.

  3. Maruti must sit between Ambassador and Bedford as a tight three-car block. The only placement consistent with seat 4 being Ambassador is Bedford at seat 2 and Maruti at seat 3, giving Fiat, Bedford, Maruti, Ambassador across seats 1–4.

  4. One car is left, Mercedes; it fills the only open seat, seat 7.

So the seats 1 to 7 hold: Fiat, Bedford, Maruti, Ambassador, Fargo, Cadillac, Mercedes. Ambassador is at seat 4, and the cars to its right are seats 5, 6 and 7: Fargo, Cadillac and Mercedes.

Cross-check

Test every clue on this seating: Cadillac (6) is immediately right of Fargo (5) ✓; Fargo (5) is four seats right of Fiat (1) ✓; Maruti (3) is wedged between Ambassador (4) and Bedford (2) ✓; Fiat is at an end and three seats left of Ambassador ✓.

The cars to the right of Ambassador are therefore the set {Fargo, Cadillac, Mercedes} — the same three named in “Mercedes, Cadillac & Fargo,” listed in a different order. Even if one read the line as facing east so that the far end counts as the right, these same three cars are the ones on that side of Ambassador, so the group is unchanged.

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