Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the question.…
2024
Direction: Study the following information carefully and answer the question.
Five persons – M, N, O, P and Q – own five different ships – A, B, C, D and E – which are docked at five different ports – R, S, T, U and V. The information is not necessarily in the same order.
N does not own Ship B or Ship E.
Ship B is not docked at Port S or Port U.
Q does not dock the ship at Port S or Port R.
O does not dock the ship at Port S, Port U or Port V.
M, O and P do not own Ship E.
Ship D is not docked at Port U.
P does not own Ship C or Ship B.
P does not dock the ship at Port U or Port V.
The person whose ship is docked at Port R does not own Ship C or Ship A.
P does not dock the ship at Port R or Port S.
M does not dock the ship at Port S.
The person whose ship is docked at Port S does not own Ship D.
The person whose ship is docked at Port S does not own Ship A.
The person whose ship is docked at Port T does not own Ship D.
Ship B is not docked at Port R.
Who among the following persons docked the ship at Port U?
- A.
Q
- B.
M
- C.
N
- D.
O
- E.
P
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept
This is a one-to-one matching puzzle: three sets – persons, ships and ports – must be paired so that every clue is satisfied. The method is constraint elimination: each “does not” clue removes a possibility from the grid, and you fix a person, ship or port the moment only one option survives for it. A clue that pins someone to a single remaining choice is the lever that unlocks the rest.
Application – fixing the ports
Place P first – P is barred from U, V (clue 8) and from R, S (clue 10). Only Port T is left, so P → Port T.
Place O – O is barred from S, U, V (clue 4); Port T is now taken by P. Only Port R is left, so O → Port R.
Locate Ship B – Ship B cannot be at S or U (clue 2) or at R (clue 15). T already holds P, and P cannot own Ship B (clue 7). So Ship B must be at Port V.
Place the remaining persons – Q cannot be at S or R (clue 3). Port V carries Ship B, but Q must own Ship E (shown next), so Q cannot sit at V. With P at T and O at R, the only port left for Q is Port U, giving Q → Port U.
Application – fixing the ships
Find the owner of Ship E – M, O and P do not own E (clue 5) and N does not own E (clue 1). The only person left is Q, so Q owns Ship E.
Ship A – P (at Port T) cannot own C or B (clue 7) and cannot own E; Port T cannot hold Ship D (clue 14). So P owns Ship A.
Ship D – O is at Port R, where Ship C and Ship A are barred (clue 9), and O cannot own B (B is at V) or E. So O owns Ship D – consistent because Ship D is not at U or S (clues 6, 12).
Ships B and C – N cannot own B (clue 1), so N owns Ship C, leaving Ship B for M. M therefore sits at Port V, and N takes the last port, Port S.
Final arrangement
Port | Person | Ship |
|---|---|---|
R | O | D |
S | N | C |
T | P | A |
U | Q | E |
V | M | B |
Cross-check
Every clue holds for this grid: Ship B sits at V (not R, S or U), Ship D sits at R (not U, S or T), Port S holds Ship C (no A, no D), and Q at Port U owns Ship E. The person at Port U is therefore Q.