Logical Reasoning Seating Arrangement for CLAT

Puzzles and Seating Arrangement questions asked in the Reasoning Ability section often confuse a lot of students. So, to clear the air and understand the correct approach to attempt the questions, in this post, we will discuss some important expert tips to solve Puzzles and Seating Arrangement questions in CLAT and other law exams.

Reasoning is an extremely important section in CLAT exam as it accounts for about 20% of the total marks of this exam. But its real importance lies in the fact that it is extremely scoring. Among myriad questions asked in the Reasoning section, seating arrangements and puzzles are high scoring and less time consuming (as one will find three to five questions based on the same set of problems).

So, without any more delay, let us see how one can solve seating arrangement and puzzle questions of reasoning in CLAT and other Law Entrance Exams.

How to solve Puzzles & Seating Arrangement Questions in CLAT Exam?

While solving the questions of these topics, students should keep the following things in mind:

• Read the entire puzzle first and understand the statements carefully.
• Keep an eye for statements that gives definite information.
  For e.g.:
  STATEMENT A: X is to the right of Y
  STATEMENT B: X is second to the right of Y
  Statement B is definite, and Statement A is vague. Statement B gives the definite position of X with respect to Y while Statement A fails to do so. Pay attention to such vital information.
• Scribble down all the information provided in short hand, so that you need not revert to the question again.
• Hypothetically, make yourself a part of the question, which is to think yourself to be one person in the problem. This will help you in keeping track of the direction and arrangement of people.
• Draw diagrams or tables to solve the questions. If you get the initial figure right, then answering all the questions will be a cakewalk. By doing so questions are easily and quickly solved.

Types of Arrangement & Puzzle Questions asked in Law Exams

Seating Arrangement

There are mainly four types of seating arrangement questions in CLAT logical Reasoning. Let’s see each type one by one. There will also be questions for you to solve with each type.

1. Single Row Arrangement

They are the easiest amongst all the other seating arrangement problems. The data is given for a single row and the only thing to remember is the Left/Right distinction.

Example:  A, P, R, X, S and Z are sitting in a row. S and Z are in the Centre. A and P are at the ends. R is sitting to the left of A. Who is to the right of P?

Answer: X

2. Double Row Arrangement

They are comparatively difficult since the information shared is more. Again, the key is not to get confused of the left-right directions.

Example: Study the following information carefully and answer the given questions.

12 people are sitting in 2 parallel rows. 6 people are seated in each row such that they are equidistant from each other.
In Row 1: P, Q, R, S, T and V are seated. All the people are facing South.
In row 2: A, B, C, D, E and F are seated. All the people are facing North.

Each member of the row faces another member of the opposite row.

S is seated 3rd to the right of Q. Either S or Q sits at an extreme end of the line. The one who faces Q is seated second to the right of E. There are 2 people, who sit between B and F. Neither B nor F sits at the extreme end of the line. The immediate neighbor of B faces the person who sits third to the left of P. R and T are immediate neighbors of each other. C sits 2nd to the left of A. T does not face the immediate neighbor of D. How many persons are seated between V and R? Who is facing S?

Answer: Two persons are seated between V and R. A is facing S.

3. Rectangular Arrangement

This type too, belongs to the easy section, although the candidate has to recognize that the question belongs to the rectangular type (it is not outrightly mentioned in the question).

Example: Siva, Sathish, Amar, and Praveen are playing cards. Amar is to the right of Sathish, who is to the right of Siva. Who is to the right of Amar?

Answer: Praveen

4. Circular Arrangement

This is a category of most difficult questions. In these questions the amount of data is large, and the information is not very definite.

Two kinds of positions are there in the circular arrangement questions:

• Facing towards the center (inwards)- The right is in an anticlockwise direction and the left is in the clockwise direction.
• Facing away from the center (outwards)- The right is clockwise in direction and the left is in an anticlockwise direction.

ALSO READ : Logical Reasoning Questions For CLAT | Mock Test | Based On Previous Years’ Question Paper

Example:

1. 6 Boys are sitting in a circle and facing towards the center of the circle.
2. Rajeev is sitting to the right of Mohan, but he is not just at the left of Vijay.
3. Suresh is between Babu and Vijay.
4. Ajay is sitting to the left of Vijay.

Who is sitting to the left of Mohan?

Answer: Babu is sitting next to Mohan.

Puzzles

Puzzle-based questions are usually solved using tables and figures.

Example: Study the information given below carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
There are 7 friends, P, Q, R, S, T, V, and W, each of whom likes a particular fruit, viz. Apple, Banana, Pear, Guava, Orange, Mango and Watermelon. Also, each of them has a favorite city, viz. Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Agra and Cochin.

The preferences of favorite city and fruit may not necessarily be in the same order.
Q’s favorite city is Chennai and he likes Mango. The one who likes watermelon also likes Pune. The favorite city of T is Kolkata. R likes Guava and his favorite city is not Mumbai. The favorite city of W is Cochin and he does not like either Pear or Banana. The favorite fruit of the one who likes Agra is Orange. T does not like Pear. The favorite city of P is neither Pune nor Agra. S does not like Watermelon.

• Who likes apples?
• Which fruit does P like?
• Which is R’s favorite city?
• Which is V’s favorite city?

Answer:

• W likes apples.
• P likes Pear.
• R’s favorite city is Delhi.
• V’s favorite city is Pune.

There are no particular shortcuts to solve questions of seating arrangement and puzzles. It all comes down to how well the students can interpret the information provided to them in the question. The only way to master these topics is a regular practice.

So, start practicing the different types of Seating Arrangement and Puzzle based questions now and with time, you will definitely see improvement in the time and ease with which you solve them.

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