Logical Reasoning Puzzles with Answers 2026 (40+ Solved Puzzles)

What changed in 2026 drives
Mass-recruiter offer letters are flatter for 2026 batch - the 4-5 LPA ASE band has barely budged in three years while inflation eats real wages. Premium tracks (Digital, Pro, Elite, Specialist) are still where the differential lives, and they are entirely test-driven. If you are aiming higher than the default offer, the coding round is not optional pageantry - it is the entire interview.
What I'd actually study for this
- 01Two solid coding-round answers (1 medium-hard DSA each, with edge-case discussion) > five half-baked ones
- 02One real project you can defend end-to-end - file paths, design decisions, and what you would change
- 03One DBMS schema you actually built (not a textbook ER diagram), with at least 3 join-heavy queries written from memory
- 04Three behavioural STAR stories: failure recovered, conflict handled, ownership taken
Where most candidates trip up
The single biggest mistake is treating company-specific guides as primary prep and DSA as secondary. It is the opposite. Mass recruiters use the test as a filter, but premium tracks at every IT services company use coding to allocate offer band. Spend 70% of prep time on DSA + system fundamentals, 20% on company-specific patterns, 10% on HR rehearsal. Reverse that ratio and you collect the default offer.
Editorial commentary by Aditya Sharma · written for PapersAdda · not generated, not aggregated.
Last Updated: June 2026
This page collects 40+ solved logical reasoning puzzles at placement-exam difficulty, organized by type: seating arrangement, blood relations, ranking and order, directions, and logical deductions. Each puzzle has a full explanation. Candidates report puzzles as a high-weight reasoning category in Infosys and several other company rounds, and one where a quick diagram is the decisive habit.
Section A: Seating Arrangement (Puzzles 1-10)
Puzzle 1. Five friends A, B, C, D, E sit in a row. A is to the left of B but right of C. D is at the right end. Where is E? Solution: Order so far C, A, B with D at right end: C, A, B, ?, D. E fills the gap: C, A, B, E, D. E is fourth from the left.
Puzzle 2. Six people A, B, C, D, E, F sit around a round table. A faces C (they are opposite). B is to the immediate right of A. D is to the immediate left of A. Who is to the immediate left of A? Solution: The clue states D is to the immediate left of A directly, so the answer is D.
Puzzle 3. Eight people sit around a table. P is third to the right of Q. Q is second to the right of R. How many people sit between P and R going clockwise from R to P? Solution: R, then two seats to Q, then three more to P, so going clockwise R to P passes 4 people between them.
Puzzle 4. Five books are stacked. A is above B. C is below B. D is at the top. E is between A and B. Order from top? Solution: D at top, then A, then E, then B, then C: D, A, E, B, C.
Puzzle 5. In a row of seven seats, who sits exactly in the middle and how many sit on each side? Solution: The middle of seven is the fourth seat, with exactly three people on each side.
Puzzle 6. A, B, C, D sit in a row. A is not at either end. B is to the right of A. C is at the left end. Where is D? Solution: C at left end, A not at an end so A is second, B right of A so B is third, D is at the right end: C, A, B, D.
Puzzle 7. Six friends sit in two rows of three facing each other. Row 1 is A, C, E left to right; row 2 is B, D, F left to right, facing row 1. Who does C face? Solution: C is the middle seat of row 1, and the seat directly opposite in row 2 is D, so C faces D.
Puzzle 8. Five people stand in a queue. R is ahead of S but behind T. U is at the front. Where is the fifth person V? Solution: U front, then T, then R, then S; V fills the remaining slot. Order U, T, R, S leaves V at the back: U, T, R, S, V.
Puzzle 9. Five people A, B, C, D, E sit around a round table in that clockwise order. Who is two seats to the right of A? Solution: Going clockwise from A: B is one seat right, C is two seats right. So C is two seats to the right of A.
Puzzle 10. Seven people sit in a row. The fourth from the left is X. The third from the right is also a fixed seat. Are they the same person? Solution: In a row of seven, the third from the right is the fifth from the left, which is not the fourth from the left. So they are different people.
Section B: Blood Relations (Puzzles 11-20)
Puzzle 11. A is the father of B. B is the sister of C. C is the son of D. How is D related to A? Solution: A and D are the parents of B and C, so D is A's wife.
Puzzle 12. Pointing to a man, a woman said, "He is the son of my grandfather's only son." How is the man related to the woman? Solution: Grandfather's only son is the woman's father, and his son is the woman's brother.
Puzzle 13. P is the brother of Q. Q is the daughter of R. R is the son of S. How is P related to S? Solution: P and Q are children of R, R is S's son, so P is S's grandson.
Puzzle 14. A woman said, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother." How is she related to the man? Solution: The only daughter of her mother is the woman herself, so she is the man's mother.
Puzzle 15. X is the son of Y. Z is the husband of Y. W is the brother of Z. How is W related to X? Solution: Z is X's father, W is Z's brother, so W is X's uncle.
Puzzle 16. A is the mother of B and C. D is the husband of A. How is D related to C? Solution: D is C's father.
Puzzle 17. Pointing to a girl, a boy said, "She is the daughter of the brother of my father." How is the girl related to the boy? Solution: The brother of his father is his uncle, and the uncle's daughter is the boy's cousin.
Puzzle 18. M is the sister of N. N is the son of O. O is the mother of P. How is M related to P? Solution: M and N are children of O, O is P's mother, so M is P's sister.
Puzzle 19. A is the grandfather of B. C is the only daughter of A. If B is not the child of C, how is B related to A? Solution: A's grandchild B is not C's child, so B is the child of A's other child (a son), making B A's grandchild through the son.
Puzzle 20. Pointing to a photo, a man said, "She is the mother of my son's sister." Who is she? Solution: His son's sister is his daughter, and the daughter's mother is the man's wife.
Section C: Ranking and Order (Puzzles 21-30)
Puzzle 21. In a row of 30, A is 12th from the left. Position from the right? Solution: 30 - 12 + 1 = 19th.
Puzzle 22. A is 8th from the top and 12th from the bottom in a ranking. How many in total? Solution: 8 + 12 - 1 = 19.
Puzzle 23. In a queue, B is 7th from the front and 10th from the back. Total people? Solution: 7 + 10 - 1 = 16.
Puzzle 24. M and N are 15th and 20th from the left in a row of 35. How many between them? Solution: 20 - 15 - 1 = 4.
Puzzle 25. A is taller than B but shorter than C. D is shorter than B. Who is the shortest? Solution: D is shorter than B, who is shorter than A and C, so D is the shortest.
Puzzle 26. Five students ranked by marks: P above Q, Q above R, S above P, T below R. Who is first? Solution: S above P above Q above R above T, so S is first.
Puzzle 27. In a class, A ranks 5th and B ranks 9th. How many rank between them? Solution: 9 - 5 - 1 = 3.
Puzzle 28. A is heavier than B, C is lighter than B, D is heavier than A. Order from heaviest? Solution: D, A, B, C.
Puzzle 29. In a row of 40 facing north, X is 18th from the left. After 5 people leave from the left of X, what is X's new position from the left? Solution: 18 - 5 = 13th.
Puzzle 30. A is 6th from the left and 25th from the right. How many in the row? Solution: 6 + 25 - 1 = 30.
Section D: Directions and Deductions (Puzzles 31-42)
Puzzle 31. A man walks 5 km north, 3 km east, 5 km south. How far from start? Solution: North and south cancel, net 3 km east.
Puzzle 32. A man faces east, turns right, then right again. Which way does he face? Solution: East to south to west; he faces west.
Puzzle 33. A man walks 4 km east, 3 km north. Shortest distance back? Solution: Right triangle 3, 4, 5; distance = 5 km.
Puzzle 34. Starting facing north, a man turns 90 degrees clockwise three times. Which way does he face? Solution: North to east to south to west; he faces west.
Puzzle 35. A man walks 6 km south, 8 km west. Shortest distance back? Solution: 6, 8, 10 triangle; distance = 10 km.
Puzzle 36. Statement: All cats are animals. All animals breathe. Conclusion: All cats breathe. Solution: The conclusion follows by transitivity.
Puzzle 37. Statement: Some pens are blue. No blue thing is red. Conclusion: Some pens are not red. Solution: The blue pens are not red, so some pens are not red. Follows.
Puzzle 38. Statement: All doctors are graduates. Ravi is a graduate. Conclusion: Ravi is a doctor. Solution: Being a graduate does not make one a doctor, so it does not follow.
Puzzle 39. A man walks 10 km north, 10 km east, 10 km south. How far from start? Solution: North and south cancel, net 10 km east.
Puzzle 40. Statement: No student is lazy. Some lazy people are clever. Conclusion: Some clever people are not students. Solution: The lazy-and-clever people are not students, so some clever people are not students. Follows.
Puzzle 41. A man drives 12 km west, then 5 km north. Shortest distance back? Solution: 5, 12, 13 triangle; distance = 13 km.
Puzzle 42. Statement: All squares are rectangles. All rectangles are quadrilaterals. Conclusion: All squares are quadrilaterals. Solution: Follows by transitivity.
Key Takeaways
| Puzzle type | Decisive habit |
|---|---|
| Seating | Draw the layout, place fixed clues first |
| Blood relations | Draw a family tree, mark gender |
| Ranking | Use total = left + right - 1 |
| Directions | Sketch the path, cancel opposite legs |
| Deductions | Test transitivity and the all-versus-some rule |
Candidates report that the single biggest improvement in puzzles comes from always drawing the diagram and capping each puzzle at ninety seconds. The diagram externalizes the constraints so you stop holding everything in your head, and the time cap protects your score from a single stubborn question.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I solve seating arrangement puzzles quickly?
Always draw the layout and place the fixed clues first, then add the floating clues around them. Candidates report that attempting seating puzzles in your head is the biggest time sink; a quick sketch turns a two-minute struggle into a thirty-second solve.
What is the trick to blood relation puzzles?
Draw a small family tree and translate each statement into a parent-child or sibling link. Use plus and minus or male and female markers to track gender. Candidates report that the only and self phrases, like only daughter, are the common traps, so read those carefully.
How much time should a puzzle take in a placement test?
Cap each puzzle at ninety seconds. If you cannot make progress, move on and return later. Candidates report that the highest scorers are disciplined about abandoning a stuck puzzle rather than sinking five minutes into one question that scores the same single mark.
Methodology applied to this articlelast verified 8 Jun 2026
- No fabricated salary numbers or success rates. If we quote a range, it's sourced.
- No noun-substituted templates. This article was not generated by swapping company names in a stock prompt.
- No paid placements, sponsored coaching links, or affiliate-shilled course pushes.
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