Logical Reasoning · Arrangements & Puzzles
Logical Puzzles — Questions & Answers
Logical puzzles combine several attributes — people, days, colours, jobs — linked by clues. A grid of attributes helps you place each clue and eliminate options.
- 5 solved questions
- Step-by-step AI walkthroughs
- How-to-approach tips
How to approach
Assume one person is truthful, follow what that forces, and look for a contradiction. Try the other case too. The answer is whatever stays consistent.
Make a small grid of people against items and cross off every "not". A row or column with one cell left is settled, and that often settles the rest.
Read the question word by word before calculating. The trick is usually in the wording ("all but", "overtake the second") or in counting gaps rather than events.
If the letters don't follow the alphabet, try the first letters of familiar lists: months, days, or numbers written as words.
5 solved Logical Puzzles questions
On an island, knights always tell the truth and knaves always lie. Anil says, "Bina is a knave." Bina says, "Anil and I are the same kind." Who is the knight?
Solution — answer C
Only Anil. If Anil were a knave, Bina would be a knight, but then Bina's claim "same kind" would be false, which is impossible. So Anil is a knight, Bina is a knave, and Bina's claim is a lie.
5 steps · reveal one at a timeStep 1: Understand the Rules
On this island, knights always tell the truth, and knaves always lie. We need to figure out who is which based on their statements.
Step 2: Assume Anil is a Knave
Let's assume Anil is a knave. If Anil is a knave, his statement 'Bina is a knave' must be a lie. This implies that Bina is a knight.
Step 3: Check Bina's Statement
If Bina is a knight (as deduced), her statement 'Anil and I are the same kind' must be true. However, we assumed Anil is a knave and found Bina is a knight. They are not the same kind. This is a contradiction.
Step 4: Resolve the Contradiction
Since assuming Anil is a knave led to a contradiction, our initial assumption must be false. Therefore, Anil must be a knight.
Step 5: The answer
So the answer is (C) Only Anil. If Anil is a knight, his statement 'Bina is a knave' is true, meaning Bina is indeed a knave. Anil is a knight, and Bina is a knave.
Anu, Bala and Chitra each own one pet: a cat, a dog or a parrot. Anu does not own the dog. Bala does not own the cat. Chitra owns neither the parrot nor the dog. Who owns the parrot?
Solution — answer A
Chitra owns neither the parrot nor the dog, so she has the cat. Anu doesn't own the dog, so Anu owns the parrot and Bala the dog.
4 steps · reveal one at a timeStep 1: Chitra's Pet
We are told Chitra owns neither the parrot nor the dog. Since there are only three pets (cat, dog, parrot) and each person owns one, Chitra must own the cat.
Step 2: Anu's Pet
Next, Anu does not own the dog. We've already established that Chitra owns the cat. This leaves only the parrot as a possibility for Anu. Therefore, Anu owns the parrot.
Step 3: Bala's Pet
Bala does not own the cat, which fits our findings as Chitra owns it. With Anu owning the parrot and Chitra owning the cat, the last remaining pet, the dog, must belong to Bala.
Step 4: The answer
So the answer is (A) Anu. Anu owns the parrot, as we deduced by first identifying Chitra's pet and then eliminating the dog for Anu.
A farmer had 17 goats. All but 9 of them ran away. How many goats does the farmer have left?
Solution — answer D
- "All but 9 ran away" means 9 did not run away, so the farmer still has 9.
4 steps · reveal one at a timeStep 1: Read the scenario
The farmer started with 17 goats. We need to find out how many goats the farmer has left after some of them ran away.
Step 2: Interpret the key phrase
The phrase "All but 9 of them ran away" is crucial. It means that all the goats ran away, except for 9 of them. These 9 goats are the ones that did not run away.
Step 3: Determine the remaining
Since "all but 9" ran away, it directly implies that 9 goats remained. The initial number of goats, 17, is extra information not needed to solve this specific wording.
Step 4: The answer
So the answer is (D) 9. If "all but 9" ran away, it means 9 goats did not run away and are still with the farmer.
What comes next in the series J, F, M, A, M, J, ?
Solution — answer C
J. The letters are the first letters of the months: January, February, March, April, May, June, so the next is July, starting with J.
3 steps · reveal one at a timeStep 1: Observe the sequence
Look closely at the given sequence of letters: J, F, M, A, M, J. Try to identify any obvious patterns or connections between them.
Step 2: Find the pattern
These letters are the first letters of the months of the year, in order: January, February, March, April, May, June.
Step 3: The answer
So the answer is (C) J. Following June, the next month in the sequence is July, which starts with the letter J.
A card has three statements: (1) Exactly one of these statements is false. (2) Exactly two of these statements are false. (3) Exactly three of these statements are false. Which statement is true?
Solution — answer D
Only statement 2. If it is true, statements 1 and 3 are false: exactly two false, as claimed. Statement 3 can't be true (it would make itself false), and no other pattern fits.
5 steps · reveal one at a timeStep 1: Understand the claims
We have three statements, each claiming a different number of false statements among the three. We need to find which statement is actually true. This is a logic puzzle where we test possibilities.
Step 2: Test Statement 1
Let's assume Statement 1 ("Exactly one of these statements is false") is true. If it's true, then Statements 2 and 3 must be false. This would mean there are two false statements. But Statement 1 claims only one is false. This is a contradiction, so Statement 1 cannot be true.
Step 3: Test Statement 3
Now, let's assume Statement 3 ("Exactly three of these statements are false") is true. If it's true, then all three statements (1, 2, and 3) must be false. But if Statement 3 itself is false, it contradicts our initial assumption that it is true. Therefore, Statement 3 cannot be true.
Step 4: Test Statement 2
Since Statements 1 and 3 cannot be true, let's assume Statement 2 ("Exactly two of these statements are false") is true. If Statement 2 is true, then Statements 1 and 3 must be false. This scenario means there are exactly two false statements, which perfectly matches what Statement 2 claims. This is consistent.
Step 5: The answer
So the answer is (D) Only statement 2. Statement 2 is the only one that can be true without creating a logical contradiction, as it accurately describes the situation where statements 1 and 3 are false.
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