The puzzle
Harsh, Rahul, Arjun, Rohan, Yash sit in a single row, all facing north. Seat 1 is the far-left end and seat 5 is the far-right end. Using the clues below, work out the order from left to right.
- Rohan sits somewhere to the left of Harsh.
- Harsh sits somewhere to the left of Arjun.
- Rahul sits immediately to the left of Harsh.
- Exactly 2 people sit between Rahul and Yash.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Rohan, Rahul, Harsh, Arjun, Yash (left to right).
Seat 1RohanSeat 2RahulSeat 3HarshSeat 4ArjunSeat 5Yash
- Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
- Clue 1 — "Rohan sits somewhere to the left of Harsh." leaves 60 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Harsh sits somewhere to the left of Arjun." leaves 20 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Rahul sits immediately to the left of Harsh." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Rahul and Yash." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.