Floor Arrangement Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — Uma, Rohan, Sanjay, Isha, Anjali, Omkar
The puzzle
Uma, Rohan, Sanjay, Isha, Anjali, Omkar — live on different floors — floor 1 is the lowest, floor 6 is the topmost. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Anjali and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Rohan and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Uma and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Sanjay and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Uma and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Sanjay and Anjali do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Uma and Anjali do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Uma lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Isha and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Anjali lives on a floor somewhere above Omkar.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Floor 6: Isha (top) down to Floor 1: Omkar (lowest).
- Start: 720 possible arrangements of 6 people.
- Clue 10 — "Anjali lives on a floor somewhere above Omkar." narrows it to 360 possibilities.
- Clue 8 — "Uma lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 240 possibilities.
- Clue 1 — "Anjali and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 168 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Rohan and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 120 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Uma and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 70 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Sanjay and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 40 possibilities.
- Clue 5 — "Uma and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 22 possibilities.
- Clue 6 — "Sanjay and Anjali do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 17 possibilities.
- Clue 7 — "Uma and Anjali do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 5 possibilities.
- Clue 9 — "Isha and Omkar do NOT live on adjacent floors." ⇒ Uma → floor 3, Rohan → floor 4, Sanjay → floor 2, Isha → floor 6, Anjali → floor 5, Omkar → floor 1 (1 possibility left).
- Exactly one arrangement survives every clue — that is the answer.
How to crack floor arrangement puzzles faster
- Floor puzzles are vertical rows — treat floor 1 as "leftmost" and floor N as "rightmost" in your mental model.
- "Lives above" means a higher floor number. "Immediately above" means exactly one floor apart.
- "Exactly k floors between" gives a fixed vertical gap — try it at each valid pair of floors.
- Write the floor numbers 1 to N on paper and fill names as you lock positions — the visual stack prevents errors.
FAQ
Who lives on the top floor?
Isha lives on the top floor. The full arrangement from top to bottom: Isha, Anjali, Rohan, Uma, Sanjay, Omkar.
How do you solve floor arrangement puzzles for bank exams?
Treat floors as a vertical stack: lock the topmost and lowest first, then place intermediate floors using 'above/below' clues. Transfer the stack to paper numbered 1 to N and fill names as each clue eliminates possibilities.
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