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.
Learn the method for this puzzle type
This post is one worked example. The topic page for floor puzzles carries the full method, the clue-wording table, the mistakes that cost marks and more practice questions.
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