Scheduling Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — Chetan, Lata, Uma, Vikram, Esha
The puzzle
Chetan, Lata, Uma, Vikram, Esha — each have an appointment on a different day, Monday to Friday — work out whose appointment falls on which day. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Uma's appointment is on Thursday.
- Esha's appointment is on an earlier day of the week than Uma's.
- Chetan's appointment is on an earlier day of the week than Lata's.
- There are exactly 2 days between Vikram's and Esha's appointments.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Monday: Chetan, Tuesday: Esha, Wednesday: Lata, Thursday: Uma, Friday: Vikram.
- Start: 120 possible schedules of 5 people across Monday–Friday.
- Clue 1 — "Uma's appointment is on Thursday." ⇒ Uma → Thursday (24 possibilities left).
- Clue 4 — "There are exactly 2 days between Vikram's and Esha's appointments." narrows it to 4 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Esha's appointment is on an earlier day of the week than Uma's." ⇒ Vikram → Friday, Esha → Tuesday (2 possibilities left).
- Clue 3 — "Chetan's appointment is on an earlier day of the week than Lata's." ⇒ Chetan → Monday, Lata → Wednesday (1 possibility left).
- Exactly one schedule survives every clue — that is the answer.
How to crack scheduling puzzles faster
- Write the days in a column first — a fixed frame beats re-reading "Monday to Saturday" per clue.
- Lock every direct day anchor ("P's appointment is on Wednesday") before touching a relative clue.
- "Immediately before/after" is an adjacent pair — slide it along the free days like a block.
- "Exactly k days between" works in both directions — test the earlier AND the later placement.
FAQ
Whose appointment is on Monday in this puzzle?
Chetan's appointment is on Monday. The full schedule: Monday — Chetan, Tuesday — Esha, Wednesday — Lata, Thursday — Uma, Friday — Vikram.
How do you solve scheduling puzzles for bank exams?
Draw the days as a column (Monday downward), fix the direct day anchors first, then place immediately-before/after pairs and count 'days between' gaps in both directions. Eliminate until one schedule satisfies every clue.
Learn the method for this puzzle type
This post is one worked example. The topic page for scheduling puzzles carries the full method, the clue-wording table, the mistakes that cost marks and more practice questions.
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