Floor Arrangement Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — Varun, Vikram, Priya, Pooja, Isha, Kiran
The puzzle
Varun, Vikram, Priya, Pooja, Isha, Kiran — live on different floors — floor 1 is the lowest, floor 6 is the topmost. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Priya lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Isha and Kiran do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Priya and Kiran do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Pooja and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Priya and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Vikram and Priya do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Kiran lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Varun and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Pooja lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Isha lives on a floor somewhere above Vikram.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Floor 6: Isha (top) down to Floor 1: Varun (lowest).
- Start: 720 possible arrangements of 6 people.
- Clue 10 — "Isha lives on a floor somewhere above Vikram." narrows it to 360 possibilities.
- Clue 1 — "Priya lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 240 possibilities.
- Clue 7 — "Kiran lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 144 possibilities.
- Clue 9 — "Pooja lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 72 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Isha and Kiran do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 48 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Priya and Kiran do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 20 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Pooja and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 14 possibilities.
- Clue 5 — "Priya and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." ⇒ Pooja → floor 3, Isha → floor 6 (4 possibilities left).
- Clue 6 — "Vikram and Priya do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 2 possibilities.
- Clue 8 — "Varun and Isha do NOT live on adjacent floors." ⇒ Varun → floor 1, Vikram → floor 5, Priya → floor 2, Kiran → floor 4 (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, Vikram, Kiran, Pooja, Priya, Varun.
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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