Floor Arrangement Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — Deepak, Esha, Harsh, Omkar, Sanjay, Zoya
The puzzle
Deepak, Esha, Harsh, Omkar, Sanjay, Zoya — live on different floors — floor 1 is the lowest, floor 6 is the topmost. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Deepak and Sanjay do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Harsh and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Esha and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Deepak and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Deepak lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Sanjay lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Esha lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor.
- Sanjay and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Omkar and Sanjay do NOT live on adjacent floors.
- Esha lives on a floor somewhere above Harsh.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Floor 6: Zoya (top) down to Floor 1: Harsh (lowest).
- Start: 720 possible arrangements of 6 people.
- Clue 10 — "Esha lives on a floor somewhere above Harsh." narrows it to 360 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 5 — "Deepak lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 240 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 6 — "Sanjay lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 144 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 7 — "Esha lives on neither the topmost nor the lowest floor." narrows it to 72 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 1 — "Deepak and Sanjay do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 36 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 2 — "Harsh and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 32 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 3 — "Esha and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 24 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 4 — "Deepak and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors." narrows it to 11 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 8 — "Sanjay and Zoya do NOT live on adjacent floors." ⇒ Esha → floor 3, Harsh → floor 1, Omkar → floor 5, Zoya → floor 6 (2 possibilities left). Board (top → bottom): Zoya · Omkar · _ · Esha · _ · Harsh
- Clue 9 — "Omkar and Sanjay do NOT live on adjacent floors." ⇒ Deepak → floor 4, Sanjay → floor 2 (1 possibility left). Board (top → bottom): Zoya · Omkar · Deepak · Esha · Sanjay · Harsh
- 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?
Zoya lives on the top floor. The full arrangement from top to bottom: Zoya, Omkar, Deepak, Esha, Sanjay, Harsh.
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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