Floor Arrangement Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — 26 Aug 2026
The puzzle
Varun, Jaya, Rahul, Sneha, Kiran — live on different floors — floor 1 is the lowest, floor 5 is the topmost. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Rahul lives on the floor immediately above Jaya.
- Rahul lives on an even-numbered floor.
- Varun lives on the lowest floor.
- Kiran lives on a floor somewhere above Rahul.
- There are exactly 2 floors between Sneha and Kiran.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Floor 5: Kiran (top) down to Floor 1: Varun (lowest).
- Start: 120 possible arrangements of 5 people.
- Clue 3 — "Varun lives on the lowest floor." ⇒ Varun → floor 1 (24 possibilities left). Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · Varun
- Clue 1 — "Rahul lives on the floor immediately above Jaya." narrows it to 6 possibilities. Board (top → bottom): _ · _ · _ · _ · Varun
- Clue 5 — "There are exactly 2 floors between Sneha and Kiran." ⇒ Jaya → floor 3, Rahul → floor 4 (2 possibilities left). Board (top → bottom): _ · Rahul · Jaya · _ · Varun
- Clue 4 — "Kiran lives on a floor somewhere above Rahul." ⇒ Sneha → floor 2, Kiran → floor 5 (1 possibility left). Board (top → bottom): Kiran · Rahul · Jaya · Sneha · Varun
- 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?
Kiran lives on the top floor. The full arrangement from top to bottom: Kiran, Rahul, Jaya, Sneha, 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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