Scheduling Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — 14 Sep 2026
The puzzle
Gauri, Tarun, Harsh, Divya, Rohan, Sanjay — each have an appointment on a different day, Monday to Saturday — work out whose appointment falls on which day. Using the clues below, work out the arrangement.
- Rohan's appointment is NOT on the day immediately after Sanjay's.
- Tarun's appointment is on the day immediately before Divya's.
- There is exactly 1 day between Divya's and Sanjay's appointments.
- Harsh's appointment is on a later day of the week than Tarun's.
- There is exactly 1 day between Gauri's and Tarun's appointments.
- There is exactly 1 day between Gauri's and Rohan's appointments.
Question: Determine the arrangement.
Reveal the answer
Answer: Monday: Sanjay, Tuesday: Tarun, Wednesday: Divya, Thursday: Gauri, Friday: Harsh, Saturday: Rohan.
- Start: 720 possible schedules of 6 people across Monday–Saturday.
- Clue 2 — "Tarun's appointment is on the day immediately before Divya's." narrows it to 120 possibilities. Board (Monday → Saturday): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 3 — "There is exactly 1 day between Divya's and Sanjay's appointments." narrows it to 42 possibilities. Board (Monday → Saturday): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 5 — "There is exactly 1 day between Gauri's and Tarun's appointments." narrows it to 20 possibilities. Board (Monday → Saturday): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 6 — "There is exactly 1 day between Gauri's and Rohan's appointments." narrows it to 4 possibilities. Board (Monday → Saturday): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 4 — "Harsh's appointment is on a later day of the week than Tarun's." narrows it to 2 possibilities. Board (Monday → Saturday): _ · _ · _ · _ · _ · _
- Clue 1 — "Rohan's appointment is NOT on the day immediately after Sanjay's." ⇒ Gauri → Thursday, Tarun → Tuesday, Harsh → Friday, Divya → Wednesday, Rohan → Saturday, Sanjay → Monday (1 possibility left). Board (Monday → Saturday): Sanjay · Tarun · Divya · Gauri · Harsh · Rohan
- 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?
Sanjay's appointment is on Monday. The full schedule: Monday — Sanjay, Tuesday — Tarun, Wednesday — Divya, Thursday — Gauri, Friday — Harsh, Saturday — Rohan.
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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