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Alphanumeric series questions with answers

Alphanumeric series questions hand you a mixed string of letters, digits and symbols and ask what sits a given number of places from one end, or how many items satisfy a condition. They are pure counting discipline under time pressure — which is why every walkthrough here counts out loud rather than stating the answer.

Download the PDF — 15 questions with answers

Free, ungated, no email. This is the alphanumeric series questions with answers PDF — the same 15 questions as below, with every worked solution at the back, ready to print.

How to use this set

The 15 questions below are ordered the way an exam block is rather than easiest-first: two gentle openers, then a run of medium, and a hard one every sixth question — 2 of the 15 sit in the hard band. The set mixes alphanumeric series and alphabet test, in the round-robin the paper itself sets rather than one form at a time.

Work each question on paper before you open its solution. The walkthrough is the method itself, step for step, so reading it first turns a practice set into a reading exercise and teaches nothing. If you are stuck on the method rather than on one question, the method guide is a better place to start than the next question: All reasoning topics, with the method for each.

15 alphanumeric series questions with answers

Every question below was generated by the same engine that mints the Deduce daily puzzle round, and machine-checked before it reached this page — a multiple-choice question validates its own answer against its own options at generation, and ships only with a walkthrough attached. The walkthrough is the engine's own.

Question 1

How many letters are there in the series?

$ % J B @ V E 8 & 4 A D 5 1

  1. 8
  2. 7
  3. 6
  4. 5
  5. 4
Show the worked solution
  1. Scanning left to right, the letters in the series are: J, B, V, E, A, D — 6 in all.
  2. So the answer is 6.

Question 2

In the English alphabet (written A to Z), which letter is 4th to the right of the 20th letter from the left end?

  1. X
  2. K
  3. P
  4. W
  5. Y
Show the worked solution
  1. The 20th letter from the left end is position 20 in the written sequence: T.
  2. 4th to the right of T is position 24.
  3. So the required letter is X.

Question 3

Which element is 4th to the left of the 5th element from the right end of the series?

4 6 Z # U V A @ 7 L D C 1 M %

  1. A
  2. 7
  3. @
  4. U
  5. V
Show the worked solution
  1. The 5th element from the right end is D (position 11 from the left).
  2. Counting 4 to the left lands on position 7 from the left: A.
  3. So the required element is A.

Question 4

How many pairs of letters in the word "NIGHTMARE" have as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet?

Count each pair only once; the alphabet gap may run in either direction (forward or backward).

  1. None
  2. Three
  3. One
  4. Five
  5. Two
Show the worked solution
  1. Write alphabet positions under the letters: N(14) I(9) G(7) H(8) T(20) M(13) A(1) R(18) E(5).
  2. I–M: 4 apart in the word (positions 2 and 6) and 4 apart in the alphabet (I=9, M=13).
  3. G–H: 1 apart in the word (positions 3 and 4) and 1 apart in the alphabet (G=7, H=8).
  4. So the answer is Two — 2 such pairs: IM, GH.

Question 5

Which element is 2nd to the right of the 8th element from the left end of the series?

@ * 7 C L & 6 X Y W N 5 3 J 4 M

  1. W
  2. N
  3. Y
  4. 5
  5. X
Show the worked solution
  1. The 8th element from the left end is X (position 8 from the left).
  2. Counting 2 further to the right lands on position 10 from the left: W.
  3. So the required element is W.

Question 6

If the letters of the word "EDUCATION" are arranged in alphabetical order (left to right), how many letters remain in the same position as in the original word?

  1. Three
  2. Two
  3. None
  4. Four
  5. One
Show the worked solution
  1. In alphabetical order, EDUCATION becomes ACDEINOTU.
  2. Comparing position by position, every letter has moved to a different position.
  3. So the answer is None.

Question 7

How many symbols are there in the series?

Z 3 9 F * 7 C B N @ 2 % U E M &

  1. 4
  2. 8
  3. 7
  4. 6
  5. 5
Show the worked solution
  1. Scanning left to right, the symbols in the series are: *, @, %, & — 4 in all.
  2. So the answer is 4.

Question 8

How many pairs of letters in the word "NETWORK" have as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet?

Count each pair only once; the alphabet gap may run in either direction (forward or backward).

  1. Four
  2. Three
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. None
Show the worked solution
  1. Write alphabet positions under the letters: N(14) E(5) T(20) W(23) O(15) R(18) K(11).
  2. No pair of letters is as far apart in the word as in the alphabet.
  3. So the answer is None.

Question 9

Which element is 2nd to the left of the 6th element from the right end of the series?

% 4 S # D 8 & $ M G V A 6 Y 7 N

  1. M
  2. G
  3. $
  4. V
  5. &
Show the worked solution
  1. The 6th element from the right end is V (position 11 from the left).
  2. Counting 2 to the left lands on position 9 from the left: M.
  3. So the required element is M.

Question 10

How many pairs of letters in the word "DAUGHTER" have as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet?

Count each pair only once; the alphabet gap may run in either direction (forward or backward).

  1. Two
  2. Five
  3. Four
  4. One
  5. Six
Show the worked solution
  1. Write alphabet positions under the letters: D(4) A(1) U(21) G(7) H(8) T(20) E(5) R(18).
  2. D–G: 3 apart in the word (positions 1 and 4) and 3 apart in the alphabet (D=4, G=7).
  3. D–H: 4 apart in the word (positions 1 and 5) and 4 apart in the alphabet (D=4, H=8).
  4. G–H: 1 apart in the word (positions 4 and 5) and 1 apart in the alphabet (G=7, H=8).
  5. T–R: 2 apart in the word (positions 6 and 8) and 2 apart in the alphabet (T=20, R=18).
  6. So the answer is Four — 4 such pairs: DG, DH, GH, TR.

Question 11

Which element in the series is immediately preceded by a letter and immediately followed by a digit?

Y N Q Z @ 8 & 2 B 9 % 6 # D 7

  1. &
  2. Q
  3. @
  4. 8
  5. Z
Show the worked solution
  1. Rule: an element qualifies when the one immediately BEFORE it is a letter AND the one immediately AFTER it is a digit. (The first and last elements have only one neighbour, so a missing side never qualifies.)
  2. Scanning left to right, exactly one spot fits: "Z @ 8" — position 5 from the left.
  3. So the required element is @.

Question 12

If the letters of the word "QUESTION" are arranged in alphabetical order (left to right), how many letters remain in the same position as in the original word?

  1. None
  2. Three
  3. Two
  4. Four
  5. One
Show the worked solution
  1. In alphabetical order, QUESTION becomes EINOQSTU.
  2. Comparing position by position, every letter has moved to a different position.
  3. So the answer is None.

Question 13

How many digits are there in the series?

C # W 4 * 2 G F N E 9 1 $ J @

  1. 5
  2. 8
  3. 7
  4. 4
  5. 6
Show the worked solution
  1. Scanning left to right, the digits in the series are: 4, 2, 9, 1 — 4 in all.
  2. So the answer is 4.

Question 14

How many pairs of letters in the word "SECOND" have as many letters between them in the word as in the English alphabet?

Count each pair only once; the alphabet gap may run in either direction (forward or backward).

  1. Four
  2. Three
  3. One
  4. Six
  5. Five
Show the worked solution
  1. Write alphabet positions under the letters: S(19) E(5) C(3) O(15) N(14) D(4).
  2. O–N: 1 apart in the word (positions 4 and 5) and 1 apart in the alphabet (O=15, N=14).
  3. So the answer is One — 1 such pair: ON.

Question 15

Which element in the series is immediately preceded by a letter and immediately followed by a symbol?

Y F C # L 2 4 @ T % B 3 E 5 9

  1. #
  2. Y
  3. L
  4. F
  5. C
Show the worked solution
  1. Rule: an element qualifies when the one immediately BEFORE it is a letter AND the one immediately AFTER it is a symbol. (The first and last elements have only one neighbour, so a missing side never qualifies.)
  2. Scanning left to right, exactly one spot fits: "F C #" — position 3 from the left.
  3. So the required element is C.
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Where these questions come from

Most free practice for this topic is a scanned upload or a blog quiz, and neither can tell you a question has exactly one answer. That is the one thing this set can promise: it is minted, not typed. The engine behind it serves Deduce's daily puzzle round, so the questions here are the same shape as the ones a live round would give you — and there is an unlimited supply of them, which is why this page can be regenerated rather than padded.

If you want the method rather than more questions, All reasoning topics, with the method for each covers the approach, the traps and a worked table. This page and that one deliberately answer different questions: that one is how do I solve these, this one is give me alphanumeric series questions with the answers.

FAQ

How do I count 'the fifth to the left of the twelfth from the right'?

Resolve the inner reference to an absolute position first, then step from it. Mark the absolute position on the string with a pencil before counting again. Attempting both steps in one pass is where nearly every wrong answer in this family comes from.

What does 'immediately preceded by' mean in a series question?

The item sits directly before the one described, with nothing between. 'Preceded by' without 'immediately' allows any distance. The two wordings appear in adjacent questions of the same set deliberately, so read the qualifier every time rather than the question type.

Should I write out the alphabet before starting?

Write the positions of A, E, I, M, Q, U and Z once at the top of your sheet — every fourth or fifth letter. From those anchors any position is at most two steps away, which is far faster and more reliable than counting from A each time.

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