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Seating arrangement questions with answers

These seating arrangement questions cover the two linear forms a bank paper sets: one row facing a single direction, and two parallel rows facing each other. The second is where marks go, because a clue like 'immediately to the left of' flips meaning with the facing direction. Every board is engine-generated and proved to have exactly one valid seating before it was baked.

Download the PDF — 12 questions with answers

Free, ungated, no email. This is the seating arrangement questions with answers PDF — the same 12 questions as below, with every worked solution at the back, ready to print.

How to use this set

The 12 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 12 sit in the hard band. The set mixes row seating and double-row (facing) seating, 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 solver's own elimination order, 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: Seating arrangement: anchor first, branch last.

12 seating arrangement 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 puzzle only ships once the solver has confirmed exactly one valid arrangement exists, so a clue set admitting two answers, or none, cannot reach you. The walkthrough is the engine's own.

Question 1

4 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 4 the far right.

  1. Kiran sits somewhere to the right of Geeta.
  2. Deepak sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row.
  3. Gauri sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
  2. Clue 2 — "Deepak sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row." ⇒ Deepak → seat 1 (6 possibilities left). Board (left → right): Deepak · _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 3 — "Gauri sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row." ⇒ Gauri → seat 4 (2 possibilities left). Board (left → right): Deepak · _ · _ · Gauri
  4. Clue 1 — "Kiran sits somewhere to the right of Geeta." ⇒ Geeta → seat 2, Kiran → seat 3 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Deepak · Geeta · Kiran · Gauri
  5. Exactly one order survives every clue: Deepak, Geeta, Kiran, Gauri (left to right).

Question 2

4 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Lata faces north.
  2. Tarun sits immediately to the left of Uma (both facing south).
  3. Lata sits immediately to the left of Arjun (both facing north).

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 24 ways to seat 4 people in two facing rows of 2.
  2. Clue 1 — "Lata faces north." narrows it to 12 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Tarun sits immediately to the left of Uma (both facing south)." ⇒ Tarun → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Uma → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (2 possibilities left). Board — North (W→E): _ · _ | South (W→E): Uma · Tarun
  4. Clue 3 — "Lata sits immediately to the left of Arjun (both facing north)." ⇒ Arjun → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Lata → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Lata · Arjun | South (W→E): Uma · Tarun
  5. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Lata, Arjun; south row: Uma, Tarun.

Question 3

5 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 5 the far right.

  1. Aditi sits immediately to the left of Chetan.
  2. Chetan sits immediately to the left of Manish.
  3. Priya sits somewhere to the right of Chetan.
  4. Tarun sits somewhere to the right of Priya.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
  2. Clue 1 — "Aditi sits immediately to the left of Chetan." narrows it to 24 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Chetan sits immediately to the left of Manish." narrows it to 6 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 3 — "Priya sits somewhere to the right of Chetan." narrows it to 3 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  5. Clue 4 — "Tarun sits somewhere to the right of Priya." ⇒ Tarun → seat 5, Manish → seat 3, Aditi → seat 1, Chetan → seat 2, Priya → seat 4 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Aditi · Chetan · Manish · Priya · Tarun
  6. Exactly one order survives every clue: Aditi, Chetan, Manish, Priya, Tarun (left to right).

Question 4

6 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Meera faces south.
  2. Geeta sits immediately to the left of Meera (both facing south).
  3. Exactly 1 person sits between Geeta and Divya in the same row.
  4. Karan sits 2nd to the left of Vikram (both facing north).
  5. Gauri sits immediately to the left of Vikram (both facing north).

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 720 ways to seat 6 people in two facing rows of 3.
  2. Clue 1 — "Meera faces south." narrows it to 360 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Geeta sits immediately to the left of Meera (both facing south)." narrows it to 48 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 3 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Geeta and Divya in the same row." ⇒ Geeta → the south-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Meera → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Divya → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (6 possibilities left). Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): Divya · Meera · Geeta
  5. Clue 4 — "Karan sits 2nd to the left of Vikram (both facing north)." ⇒ Karan → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west), Vikram → the north-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Gauri → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Karan · Gauri · Vikram | South (W→E): Divya · Meera · Geeta
  6. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Karan, Gauri, Vikram; south row: Divya, Meera, Geeta.

Question 5

5 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 5 the far right.

  1. Deepak sits somewhere to the right of Uma.
  2. Exactly 1 person sits between Sneha and Uma.
  3. Manish sits somewhere to the right of Uma.
  4. Exactly 1 person sits between Rahul and Manish.
  5. Manish sits somewhere to the left of Rahul.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
  2. Clue 2 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Sneha and Uma." narrows it to 36 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 4 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Rahul and Manish." narrows it to 16 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 1 — "Deepak sits somewhere to the right of Uma." ⇒ Deepak → seat 5 (8 possibilities left). Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · Deepak
  5. Clue 3 — "Manish sits somewhere to the right of Uma." narrows it to 4 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · Deepak
  6. Clue 5 — "Manish sits somewhere to the left of Rahul." ⇒ Rahul → seat 4, Manish → seat 2, Sneha → seat 3, Uma → seat 1 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Uma · Manish · Sneha · Rahul · Deepak
  7. Exactly one order survives every clue: Uma, Manish, Sneha, Rahul, Deepak (left to right).

Question 6

6 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Kiran does NOT sit directly opposite Anjali.
  2. Kiran sits immediately to the left of Isha (both facing north).
  3. Exactly 1 person sits between Anjali and Harsh in the same row.
  4. Exactly 1 person sits between Nikhil and Kiran in the same row.
  5. Isha faces north.
  6. Anjali sits immediately to the left of Divya (both facing south).

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 720 ways to seat 6 people in two facing rows of 3.
  2. Clue 5 — "Isha faces north." narrows it to 360 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Kiran sits immediately to the left of Isha (both facing north)." narrows it to 48 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 3 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Anjali and Harsh in the same row." narrows it to 8 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  5. Clue 4 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Nikhil and Kiran in the same row." ⇒ Nikhil → the north-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Divya → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Kiran → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west), Isha → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west) (2 possibilities left). Board — North (W→E): Kiran · Isha · Nikhil | South (W→E): _ · Divya · _
  6. Clue 6 — "Anjali sits immediately to the left of Divya (both facing south)." ⇒ Anjali → the south-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Harsh → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Kiran · Isha · Nikhil | South (W→E): Harsh · Divya · Anjali
  7. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Kiran, Isha, Nikhil; south row: Harsh, Divya, Anjali.

Question 7

4 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 4 the far right.

  1. Priya sits immediately to the left of Imran.
  2. Exactly 2 people sit between Imran and Sanjay.
  3. Priya sits immediately to the right of Divya.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
  2. Clue 1 — "Priya sits immediately to the left of Imran." narrows it to 6 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 3 — "Priya sits immediately to the right of Divya." narrows it to 2 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 2 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Imran and Sanjay." ⇒ Imran → seat 4, Sanjay → seat 1, Priya → seat 3, Divya → seat 2 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Sanjay · Divya · Priya · Imran
  5. Exactly one order survives every clue: Sanjay, Divya, Priya, Imran (left to right).

Question 8

4 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Chetan faces north.
  2. Chetan sits immediately to the left of Harsh (both facing north).
  3. Pooja sits immediately to the left of Aditi (both facing south).

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 24 ways to seat 4 people in two facing rows of 2.
  2. Clue 1 — "Chetan faces north." narrows it to 12 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Chetan sits immediately to the left of Harsh (both facing north)." ⇒ Harsh → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Chetan → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (2 possibilities left). Board — North (W→E): Chetan · Harsh | South (W→E): _ · _
  4. Clue 3 — "Pooja sits immediately to the left of Aditi (both facing south)." ⇒ Pooja → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Aditi → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Chetan · Harsh | South (W→E): Aditi · Pooja
  5. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Chetan, Harsh; south row: Aditi, Pooja.

Question 9

5 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 5 the far right.

  1. Zoya sits somewhere to the left of Tarun.
  2. Exactly 1 person sits between Varun and Nikhil.
  3. Zoya sits somewhere to the right of Pooja.
  4. Nikhil sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
  2. Clue 4 — "Nikhil sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row." ⇒ Nikhil → seat 5 (24 possibilities left). Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · Nikhil
  3. Clue 2 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Varun and Nikhil." ⇒ Varun → seat 3 (6 possibilities left). Board (left → right): _ · _ · Varun · _ · Nikhil
  4. Clue 1 — "Zoya sits somewhere to the left of Tarun." narrows it to 3 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · Varun · _ · Nikhil
  5. Clue 3 — "Zoya sits somewhere to the right of Pooja." ⇒ Tarun → seat 4, Zoya → seat 2, Pooja → seat 1 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Pooja · Zoya · Varun · Tarun · Nikhil
  6. Exactly one order survives every clue: Pooja, Zoya, Varun, Tarun, Nikhil (left to right).

Question 10

6 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Aditi faces north.
  2. Isha sits immediately to the left of Harsh (both facing north).
  3. Arjun sits 2nd to the left of Sneha (both facing south).
  4. Aditi sits 2nd to the left of Harsh (both facing north).
  5. Anjali faces south.

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 720 ways to seat 6 people in two facing rows of 3.
  2. Clue 1 — "Aditi faces north." narrows it to 360 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 5 — "Anjali faces south." narrows it to 216 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 2 — "Isha sits immediately to the left of Harsh (both facing north)." narrows it to 24 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  5. Clue 3 — "Arjun sits 2nd to the left of Sneha (both facing south)." narrows it to 4 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  6. Clue 4 — "Aditi sits 2nd to the left of Harsh (both facing north)." ⇒ Sneha → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west), Anjali → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Harsh → the north-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Aditi → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west), Isha → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Arjun → the south-facing row, column 3 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Aditi · Isha · Harsh | South (W→E): Sneha · Anjali · Arjun
  7. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Aditi, Isha, Harsh; south row: Sneha, Anjali, Arjun.

Question 11

5 people sit in a row, all facing the same way — seat 1 is the far left, seat 5 the far right.

  1. Tarun sits immediately to the left of Tanvi.
  2. Tanvi sits immediately to the left of Karan.
  3. Tarun sits somewhere to the left of Meera.
  4. Exactly 2 people sit between Tarun and Aditi.

Can you work out who sits in each seat?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
  2. Clue 1 — "Tarun sits immediately to the left of Tanvi." narrows it to 24 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Tanvi sits immediately to the left of Karan." narrows it to 6 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 4 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Tarun and Aditi." narrows it to 2 possibilities. Board (left → right): _ · _ · _ · _ · _
  5. Clue 3 — "Tarun sits somewhere to the left of Meera." ⇒ Tanvi → seat 2, Tarun → seat 1, Karan → seat 3, Aditi → seat 4, Meera → seat 5 (1 possibility left). Board (left → right): Tarun · Tanvi · Karan · Aditi · Meera
  6. Exactly one order survives every clue: Tarun, Tanvi, Karan, Aditi, Meera (left to right).

Question 12

6 people sit in two parallel rows facing each other — one row faces north, the other faces south, and each person sits directly opposite exactly one other.

  1. Imran does NOT sit directly opposite Tanvi.
  2. Uma sits immediately to the left of Priya (both facing north).
  3. Anjali sits immediately to the left of Meera (both facing south).
  4. Imran sits immediately to the left of Anjali (both facing south).
  5. Meera faces south.

Can you work out who sits in each seat, in both rows?

Show the worked solution
  1. Start: 720 ways to seat 6 people in two facing rows of 3.
  2. Clue 5 — "Meera faces south." narrows it to 360 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  3. Clue 2 — "Uma sits immediately to the left of Priya (both facing north)." narrows it to 48 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  4. Clue 3 — "Anjali sits immediately to the left of Meera (both facing south)." narrows it to 8 possibilities. Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): _ · _ · _
  5. Clue 4 — "Imran sits immediately to the left of Anjali (both facing south)." ⇒ Imran → the south-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Meera → the south-facing row, column 1 (1 = west), Anjali → the south-facing row, column 2 (1 = west) (2 possibilities left). Board — North (W→E): _ · _ · _ | South (W→E): Meera · Anjali · Imran
  6. Clue 1 — "Imran does NOT sit directly opposite Tanvi." ⇒ Uma → the north-facing row, column 2 (1 = west), Priya → the north-facing row, column 3 (1 = west), Tanvi → the north-facing row, column 1 (1 = west) (1 possibility left). Board — North (W→E): Tanvi · Uma · Priya | South (W→E): Meera · Anjali · Imran
  7. Exactly one seating survives every clue — north row: Tanvi, Uma, Priya; south row: Meera, Anjali, Imran.
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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, Seating arrangement: anchor first, branch last 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 seating arrangement questions with the answers.

FAQ

How do I handle left and right in a facing row?

Fix the observer's frame once and write it on the diagram. In a north-facing row, a person's left is toward seat 1; in a south-facing row it is the opposite. Marking the direction on the drawing costs a second and removes the error that ruins the whole arrangement.

When should I split into cases?

Only after every clue that fixes an exact seat has been placed. Splitting early multiplies the work; splitting late usually means one or two branches, and each dies quickly against a later clue. If you are on a fourth branch, a clue was almost certainly misread.

How long should a seating set take in prelims?

Around four to five minutes for a five-question set, which is roughly a minute per mark. If a set is past six minutes and the frame still is not fixed, leave it. The marks lost to one abandoned puzzle are smaller than the marks lost to the questions you never reach.

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