The puzzle
Harsh, Divya, Gauri, Karan sit in a single row, all facing north. Seat 1 is the far-left end and seat 4 is the far-right end. Using the clues below, work out the order from left to right.
- Exactly 1 person sits between Divya and Gauri.
- Harsh sits somewhere to the left of Karan.
- Karan sits somewhere to the left of Divya.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Harsh, Gauri, Karan, Divya (left to right).
Seat 1HarshSeat 2GauriSeat 3KaranSeat 4Divya
- Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
- Clue 1 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Divya and Gauri." leaves 8 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Harsh sits somewhere to the left of Karan." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Karan sits somewhere to the left of Divya." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.