The puzzle
Esha, Karan, Isha, Gauri 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 Karan and Isha.
- Karan sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row.
- Esha sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row.
- Isha sits somewhere to the left of Gauri.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Esha, Isha, Gauri, Karan (left to right).
Seat 1EshaSeat 2IshaSeat 3GauriSeat 4Karan
- Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
- Clue 1 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Karan and Isha." leaves 8 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Karan sits at the far-right (extreme) end of the row." leaves 2 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Esha sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row." leaves 1 possibility.
- Clue 4 — "Isha sits somewhere to the left of Gauri." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.