The puzzle
Chetan, Karan, Arjun, Farhan 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.
- Karan sits somewhere to the left of Farhan.
- Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Chetan.
- Karan sits immediately to the left of Arjun.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Karan, Arjun, Farhan, Chetan (left to right).
Seat 1KaranSeat 2ArjunSeat 3FarhanSeat 4Chetan
- Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
- Clue 1 — "Karan sits somewhere to the left of Farhan." leaves 12 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Chetan." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Karan sits immediately to the left of Arjun." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.