The puzzle
Farhan, Gauri, Bhavna, Arjun 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.
- Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Bhavna.
- Exactly 1 person sits between Farhan and Bhavna.
- Gauri sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row.
- Gauri sits somewhere to the left of Arjun.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Gauri, Farhan, Arjun, Bhavna (left to right).
Seat 1GauriSeat 2FarhanSeat 3ArjunSeat 4Bhavna
- Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
- Clue 1 — "Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Bhavna." leaves 12 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Farhan and Bhavna." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Gauri sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row." leaves 1 possibility.
- Clue 4 — "Gauri sits somewhere to the left of Arjun." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.