The puzzle
Esha, Arjun, Harsh, Bhavna, Farhan sit in a single row, all facing north. Seat 1 is the far-left end and seat 5 is the far-right end. Using the clues below, work out the order from left to right.
- Exactly 1 person sits between Esha and Bhavna.
- Bhavna sits immediately to the left of Harsh.
- Exactly 3 people sit between Bhavna and Farhan.
- Arjun sits somewhere to the left of Farhan.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Bhavna, Harsh, Esha, Arjun, Farhan (left to right).
Seat 1BhavnaSeat 2HarshSeat 3EshaSeat 4ArjunSeat 5Farhan
- Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
- Clue 1 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Esha and Bhavna." leaves 36 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Bhavna sits immediately to the left of Harsh." leaves 10 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Exactly 3 people sit between Bhavna and Farhan." leaves 1 possibility.
- Clue 4 — "Arjun sits somewhere to the left of Farhan." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.