The puzzle
Isha, Gauri, Bhavna, Chetan, Divya, Harsh sit in a single row, all facing north. Seat 1 is the far-left end and seat 6 is the far-right end. Using the clues below, work out the order from left to right.
- Chetan sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row.
- Divya sits somewhere to the left of Harsh.
- Exactly 2 people sit between Isha and Bhavna.
- Isha sits somewhere to the left of Bhavna.
- Exactly 3 people sit between Gauri and Chetan.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Chetan, Divya, Isha, Harsh, Gauri, Bhavna (left to right).
Seat 1ChetanSeat 2DivyaSeat 3IshaSeat 4HarshSeat 5GauriSeat 6Bhavna
- Start: 720 possible left-to-right orders of 6 people.
- Clue 1 — "Chetan sits at the far-left (extreme) end of the row." leaves 120 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Divya sits somewhere to the left of Harsh." leaves 60 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Exactly 2 people sit between Isha and Bhavna." leaves 12 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Isha sits somewhere to the left of Bhavna." leaves 6 possibilities.
- Clue 5 — "Exactly 3 people sit between Gauri and Chetan." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.