Who sits in the middle (seat 3) in this seating arrangement?

Esha sits in seat 3. The full order from far-left to far-right is: Karan, Gauri, Esha, Divya, Isha (left to right).

How do you solve linear seating arrangement puzzles for bank exams?

Fix any direct positions first (far-left / far-right ends), then apply the relative clues (left of, immediately left, exactly k between). Eliminate impossible orders until a single arrangement satisfies every clue.

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Seating Arrangement Reasoning Puzzle for IBPS PO — Gauri, Isha, Divya, Karan, Esha

2026-06-09 IBPS PO · SBI Clerk · SSC 4 clues · 5 people

The puzzle

Gauri, Isha, Divya, Karan, Esha 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.

Karan sits immediately to the left of Gauri.
Exactly 1 person sits between Isha and Esha.
Exactly 3 people sit between Isha and Karan.
Esha sits immediately to the left of Divya.

Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?

Reveal the answer

Answer: Karan, Gauri, Esha, Divya, Isha (left to right).

Seat 1KaranSeat 2GauriSeat 3EshaSeat 4DivyaSeat 5Isha

Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
Clue 1 — "Karan sits immediately to the left of Gauri." leaves 24 possibilities.
Clue 2 — "Exactly 1 person sits between Isha and Esha." leaves 4 possibilities.
Clue 3 — "Exactly 3 people sit between Isha and Karan." leaves 1 possibility.
Clue 4 — "Esha sits immediately to the left of Divya." leaves 1 possibility.
Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.

How to crack linear seating puzzles faster

Lock the ends first — any "far-left / far-right" clue fixes a seat instantly.
Convert "immediately to the left/right" into adjacent pairs and slide them along the row.
"Exactly k people between" gives a fixed gap — try it at each valid position.
Eliminate, don't guess: each clue should cut the possibilities until one order remains.

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