The puzzle
Gauri, Chetan, Esha, Harsh, Karan, Jaya 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.
- Esha sits somewhere to the right of Karan.
- Exactly 3 people sit between Chetan and Esha.
- Jaya sits immediately to the right of Harsh.
- Jaya sits somewhere to the right of Gauri.
- Karan sits immediately to the right of Chetan.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Gauri, Chetan, Karan, Harsh, Jaya, Esha (left to right).
Seat 1GauriSeat 2ChetanSeat 3KaranSeat 4HarshSeat 5JayaSeat 6Esha
- Start: 720 possible left-to-right orders of 6 people.
- Clue 1 — "Esha sits somewhere to the right of Karan." leaves 360 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Exactly 3 people sit between Chetan and Esha." leaves 48 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Jaya sits immediately to the right of Harsh." leaves 8 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Jaya sits somewhere to the right of Gauri." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 5 — "Karan sits immediately to the right of Chetan." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.