The puzzle
Nikhil, Aditi, Pooja, Farhan 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.
- Aditi sits somewhere to the left of Nikhil.
- Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Aditi.
- Farhan sits somewhere to the right of Pooja.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Pooja, Farhan, Aditi, Nikhil (left to right).
Seat 1PoojaSeat 2FarhanSeat 3AditiSeat 4Nikhil
- Start: 24 possible left-to-right orders of 4 people.
- Clue 1 — "Aditi sits somewhere to the left of Nikhil." leaves 12 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Farhan sits somewhere to the left of Aditi." leaves 4 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Farhan sits somewhere to the right of Pooja." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.