The puzzle
Divya, Meera, Gauri, Jaya, Zoya 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.
- Meera sits immediately to the left of Zoya.
- Divya sits somewhere to the right of Zoya.
- Jaya sits somewhere to the right of Gauri.
- Divya sits immediately to the left of Gauri.
Question: What is the seating order from far-left to far-right?
Reveal the answer
Answer: Meera, Zoya, Divya, Gauri, Jaya (left to right).
Seat 1MeeraSeat 2ZoyaSeat 3DivyaSeat 4GauriSeat 5Jaya
- Start: 120 possible left-to-right orders of 5 people.
- Clue 1 — "Meera sits immediately to the left of Zoya." leaves 24 possibilities.
- Clue 2 — "Divya sits somewhere to the right of Zoya." leaves 12 possibilities.
- Clue 3 — "Jaya sits somewhere to the right of Gauri." leaves 6 possibilities.
- Clue 4 — "Divya sits immediately to the left of Gauri." leaves 1 possibility.
- Exactly one order survives every clue — that is the answer.