Five friends in a row — Seating & Puzzles Aptitude Question
Five friends in a row: Five friends sit in a row facing north. C is at the extreme left, E is at the extreme right,… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Seating & Puzzles
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
Five friends sit in a row facing north. C is at the extreme left, E is at the extreme right, B is immediately to the right of A, and D sits between B and E. Who sits in the middle?
Options
- C
- D
- A
- B
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: D. B
Worked solution
- Seats 1–5 from the left: C = 1, E = 5.
- A, B and D fill seats 2, 3 and 4. B is immediately right of A, so A and B are adjacent with A first.
- D sits between B and E, so D comes after B — the only fit is A = 2, B = 3, D = 4.
- The row is C, A, B, D, E, so the middle seat holds B.
Answer: B.
The idea
Place absolute clues first (extreme left, extreme right), then adjacency clues, then 'between' clues, which are the loosest. Write the finished row out and re-read every clue against it before answering.
Shortcut. With C and E fixed at the ends, the A–B pair and D fill seats 2–4; D comes after B, so the pair must start at seat 2, putting B in seat 3.
Common trap. "A" — placing B to A's left by reading 'right' from the viewer's side, which gives C, B, A, D, E; facing north, B immediately right of A gives C, A, B, D, E.