Matching puzzle or grid puzzle is one of the difficult question format for CAT, banking exam, SSC and many aptitude based competitive exams. You are given a set of clues which you have to use to arrive at a mapping. Trick is to start from easy clues and move on to difficult ones as we go ahead. let’s practice some questions.
Puzzle# 1
Information:
Age: 8 years, 9 years, 10 years
Fruit: mango, banana, guava
Name: Anika, Bela, Chandni
Conditions:
- Anika likes bananas.
- Bela isn’t 10.
- The 9 years old girl likes guava.
- Bela likes mangoes.
Q: Which of the following mapping is correct?
A. Anika: 10 years, banana
B. Anika: 9 years, mango
C. Bela: 10 years, guava
D. Chandni: 8 years, banana
Solution
Here’s how we can solve this puzzle step-by-step:
- From clue 1: Anika likes bananas.
- From clue 4: Bela likes mangoes.
- Combine 1 & 2: Since Anika likes bananas and Bela likes mangoes, Chandni must like guavas.
- From clue 3: The 9-year-old likes guava (Chandni).
- From clue 2: Bela isn’t 10, and we know 9 is Chandni’s age, so Bela must be 8.
- Deduction: Since Chandni is 9 and Bela is 8, Anika must be 10.
Final_Ans:
Anika: 10 years, banana
Bela: 8 years, mango
Chandni: 9 years, guava
Puzzle# 2
Information:
Author: Arjun, Priya, Rohan, Sneha
Title: Chai Time, Desi Dance, Cricket Fever, Rang De Basanti
Length: 00:36, 00:54, 01:01, 01:09
Views: 400,000, 500,000, 600,000, 700,000
Conditions:
- The video that’s 36 seconds long has fewer views than “Desi Dance”.
- Neither the video with 600k views nor the viral video that’s 36 seconds long is Rohan’s viral video.
- “Chai Time” has 100,000 fewer views than the video that’s 54 seconds long.
- Priya’s viral video received 700,000 views.
- Sneha’s viral video is “Rang De Basanti”.
- Of Sneha’s video and “Desi Dance”, one is 1 minute, 9 seconds long and the other received 600,000 views.
- The video that’s 61 seconds long is either “Rang De Basanti” or Priya’s viral video.
Q: Which of the following mapping is correct?
A. Arjun: Chai Time, 00:36, 400,000
B. Arjun: Desi Dance, 00:36, 400,000
C. Rohan: Chai Time, 00:36, 400,000
D. Sneha: Chai Time, 00:36, 400,000
Solution
Steps:
- From clues 4 and 5: Priya = 700, Sneha = “Rang De Basanti”.
- From clues 6 and 7: 61s must be Sneha’s, so Sneha = 61s and therefore Sneha = 600 (the other of the pair), making “Desi Dance” = 69s.
- From clue 3 the only feasible pair is 54s = 500 and Chai Time = 400.
- 54s = 500 must be Rohan (Priya and Sneha already have 700 and 600), so Rohan = 54s, 500. Chai Time = 400 goes to Arjun.
- Remaining title assignments give Priya = Desi Dance (69s, 700), Arjun = Chai Time (36s, 400), Rohan = Cricket Fever (54s, 500), Sneha = Rang De Basanti (61s, 600).
Final_Ans:
Arjun: Chai Time, 00:36, 400,000
Priya: Desi Dance, 01:09, 700,000
Rohan: Cricket Fever, 00:54, 500,000
Sneha: Rang De Basanti, 01:01, 600,000