Seating Arrangement Quiz: Linear and Circular Practice

Spoilers! These are the Starter quiz’s answers. Easy, Medium, Hard and Mixed rounds show their own answers when you finish.

1. Five friends P, Q, R, S and T sit in a row facing north. R sits at the extreme left end. T sits second to the right of R. S is not an immediate neighbour of T. Q sits somewhere to the right of T. Who sits second to the left of Q?

   • R
   • T
   • P
   • S

   Answer: P. From the left: R is 1st and T 3rd. Q must be right of T, and S cannot be 2nd or 4th, so S is 5th and Q 4th, leaving P 2nd: R P T Q S. Second to the left of Q is P.

2. Six colleagues A, B, C, D, E and F sit in a row, all facing south. E sits at one of the ends. B sits third to the right of E. A sits to the immediate left of B. D is not an immediate neighbour of E. C sits to the immediate right of D. Who sits exactly between A and E?

   • D
   • C
   • B
   • F

   Answer: F. Facing south, a person's right is towards the west. B can be third to E's right only if E is at the east end. Writing seats from west to east: C, D, B, A, F, E. F sits between A and E.

3. Six friends — Amit, Bina, Chetan, Divya, Esha and Farhan — sit around a circular table facing the centre. Amit sits second to the right of Divya. Chetan sits opposite Divya. Esha sits to the immediate left of Amit. Bina is not an immediate neighbour of Divya. Who sits second to the left of Chetan?

   • Esha
   • Farhan
   • Amit
   • Bina

   Answer: Esha. Facing the centre, left is clockwise and right is anticlockwise. Going clockwise from Divya: Farhan, Bina, Chetan, Amit, Esha. Two seats clockwise from Chetan is Esha.

4. Eight people J, K, L, M, N, O, P and Q sit around a circular table facing the centre. K sits third to the left of J. L sits opposite K. M sits second to the right of L. N is an immediate neighbour of K. O sits opposite N. Q is not an immediate neighbour of J. Who sits third to the right of P?

   • M
   • O
   • Q
   • L

   Answer: O. Going clockwise from J: P, N, K, Q, M, O, L. (N cannot be on K's other side, because the seat opposite that is J's.) Right is anticlockwise, so three seats anticlockwise from P — J, L, O — gives O.

5. Six people U, V, W, X, Y and Z sit around a circular table facing away from the centre. W sits second to the left of U. X sits opposite U. Y sits to the immediate left of X. Z is an immediate neighbour of W. Who sits to the immediate right of U?

   • Z
   • W
   • V
   • Y

   Answer: V. Facing outward, right is clockwise and left anticlockwise. Going clockwise from U: V, Y, X, W, Z. So V is on U's immediate right.

6. Eight people sit in two parallel rows of four. A, B, C and D sit in Row 1 facing south; P, Q, R and S sit in Row 2 facing north, so each person faces one person of the other row. B sits at an extreme end and A sits to the immediate left of B. R faces B. S sits second to the right of R. Q does not sit at an extreme end. D does not face P. Who faces C?

   • Q
   • S
   • R
   • P

   Answer: P. Row 1 faces south, so its left is towards the east; B must be at the west end with A next to B. R faces B, S is two places east of R, Q takes the other middle seat and P the east end. D cannot face P, so D faces S and C faces P.

7. Seven people G, H, I, J, K, L and M sit in a row facing north. J sits exactly in the middle. G sits third to the left of J. Only three people sit between G and L. K sits second to the right of L. H is an immediate neighbour of G. I is an immediate neighbour of K. How many people sit between H and K?

   • Three
   • Four
   • Five
   • Two

   Answer: Four. J is 4th, so G is 1st, L is 5th and K 7th. H is 2nd, I 6th and M 3rd: G H M J L I K. Between H and K sit M, J, L and I — four people.

8. Eight friends A to H sit around a circular table facing the centre. C sits second to the right of A. Only three people sit between C and F. G sits to the immediate left of F. H is not an immediate neighbour of A or C. B sits second to the right of D. E is an immediate neighbour of A. Who sits third to the left of D?

   • F
   • G
   • E
   • H

   Answer: F. Going clockwise from A: E, F, G, H, B, C, D. (Seats numbered clockwise with A at 0 and C at 6: F is opposite C at 2 and G at 3; H fits only the seat not touching A or C; B and D can only be at 5 and 7 or at 7 and 1, and E must sit next to A, which leaves D at 7, B at 5 and E at 1.) Left is clockwise, so three seats clockwise from D — A, E, F — gives F.

9. Six people P, Q, R, S, T and U sit in a row. Some face north and some face south. Q sits at the extreme west end and faces north. R sits third to the right of Q. Both immediate neighbours of R face south. U sits second to the left of R. T sits to the immediate right of U. P faces the same direction as Q and sits at one of the ends. Who sits second to the right of S?

   • U
   • T
   • R
   • P

   Answer: T. R is 4th from the west. If R faced south, U and T would take the 6th and 5th seats and P could not sit at an end, so R faces north: U is 2nd and T 3rd (U faces north), P is 6th and S 5th. S is R's neighbour, so S faces south; second to the right of S (towards the west) is T.

10. Six friends A, B, C, D, E and F sit around a circular table; some face the centre and some face outside. A faces the centre. B sits second to the right of A and faces outside. C sits opposite B and faces the direction opposite to B. D sits to the immediate left of C and faces outside. E sits to the immediate right of D and faces the centre. F faces the same direction as A. Who sits second to the right of E?

    • C
    • B
    • D
    • A

    Answer: C. Number the seats clockwise with A at 0. A faces the centre, so B is seat 4. C (seat 1) faces the centre, so D on C's left is seat 2. D faces outside, so E on D's right is seat 3. E faces the centre, so two seats to E's right (anticlockwise) is seat 1 — C.