Puzzles: Reasoning Ability Notes for Jammu & Kashmir TET (Teacher Eligibility)

Puzzles – Reasoning Ability

(Jammu & Kashmir TET – Teacher Eligibility Test)

1. Simple Explanation

A puzzle in reasoning tests is a problem that requires you to use logic, pattern recognition, and sometimes arithmetic to find a missing piece of information or to determine the correct arrangement of items.
Typical puzzle types:

#	Puzzle Type	What you need to find
1	Number Sequence	Next number(s) in a series
2	Word/Letter Sequence	Next word/letter(s)
3	Seating / Arrangement	Position of a person/thing
4	Logic Grid	Relationship between two or more sets
5	Cross‑Numbers / Cross‑Words	Numbers/letters fitting both rows & columns
6	Sudoku‑style	Fill a grid following rules

The key is to translate the given statements into logical constraints and then deduce the answer step by step.

2. Key Points & Strategies

Strategy	How to Apply
Read Carefully	Write down each clue exactly as it appears.
List All Possibilities	For seating or grid puzzles, create a table or diagram of options.
Use Elimination	Remove impossible options one by one.
Look for Patterns	In number/word series, check for arithmetic, geometric, alternating, or digit‑wise patterns.
Check Extremes	In seating puzzles, often the first or last position is given; use it as a foothold.
Work Backwards	If you know the last item, deduce the preceding ones.
Cross‑Reference	In a logic grid, if A is with B, then B cannot be with C.
Keep a Clean Sheet	Redraw the grid after each deduction to avoid confusion.
Time Management	Allocate ~1.5–2 minutes per puzzle; move on if stuck after 30 s.

3. Worked Example

Puzzle (Typical J&K TET)

In a row of six houses, each house is painted a different colour and each house has a different owner.
The owners are: A, B, C, D, E, F.
The colours are: Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, White, Black.
Clues

A lives in the second house from the left.

The Green house is immediately to the right of the house that has a Black owner.

The Blue house is somewhere to the left of the White house.

C owns the Red house.

D lives in the house that has a White owner.

The house that has a Yellow owner is somewhere to the right of the house that has a Black owner.

F lives in the third house from the left.

The house that has a Blue owner is somewhere to the left of the house that has a Green owner.
Question: Who is the owner of the Yellow house?

Solution

Step	Deduction	Rationale
1	Place A in house 2, F in house 3.	Clues 1 & 7.
2	From clue 6, Black owner’s house must be left of Yellow.	So Yellow cannot be house 2 (A).
3	From clue 2: Green right of Black.	So possible pairs: (Black,Green) = (1,2) or (2,3) or (3,4) or (4,5) or (5,6).
4	A is house 2, cannot be Black (since house 2 is not left of Yellow).	Thus Black cannot be house 2.
5	F is house 3; if F were Black, Green would be house 4. Check clues 3 & 8 later.
6	Clue 3: Blue left of White.	So Blue cannot be after White.
7	Clue 5: D lives where White owner lives.	So D and White are together.
8	Clue 4: C owns Red.	So C ≠ D (since D has White).
9	Try assignment: Let Black owner = F (house 3). Then Green owner = house 4.
10	Now, Yellow must be right of house 3 → could be 4,5,6.
11	Blue left of White. Since White is with D, we need to place White and D in a house left of Blue.
12	Because houses 1 and 2 are not yet assigned, place D/White in house 1.	Then Blue must be house 2 or 3. But house 3 is F (Black). So Blue must be house 2.
13	House 2 currently has A, but we can’t have Blue and A simultaneously. Contradiction.
14	Therefore F cannot be Black.
15	Try Black owner = house 1 (unknown person). Then Green owner = house 2 (A).
16	Now Yellow must be right of house 1 → can be 2–6.
17	Place D/White somewhere left of Blue. Since house 1 is Black, house 2 is Green (A). Remaining houses: 3(F),4,5,6.
18	Blue must be left of White; so White cannot be in house 6 if Blue is in house 5, etc.
19	Let’s assign: Put White/D in