Five players, Kavi, Lalit, Manas, Neel and Ojas, are sitting around a circular table, facing the centre. Lalit sits between Kavi and Manas. Neel sits second to the left of Lalit. Manas sits to the immediate right of Neel.
Which of the following statements is true?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Ojas sits between Neel and Kavi.
Facing the centre, a person’s left is the next seat clockwise and the right is the next seat anticlockwise. Fix Lalit first, then test both ways of placing Kavi and Manas.
Number the five seats clockwise from Lalit: Lalit in seat 0. Neel is second to the left of Lalit, so Neel is in seat 2
Lalit is between Kavi and Manas, so Kavi and Manas are in seats 1 and 4 (the two seats next to Lalit)
Manas is to the immediate right of Neel, that is, in seat 2 − 1 = seat 1. So Manas is in seat 1 and Kavi in seat 4; Ojas takes seat 3
Clockwise: Kavi, Lalit, Manas, Neel, Ojas
Checking the statements:
Option (1) Kavi sits second to the left of Manas. — Incorrect. Second to the left of Manas (two seats clockwise) is Ojas.
Option (2) Ojas sits between Neel and Kavi. — Correct. Ojas’s two neighbours are Neel and Kavi.
Option (3) Lalit sits to the immediate left of Manas. — Incorrect. The seat clockwise from Manas is Neel; Lalit is on Manas’s immediate right.
Option (4) None of the above — Incorrect. Statement (2) is true.
