Introduction
Logical Reasoning is an umbrella chapter covering general deduction puzzles — statement-based logic, pattern
completion, and short "who is who" style puzzles that draw on the same skills as Syllogism and Blood Relation but
don't follow a single fixed format.
General Deduction Approach
- Convert every given fact into a short symbolic note (arrow, greater/less, "=") as you read — don't rely on memory for more than 2-3 facts at once.
- Look for the most restrictive fact first (something that fixes one person/item completely) and build outward from it.
- When multiple deductions are possible, list them all and use the next clue to eliminate incorrect branches — don't lock into the first plausible answer.
- Re-verify your final answer against every original clue, not just the ones you used to derive it.
Q. Four friends P, Q, R, S have different amounts of money. P has more than Q but less than R. S has the least amount. Who has the most money?
From the clues: R > P > Q, and S is the least. Since S is explicitly the least (even less than Q), the
order is R > P > Q > S. R has the most money.
Q. In a certain code, if "book" is bigger than "pen" and "pen" is bigger than "bag," but "bag" is bigger than "book" — is this set of statements logically possible?
Book > Pen, Pen > Bag implies Book > Bag. But the third statement says Bag > Book — a direct
contradiction. This set of statements is not logically possible (it's a circular/contradictory
chain).
⚠️ Key Insight: Always check newly derived facts against ALL previously stated facts, not just
the two you combined — contradictions often hide in a fact you set aside earlier.
✅ Practice Focus: Multi-clue deduction chains · Detecting contradictory statement sets ·
Combining ranking-style and relation-style clues in the same puzzle.