SSC Puzzle Questions with Answers (Most Expected 2026)

Puzzle questions look like a lot of reading, but they are really a small game of elimination. You are given a few facts, and you have to place every person, object or day in exactly one spot. The good news is that the same few puzzle types appear again and again in SSC papers, so they are the ones most worth practising.

This set has six puzzles and 22 questions: days of the week, floors of a building, matching pets to people, age comparison, coloured houses and a stack of boxes. Every puzzle has exactly one correct arrangement (we checked), and the full solution is given after the questions so that you can compare it with your own.

How to use it: Read the clues once, draw a small table or a line of boxes, and fill in what you are sure about. If a clue does not fit anywhere yet, skip it and come back to it.

A Simple Method for Every Puzzle

1. Write the names and the things to be matched in a small table or in a row of boxes.
2. Fill in the clues that give a direct answer first, such as "C goes on Wednesday".
3. Use the clues that connect two people, such as "D goes immediately after C", to place the next one.
4. Cross out options as you go. The last remaining option is often the answer.
5. Read all the clues again at the end to be sure that nothing is broken.

Puzzle 1: Movie Days

Six friends A, B, C, D, E and F watch a movie on six different days from Monday to Saturday, one person on each day.

• B watches the movie on the day just before A.
• C watches on Wednesday.
• D watches on the day just after C.
• E watches on Saturday.
• F watches on the day between D and E.

Q1. Who watches the movie on Monday?
(a) C   (b) D   (c) B   (d) E
Answer: (c) B
Explanation: Placing the clues gives Monday: B, Tuesday: A, Wednesday: C, Thursday: D, Friday: F, Saturday: E.

Q2. On which day does A watch the movie?
(a) Thursday   (b) Friday   (c) Saturday   (d) Tuesday
Answer: (d) Tuesday
Explanation: B watches just before A. Monday and Tuesday are the only free days, so B is on Monday and A is on Tuesday.

Q3. Who watches the movie just after D?
(a) F   (b) D   (c) E   (d) A
Answer: (a) F
Explanation: D is on Thursday and F is on Friday (between D and E).

Q4. How many friends watch between B and C?
(a) 1   (b) 2   (c) 3   (d) 4
Answer: (a) 1
Explanation: B is on Monday and C is on Wednesday, so only A is between them.

Solution: Monday – B, Tuesday – A, Wednesday – C, Thursday – D, Friday – F, Saturday – E.

Puzzle 2: Floors of a Building

Five persons P, Q, R, S and T live on five different floors of a building. The ground floor is numbered 1 and the top floor is numbered 5.

• Q lives on the top floor.
• R lives on the floor just below Q.
• P lives two floors below R.
• T lives above P.

Q5. Who lives on the third floor?
(a) Q   (b) R   (c) T   (d) S
Answer: (c) T
Explanation: Floor 5 is Q, floor 4 is R and floor 2 is P. T lives above P, so T is on floor 3 and S is on floor 1.

Q6. On which floor does S live?
(a) 2   (b) 3   (c) 1   (d) 4
Answer: (c) 1
Explanation: S is the only person left for the ground floor, floor 1.

Q7. Who lives between P and R?
(a) T   (b) S   (c) P   (d) Q
Answer: (a) T
Explanation: P is on floor 2 and R is on floor 4, so the person between them is on floor 3, which is T.

Q8. How many floors are there between S and Q?
(a) 3   (b) 4   (c) 5   (d) 2
Answer: (a) 3
Explanation: S is on floor 1 and Q is on floor 5. Floors 2, 3 and 4 are between them.

Solution: Floor 1 – S, Floor 2 – P, Floor 3 – T, Floor 4 – R, Floor 5 – Q.

Puzzle 3: Who Owns Which Pet?

Five friends Arun, Bina, Chitra, Dev and Esha each own a different pet: a cat, a dog, a parrot, a rabbit and a fish.

• Esha does not own a cat, a dog or a fish.
• Chitra owns a bird.
• Arun does not own a dog or a fish.
• Bina does not own the fish.

Q9. Who owns the fish?
(a) Bina   (b) Chitra   (c) Dev   (d) Esha
Answer: (c) Dev
Explanation: Chitra has the parrot, so Esha has the rabbit. Arun cannot have the dog or the fish, so he has the cat. Bina cannot have the fish, so she has the dog and the fish is Dev's.

Q10. Who owns the rabbit?
(a) Chitra   (b) Dev   (c) Arun   (d) Esha
Answer: (d) Esha
Explanation: Esha can only own a parrot or a rabbit. Chitra has the bird, so Esha owns the rabbit.

Q11. Which pet does Bina own?
(a) Dog   (b) Fish   (c) Cat   (d) Parrot
Answer: (a) Dog
Explanation: Arun has the cat and Bina cannot have the fish, so Bina owns the dog.

Solution: Arun – Cat, Bina – Dog, Chitra – Parrot, Dev – Fish, Esha – Rabbit.

Puzzle 4: Comparing Ages

Five persons A, B, C, D and E are of different ages.

• A is older than B but younger than C.
• D is younger than B.
• E is younger than A but older than B.

Q12. Who is the youngest of all?
(a) A   (b) D   (c) B   (d) C
Answer: (b) D
Explanation: Arranging from the oldest to the youngest gives C > A > E > B > D. So D is the youngest.

Q13. Who is the oldest of all?
(a) B   (b) D   (c) C   (d) E
Answer: (c) C
Explanation: C is older than A, and A is older than everyone else, so C is the oldest.

Q14. Who is the third oldest?
(a) C   (b) D   (c) A   (d) E
Answer: (d) E
Explanation: In the order C > A > E > B > D, the third person is E.

Q15. How many persons are younger than A?
(a) 4   (b) 5   (c) 2   (d) 3
Answer: (d) 3
Explanation: E, B and D are all younger than A.

Solution (oldest to youngest): C > A > E > B > D.

Puzzle 5: Coloured Houses

Five houses in a row are painted in five different colours: red, green, blue, white and yellow.

• The red house is at the left end.
• The green house is just to the right of the red house.
• The yellow house is at the right end.
• The blue house is next to the yellow house.
• The white house is between the green house and the blue house.

Q16. What is the colour of the middle house?
(a) Red   (b) White   (c) Green   (d) Blue
Answer: (b) White
Explanation: The order from left to right is Red, Green, White, Blue, Yellow. The middle (third) house is white.

Q17. How many houses are there between the red house and the blue house?
(a) 3   (b) 2   (c) 4   (d) 1
Answer: (b) 2
Explanation: Red is first and blue is fourth. The green and white houses are between them.

Q18. Which house is just to the left of the blue house?
(a) Blue   (b) Yellow   (c) Red   (d) White
Answer: (d) White
Explanation: The blue house is fourth, and the third house from the left is white.

Q19. Which house is next to the yellow house?
(a) Blue   (b) Yellow   (c) Red   (d) Green
Answer: (a) Blue
Explanation: The yellow house is last, and the house next to it is blue.

Solution (left to right): Red – Green – White – Blue – Yellow.

Puzzle 6: A Stack of Boxes

Five boxes P, Q, R, S and T are placed one above the other in a pile.

• S is at the top and T is at the bottom.
• P is just below S.
• Q is just above T.
• R is between P and Q.

Q20. Which box is in the middle of the pile?
(a) P   (b) R   (c) Q   (d) S
Answer: (b) R
Explanation: From top to bottom the order is S, P, R, Q, T. The middle box is R.

Q21. How many boxes are between P and T?
(a) 3   (b) 2   (c) 4   (d) 1
Answer: (b) 2
Explanation: R and Q are between P and T.

Q22. Which box is directly below P?
(a) S   (b) T   (c) P   (d) R
Answer: (d) R
Explanation: R is placed between P and Q, so it is just below P.

Solution (top to bottom): S – P – R – Q – T.

Common Mistakes in Puzzle Questions

• Reading too fast. Words such as "just", "immediately", "between" and "not" change the meaning completely. Underline them.
• Trying to do it in your head. Always draw the table or the boxes, even for small puzzles.
• Keeping a wrong guess. If a placement leads to a contradiction, remove it fully and start again from the last sure step.
• Answering before checking. Verify your final arrangement against every clue. It takes ten seconds and prevents careless errors.

Practise one puzzle a day and, within two weeks, you will notice that you spot the starting clue almost immediately.