Arrangements, ranking, ordering and puzzles: previous-year questions
141 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 35 of them came in the last five papers.
How often UPSC asks this
Questions per year, counted from the official papers.
Attempt the questions
Newest papers first. Tap an option; the answer and the reason appear instantly.
In a queue, Mr. X is fourteenth from the front and Mr. Y is seventeenth from the end, while Mr. Z is exactly in between Mr. X and Mr. Y. If Mr. X is ahead of Mr. Y and there are 48 persons in the queue, how many persons are there between Mr. X and Mr. Z?
Answer (c) & explanation
8 is correct (c). Step 1: Y is 17th from the end in a queue of 48, so Y is 48 − 17 + 1 = 32nd from the front. Step 2: X is 14th. The people between X and Y are in places 15 to 31, which is 17 people. Z is exactly in the middle of them, so Z is in place 15 + 8 = 23rd. Step 3: the people between X (14th) and Z (23rd) are in places 15 to 22, which is 8 people. So (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Tip: convert every position to 'from the front' first, using position from front = total − position from end + 1. Then count gaps carefully.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.