In bank exams like IBPS PO, SBI PO, and Clerk, puzzles and seating arrangements make up 50–60% of the Reasoning section. Mastering just 5 puzzle types can guarantee you 25+ marks in Reasoning alone.

This guide reveals the 5 most frequent puzzle types from 2020–2025 exams, along with time-saving shortcuts used by toppers.

1 Linear & Circular Seating Arrangement

Appearance: 90% of exams (2–3 sets per paper)

Pattern: 8–10 people facing North/South (linear) or inside/outside a circle.

Shortcut: Start with definite clues (e.g., “A sits 3rd to the left of B”) before handling conditional ones (“If C is not at end…”).

Practice Tip: Draw two parallel lines for North/South arrangements to avoid confusion.

2 Box-Based Puzzles

Appearance: 80% of exams (especially IBPS)

Pattern: Items (books, boxes, people) stacked in 7–10 positions with color/number attributes.

Shortcut: Use a vertical stack diagram. Mark “top” and “bottom” clearly. Handle “not adjacent” clues last.

Example: “Box A is not at top. Box B is 2 places below C.” → Fix C first.

3 Month/Date-Based Puzzles

Appearance: 75% of exams

Pattern: People with birthdays in different months/dates (e.g., Jan, Mar, May, Jul).

Shortcut: Create a 2-row table (Month | Person). Use “before/after” clues to eliminate options fast.

Pro Tip: Note if months have 30/31 days — sometimes used in “date” variants.

4 Floor-Based Puzzles

Appearance: 70% of exams

Pattern: People living on floors 1–8 with cars/colors/professions.

Shortcut: Start from top or bottom floor if clue mentions “ground floor” or “topmost”. Use “not adjacent” to split possibilities.

Common Trap: “G lives immediately above H” ≠ “G is on floor 5 if H is on 4” — could be 3&4, 6&7, etc.

5 Comparison-Based Puzzles (Height/Weight/Rank)

Appearance: 60% of exams (often mixed with other types)

Pattern: “A is taller than B but shorter than C”, “D ranks 3rd from top”.

Shortcut: Draw a vertical ladder (↑ = tallest). Place known extremes first, then fill middle.

Time-Saver: These take <2 minutes if you avoid overcomplicating.

🎯 General Puzzle-Solving Strategy

  1. Read all clues twice before drawing anything.
  2. Spend max 5 minutes per puzzle — if stuck, move on.
  3. Practice 2 puzzles daily — consistency builds speed.
  4. Never skip “easy” puzzles — they’re free marks!

Get new bank reasoning puzzles daily — auto-generated, no login!

→ Practice Bank Exam Puzzles

Note: In 2024 IBPS PO Prelims, 4 out of 5 Reasoning sets were from these 5 types. Master them first!