Question

Directions for questions 146 to 148: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given below.

Ten sports persons A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J are sitting around a circular table. Each two of them play one of the following sports: Cricket, Swimming, Athletics, Football and Tennis, not necessarily in that order. It is also known that:

• Cricketers are sitting to the immediate right of Athletes and to the immediate left of Swimmers.
• Players who play the same sport sit opposite each other.
• The Tennis player does not sit next to a Swimmer.
• G is sitting equidistant from I and D.
• B and F are Athletes.
• C and D are Cricketers.
• G is sitting three places to the right of D and two places to the left of C.
• J and I are Swimmers.
• H is sitting two places to the right of I.

Which sport does G play?

• A. Tennis
• B. Swimming
• C. Football
• D. Cannot be determined

Hint:

Fix D, G and C first from the seat-count clues, then place Athletes and Swimmers on either side of each Cricketer, then use the leftover opposite-pair of seats for Football and Tennis.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Rather than jumping straight to formulas, picture ten chairs drawn as a clock face, numbered 1 through 10 clockwise, and fill them in from the strongest clue outward. The strongest clue is the one linking three people by a fixed seat count: D, G and C.

Put D on chair 1. "G is three places to the right of D" walks us clockwise three steps from chair 1, landing G on chair 4. "G is two places to the left of C" means C is two steps clockwise from G, landing C on chair 6. Notice chairs 1 and 6 are exactly opposite each other on a ten-chair circle (a gap of 5), and since C and D are both Cricketers, this opposite seating is expected because same-sport players always face each other across the table.

Now bring in the rule that ties Athletes and Swimmers to every Cricketer: an Athlete sits right before a Cricketer, and a Swimmer sits right after, in clockwise order. Applying this at both Cricketer seats:

• Around D (chair 1): chair 10 is an Athlete, chair 2 is a Swimmer.
• Around C (chair 6): chair 5 is an Athlete, chair 7 is a Swimmer.

B and F, the two named Athletes, must fill chairs 5 and 10. J and I, the two named Swimmers, must fill chairs 2 and 7. Both of those chair-pairs are five apart, so the opposite-seating rule is satisfied automatically for Athletics and Swimming too, a good sign the layout is on track.

To split J and I between chairs 2 and 7, use the clue "H sits two places to the right of I." Try I on chair 2 first: two places clockwise from chair 2 is chair 4, but chair 4 is already taken by G, so this branch collapses immediately. That forces I onto chair 7, and two places clockwise from chair 7 is chair 9, so H sits at chair 9. J then takes the remaining Swimmer chair, chair 2.

At this point the board reads: chair 1 = D, chair 2 = J, chair 4 = G, chair 6 = C, chair 7 = I, chair 9 = H, with chairs 3, 5, 8 and 10 still open for A, B, E and F. As a sanity check, G (chair 4) sits three seats from D (chair 1) and three seats from I (chair 7) going the short way round, matching "G is equidistant from I and D" exactly.

The last step uses a counting trick rather than more placement: a ten-chair circle splits into exactly five opposite-pairs, (1,6), (2,7), (3,8), (4,9) and (5,10). Three of those pairs are already claimed, by Cricket, Swimming and Athletics. Only two sports remain, Football and Tennis, for the only two pairs left standing, (3,8) and (4,9). Since G and H occupy chairs 4 and 9, they must be the pair that plays either Football or Tennis together.

To decide which, check who sits beside the Swimmers (chairs 2 and 7): that means chairs 1, 3, 6 and 8. Chairs 1 and 6 are already Cricketers, so the people actually at risk of breaking the "Tennis player never sits next to a Swimmer" rule are whoever sits at chairs 3 and 8. Since G and H are not at chairs 3 or 8, they are free of that restriction and can safely be the Tennis pair, while chairs 3 and 8 (A and E) pick up Football instead.

Let's summarize:

• D, G and C lock into chairs 1, 4 and 6 from the seat-count clues, and this automatically places C opposite D.
• The Athlete-Cricketer-Swimmer pattern fixes chairs 5, 10 (Athletes) and 2, 7 (Swimmers), and the H clue forces I to chair 7, J to chair 2, H to chair 9.
• Only the pair (4,9), which is G and H, is free of the Swimmer-neighbor restriction, so they must be the Tennis players.

G plays Tennis.