SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 24 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following terms will replace the question mark (?) in the given series? KES, MIQ, PMN, TQJ, YUE, ?

(a)EYY
(b)EXY
(c)EXZ
(d)FYX

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Split the terms into three columns and run each column as its own series.

First letters K, M, P, T, Y = 11, 13, 16, 20, 25 → gaps +2, +3, +4, +5, so the next is +6: 25 + 6 = 31, and 31 − 26 = 5 = E.

Second letters E, I, M, Q, U = 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 → a constant +4: 21 + 4 = 25 = Y.

Third letters S, Q, N, J, E = 19, 17, 14, 10, 5 → gaps −2, −3, −4, −5, so the next is −6: 5 − 6 = −1, which wraps to 25 = Y.

E, Y, Y → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
EXY — Option (b) is E X Y. Its middle letter X = 24, but the second column climbs by a constant +4 from U = 21, which lands on Y = 25, not X.
(c)
EXZ — Option (c) ends in Z = 26, one place past the required Y. That is the classic wrap error: 5 − 6 = −1 becomes 25 by adding 26, not 26.
(d)
FYX — Option (d) opens with F = 6, which would need a gap of +7 from Y = 25. The first column's gaps grow 2, 3, 4, 5, so the sixth step is +6 and lands on E.

Concept

A three-letter series is three independent series stacked. Split it into columns before looking for anything else — first letters, second letters, third letters — and convert each to alphabet positions.

Here two columns move by a growing gap and one by a constant, so compute every gap in a column before deciding which of the two kinds it is.

Wrapping is the other half of the method. Past Z you subtract 26; before A you add 26. Only the third column wraps here, and an off-by-one in that wrap produces Z instead of Y.

The first and third columns are mirror images of each other: one grows +2, +3, +4, +5 while the other falls −2, −3, −4, −5. Spotting that halves the work.

Key facts

First letters step +2, +3, +4, +5, so the sixth term steps +6 and reaches E.
Second letters step a constant +4, taking U to Y.
Third letters step −2, −3, −4, −5, so the sixth steps −6 from E and wraps to Y.
Wrapping backwards past A means adding 26, so 5 − 6 = −1 becomes 25 = Y.

Study next

Four-letter cluster series, which add a fourth independent columnNumber series driven by second-order differences, the numeric twin of a growing-gap column

Common traps

Reading the three columns as one alternating sequence.
Calling a column constant after checking only its first two gaps.
Wrapping −1 to Z = 26 instead of Y = 25.

The same mix of a growing-gap column and constant columns is at 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.2 — M F T, N I S, P L Q, S O N, W R J, where the first letters step +1, +2, +3, +4 and the answer is B U E.

A version with every column constant is at 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.7 (H P L, K L Q, N H V and on), so check the gaps rather than assuming which kind you have.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.