SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 17 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 21 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 6 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.

‘ACKO’ is related to ‘ZXPL’ in a certain way based on the English alphabetical order. In the same way, ‘HIND’ is related to ‘SRMW’. To which of the following is ‘PUKE’ related, following the same logic?

(a)JGQW
(b)LFQV
(c)KFPV
(d)JGPW

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Each letter is replaced by its opposite letter — the one the same distance in from the other end.

Rule: new position = 27 − old position (A pairs with Z, B with Y, C with X, and so on).

ACKO: A(1)→Z(26), C(3)→X(24), K(11)→P(16), O(15)→L(12) = ZXPL ✓
HIND: H(8)→S(19), I(9)→R(18), N(14)→M(13), D(4)→W(23) = SRMW ✓

PUKE: P(16)→K(11), U(21)→F(6), K(11)→P(16), E(5)→V(22).

That gives KFPV → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
JGQW — JGQW is off by one place on every letter: J sits one before K, while G, Q and W each sit one after F, P and V. The 27 − n map has no drift in it.
(b)
LFQV — LFQV gets the second and fourth letters right and shifts the other two forward: 27 − 16 = 11 is K, not L, and 27 − 11 = 16 is P, not Q.
(d)
JGPW — JGPW keeps only the third letter. 27 − 16 = 11 gives K not J, 27 − 21 = 6 gives F not G, and 27 − 5 = 22 gives V not W.

Concept

Opposite-letter coding is a reflection, not a shift: each letter is replaced by its mirror image in the alphabet.

The arithmetic is one subtraction: 27 − n. A is 1 and Z is 26, and 1 + 26 = 27, which is where the 27 comes from. B and Y give 2 + 25 = 27, and so on down the alphabet.

Because it is a reflection, the map is its own inverse: K goes to P and P goes back to K, which is why PUKE and its code KFPV share two letters in swapped places. Spotting that is a quick sanity check.

Both worked examples are given so you can confirm the rule before spending it on the third cluster. Checking one letter of each — A → Z and H → S — is enough to rule out a constant shift.

Key facts

Opposite letters pair as A–Z, B–Y, C–X, and each pair's positions add to 27.
ACKO → ZXPL and HIND → SRMW both obey 27 − n on every letter.
The opposites of P, U, K and E are K, F, P and V, giving KFPV.

Study next

Opposite-letter coding and the 27 − n checkCoded analogies where a constant shift replaces the reflection, and how one letter tells them apartTesting a proposed letter rule against both given pairs before applying it to the third

Common traps

Using 26 − n. That sends A to Y, and the given pair ACKO → ZXPL rules it out immediately.
Assuming a constant shift. Here P moves back 5 places and U moves back 15, so no single shift fits.
Reversing the word instead of the letters. PUKE reversed is EKUP, which is not on the option list.

SSC gives two worked clusters and asks for a third, and the map is not always a reflection: 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.21 runs NQRP → RUVT, a plain +4 shift on every letter. Confirm the rule on both worked pairs before spending it.

Also asked 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.16, where WISK → DRHP and LENT → OVMG on exactly the same 27 − n reflection. Letter-position arithmetic of a different kind drives Reasoning Q.9 in this sitting (EQBY, GPDX, ?, KNHV, MMJU), where each position carries its own shift.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.