SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 19 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 21 of 99

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.

‘NQRP’ is related to ‘RUVT’ in a certain way based on the English alphabetical order. In the same way, ‘DGLF’ is related to ‘HKPJ’. To which of the following is ‘KCUM’ related, following the same logic?

(a)PHYR
(b)PGZR
(c)OHZQ
(d)OGYQ

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Rule: every letter moves +4 in the alphabet.

NQRP → RUVT: N+4 = R, Q+4 = U, R+4 = V, P+4 = T
DGLF → HKPJ: D+4 = H, G+4 = K, L+4 = P, F+4 = J

Apply the same +4 to KCUM:
K(11)+4 = O, C(3)+4 = G, U(21)+4 = Y, M(13)+4 = Q

That gives OGYQ, option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
PHYR — PHYR shifts K, C and M by +5 while shifting U by +4, so it is neither a clean +4 nor a clean +5.
(b)
PGZR — PGZR mixes its shifts — K+5, C+4, U+5, M+5 — but the rule applies one shift to every letter.
(c)
OHZQ — OHZQ opens correctly with K+4 = O, then slips to C+5 = H and U+5 = Z. All four letters must move together.

Concept

Analogies over letter groups are almost always positional: turn each letter into its alphabet number and look at the difference.

Two worked analogies are given so the shift can be confirmed on eight letters before you spend it on the ninth. Both give +4 every time.

After that the work is mechanical: K(11) to O(15), C(3) to G(7), U(21) to Y(25), M(13) to Q(17).

Every option here is built from a +4 or +5 shift, so the item is really testing whether you count the gap correctly rather than whether you spot the idea.

Key facts

A +4 shift takes U(21) to Y(25) without wrapping past Z.
Alphabet anchors worth memorising: E5, J10, O15, T20, Y25.
Both worked pairs shift every letter by the same amount, which is what makes the rule a single +4.

Study next

Letter-position arithmetic, including the reverse-alphabet position 27 − nLetter-cluster series with alternating shifts, as at Reasoning Q.10 of this shiftCoded-letter items where the shift is not the same for every letter, as at Reasoning Q.12 of this shift

Common traps

Counting the starting letter as the first step, which turns every +4 into a +5.
Applying the shift to some letters of the group and copying the rest.
Losing the count near the end of the alphabet, where U + 4 must land on Y and not Z.

The stem gives two solved analogies before asking for the third, so the +4 is confirmed on both of them before you use it. Reasoning Q.10 and Q.12 of this shift work the same alphabet-position machinery, one as a series and one as a code.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.