SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 5 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.

Four letter-clusters have been given, out of which three are alike in some manner and one is different. Select the one that is different. The odd one out is not based on the number of consonants/vowels or their position in the letter cluster

(a)RTTUWW
(b)NOPPSS
(c)ACCDFF
(d)IKKLNN

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Convert each cluster to alphabet positions and read the offsets from its first letter.

Rule: 0, +2, +2, +3, +5, +5.

R T T U W W = 18, 20, 20, 21, 23, 23 → 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5
A C C D F F = 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6 → 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5
I K K L N N = 9, 11, 11, 12, 14, 14 → 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5
N O P P S S = 14, 15, 16, 16, 19, 19 → 0, 1, 2, 2, 5, 5

Option (b) breaks the shape in the middle, so it is the odd cluster.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
RTTUWW — RTTUWW gives 18, 20, 20, 21, 23, 23 — the offsets 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5 that ACCDFF and IKKLNN also produce. It sits inside the matching group.
(c)
ACCDFF — ACCDFF gives 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, the same 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5 shape read from A. Starting at the alphabet's first letter does not make a cluster different.
(d)
IKKLNN — IKKLNN gives 9, 11, 11, 12, 14, 14 — again 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5. Its doubled K and doubled N fall exactly where RTTUWW doubles T and W.

Concept

Letter-cluster odd-one-out is arithmetic wearing letters. Write the alphabet position under each letter and the pattern usually appears at once.

These clusters are six letters long with two doubled pairs, so the useful reading is each letter's offset from the first: 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5.

The rider printed with the question closes the shortcuts. You may not decide on the number of vowels and consonants or on where they sit, which leaves the numeric offsets as the intended route.

That rider is doing real work rather than decorating the stem. Each of the four clusters carries exactly one vowel, so counting vowels would separate nothing anyway.

Key facts

Alphabet positions used here: A=1, C=3, D=4, F=6, I=9, K=11, L=12, N=14, O=15, P=16, R=18, S=19, T=20, U=21, W=23.
RTTUWW, ACCDFF and IKKLNN all sit at offsets 0, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5 from their opening letter.
NOPPSS sits at offsets 0, 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, which is what makes it the odd cluster.

Study next

Letter-cluster series where the gap widens across the clusterOdd-one-out among clusters built from mirror pairs such as A-Z and B-YNumber-cluster odd-one-out, where the same offset method applies to digits

Common traps

Deciding on the doubled-letter shape, which all four clusters share.
Measuring each gap from the letter before it instead of from the cluster's first letter.
Ignoring the rider and choosing on vowel position.

The same task, rider and all, opens 24 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.4, where the rider is labelled Note: and the instruction names the letter-cluster. Reading offsets from the first letter works on both.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.