The question contains pairs of words that are related to each other in a certain way. Three of the following four word pairs are alike as these have the same relationship and thus form a group. Which word pair is the one that DOES NOT belong to that group? (The words must be considered as meaningful English words and must not be related to each other based on the number of letters/number of consonants/vowels in the word.)

Correct — D. The relationship in each pair is sport : number of players in a side, and the test is whether the number printed is the real one.

Boxing is fought one against one, so 1 is right.
Chess is played one against one, so 1 is right.
Field polo is played four a side, so 4 is right.

Association football is played eleven a side, goalkeeper included — not ten. Ten is the outfield count once the goalkeeper is set aside, which is what makes the pair look plausible.

That mismatch leaves option (d) as the pair outside the group.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Boxing – 1 player in a team — A boxing bout is one boxer against one, so the number printed is accurate and the pair belongs with the group.
• (b)
  Chess – 1 player in a team — A game of chess is one player against one, so the number printed is accurate and the pair belongs with the group.
• (c)
  Polo – 4 players in a team — Outdoor or field polo is played four a side, so the number printed is accurate. Arena polo uses three, but the standard outdoor game is four.

This odd-one-out turns on a fact, not a pattern: three of the pairs state a true team size and one does not, so no amount of pattern-spotting will settle it without the number itself.

The bracketed rider in the stem removes the escape routes, ruling out relationships based on letter count, consonant count or vowel count.

That leaves only the meaning of each pair, which is the point of the rider.

Key facts

• Association football is played 11 a side, including the goalkeeper.
• Field or outdoor polo is played 4 a side, while arena polo uses 3.
• Boxing and chess are individual contests, one competitor against one.

Common traps

• Chasing a letter-count or vowel-count rule, which the stem's own rider rules out
• Eliminating one of the two pairs that share the number 1, on the assumption that the odd one must be numerically unique
• Confusing football's eleven with its ten outfield players, which is the exact number the wrong option prints

No directly related past PYQ was found.