Identify the figure given in the options which when put in place of the question mark (?) will logically complete the series.

Correct — D. Rule: the three shapes hold their order — square, triangle, circle — and each steps one cell forward along a Z-shaped track through the 3×3 grid.

The track runs across the top row from left to right, then diagonally down through the centre cell to the bottom-left corner, then across the bottom row from left to right.

Figure 1: square top-left, triangle top-centre, circle top-right.
Figure 3: square top-right, triangle centre, circle bottom-left.
Figure 4: square centre, triangle bottom-left, circle bottom-centre.

One more step puts the square at bottom-left, the triangle at bottom-centre and the circle at bottom-right — option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  It sends the square back to top-left, the cell it left after figure 1. Every shape moves forward one place a step, so from the centre the square can only reach bottom-left.
• (b)
  Its square and circle are placed correctly, but the triangle sits at the centre — where it stood in figure 3. It has to stay one step behind the circle, at bottom-centre.
• (c)
  Its square has not moved from the centre where figure 4 left it. Its triangle is at mid-right, a cell this track never uses.

When several shapes travel through a grid together, track one of them and the rest follow.

The three shapes always sit in three consecutive cells of one track, in the fixed order square, triangle, circle. The circle is therefore always two steps ahead of the square.

Recover the track from the shape that has travelled furthest. The circle goes top-right, centre, bottom-left, bottom-centre, which is enough to show the path leaving the top row through the middle cell and dropping to the bottom-left corner.

Once the track is known there is no picture-matching left: name the three cells and read off the option.

Key facts

• The shapes stay in the order square, triangle, circle throughout the series.
• The track is the top row left to right, then the centre cell, then the bottom row left to right.
• The circle occupies top-right, centre, bottom-left and bottom-centre in figures 1 to 4.
• Each figure advances all three shapes by exactly one cell.

Common traps

• Matching the picture as a whole instead of tracking one shape's cells
• Assuming the path runs along the middle row, which this track skips
• Letting the three shapes change order because two of them look adjacent

No directly related past PYQ was found.