SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 4 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.

Select the option that is related to the fifth letter-cluster in the same way as the second letter-cluster is related to the first letter-cluster and the fourth letter-cluster is related to the third letter-cluster. MSD: NHW :: OAE : LZV :: NIP:?

(a)MQK
(b)MRK
(c)NRL
(d)NSL

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Rule: every letter is replaced by its opposite in the alphabet — A with Z, B with Y, and in general position n becomes position 27 − n.

MSD: M(13) → N(14), S(19) → H(8), D(4) → W(23) = NHW.
OAE: O(15) → L(12), A(1) → Z(26), E(5) → V(22) = LZV.

Now apply it to NIP:
N(14) → 27 − 14 = 13 = M
I(9) → 27 − 9 = 18 = R
P(16) → 27 − 16 = 11 = K

That gives MRK — option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
MQK — M and K are right, but the middle letter is Q (17). I sits at 9 and its opposite is 27 − 9 = 18, which is R, so Q is one place short.
(c)
NRL — R is right, but N and L each sit one place beyond the opposite: 27 − 14 is M rather than N, and 27 − 16 is K rather than L.
(d)
NSL — Every letter is one place past its opposite — exactly what 28 − n produces instead of 27 − n, giving N, S and L for M, R and K.

Concept

The opposite-letter map pairs the alphabet from both ends: A with Z, B with Y, C with X, on to M with N in the middle.

Every pair satisfies position(first) + position(second) = 27, which is the only thing you need to remember. The map is its own inverse, so applying it twice returns the original letter.

Watch for it because a shift rule and an opposite rule can look alike on a single letter.

M → N is the trap in this stem: 13 → 14 reads like a simple +1 shift until S → H makes that impossible. The analogy gives two worked pairs precisely so a wrong rule fitted to one of them can be discarded.

Key facts

Opposite letters satisfy n + (27 − n) = 27, so A–Z, D–W, M–N and S–H are all pairs.
M and N are the middle pair, at positions 13 and 14, and are opposites of each other.
The EJOTY anchors E5, J10, O15, T20, Y25 put every letter within four counts of a known position.

Study next

The opposite-letter table, learnt as the pair list A–Z, B–Y, C–X, D–W, E–VAlphabet positions recalled through the EJOTY anchorsLetter-cluster analogies where a shift rule and an opposite rule must be told apart

Common traps

Using 28 − n or 26 − n, which moves every letter one place and lands on a near-miss option
Deriving the rule from MSD → NHW alone and never testing it on OAE → LZV
Reading M → N as a +1 shift, since 13 → 14 looks like one until the second letter contradicts it

The stem gives two worked analogies, so the rule can be confirmed before it is applied to the third cluster. Alphabet-position arithmetic also drives Reasoning Q.7 of this paper, where every letter is coded as its position plus 2.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Symbolic/Number Analogy — all 145 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.