SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 7 of 98

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. LOI: QTN :: VES:AJX :: AND: ?

(a)FSJ
(b)FSI
(c)FTJ
(d)FTI

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Rule: every letter moves +5 along the alphabet, wrapping past Z back to A.

LOI to QTN: L+5 = Q, O+5 = T, I+5 = N.
VES to AJX: V+5 = A (22 + 5 = 27, so back round to 1), E+5 = J, S+5 = X.

Both worked pairs give the same shift, so apply it to AND:

A+5 = F, N+5 = S, D+5 = I → FSI, option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
FSJ — FSJ moves the last letter six places, D to J. The shift is a uniform +5 in both worked pairs, so D goes to I.
(c)
FTJ — FTJ shifts the last two letters by six — N to T and D to J. Only the first letter has been given the +5 the pattern actually uses.
(d)
FTI — FTI takes N to T, a six-place move, while F and I are right at +5. One letter off the rule is enough to reject an option.

Concept

Letter-cluster analogies are solved by converting to alphabet positions and subtracting. Write A = 1 through Z = 26 in the margin if the positions are not yet automatic — the arithmetic is trivial once the numbers are visible.

Two worked pairs are given and both must agree. LOI to QTN is +5, +5, +5. VES to AJX looks different only because V runs off the end: 22 + 5 = 27, and 27 − 26 = 1, which is A.

The alphabet is treated as a circle, and the second worked pair, VES to AJX, is where that wrap shows up.

All four options begin with F, so the first letter decides nothing. The item is really a two-letter question about N and D, and the distractor letters T and J are exactly the +6 versions of those two.

Key facts

L = 12, O = 15, I = 9, and adding 5 gives Q = 17, T = 20, N = 14.
V = 22 and 22 + 5 = 27, which wraps to 1 = A, the first letter of AJX.
A + 5 = F, N + 5 = S, D + 5 = I.

Study next

Alphabet positions A = 1 to Z = 26 and the reverse positions from memoryLetter clusters where each letter moves by a different fixed amountWrapping arithmetic past Z and before A

Common traps

Stopping at the first pair and never checking the wrap inside VES to AJX.
Counting on fingers and landing one letter past the target, which turns S into T and I into J.
Subtracting instead of adding when the target cluster starts with an early letter such as A.

The same five-cluster frame is set at 10 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.3 (options UYG, TYG, UXG, TXG) and at 23 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.4 (MQK, MRK, NRL, NSL). In both, neighbouring letters fill the option slots, so a miscount of one still lands on something that looks like an answer.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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