SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 2 · 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.

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

(a)MPS
(b)KNP
(c)TWZ
(d)DGJ

Answer

Why

Correct — B. Rule: compare the gaps between the letters, not the letters themselves.

MPS -> M(13) P(16) S(19): gaps +3, +3
TWZ -> T(20) W(23) Z(26): gaps +3, +3
DGJ -> D(4) G(7) J(10): gaps +3, +3
KNP -> K(11) N(14) P(16): gaps +3, +2

Three clusters step +3 twice. KNP steps +3 and then +2, so option (b) is the one that is different.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
MPS — MPS runs M to P to S, +3 and +3, which is the shared rule the majority of the clusters follow.
(c)
TWZ — TWZ runs T to W to Z, +3 and +3. It ends at Z only because the alphabet does, and the endpoint is not what the item tests.
(d)
DGJ — DGJ runs D to G to J, +3 and +3. Starting near the front of the alphabet changes nothing about the pattern.

Concept

An odd-one-out on letter clusters is a question about differences of alphabet positions. Convert each letter to its number, take the gaps, then compare gap patterns across the four clusters.

The printed note removes the two shortcuts a candidate reaches for first — counting vowels and consonants, and where they sit — so the answer has to come from the arithmetic.

Write the positions above the letters before comparing. One mis-numbered letter in the second half of the alphabet is enough to flip which cluster looks odd.

All four clusters open with a +3 gap, so the first gap decides nothing here. The second gap is the whole question.

Key facts

Alphabet positions used here: D=4, G=7, J=10, K=11, M=13, N=14, P=16, S=19, T=20, W=23, Z=26.
MPS, TWZ and DGJ all step +3 then +3, while KNP steps +3 then +2.
The printed note bars vowel and consonant counting, which is SSC signalling that the rule is arithmetic.

Study next

Four-letter cluster odd-one-out, where three gaps must be compared instead of twoLetter-to-number conversion drilled in both directions, A=1 and Z=26Reverse-alphabet coding, in which A pairs with Z and B with Y

Common traps

Rejecting TWZ because it happens to end at the last letter of the alphabet.
Counting the letters lying between two letters instead of the difference, which turns +3 into 2.
Expecting the odd cluster to look different, when only its second gap differs.

The wording and the printed note are fixed and only the clusters change: 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.13 sets PSUV, BEHI, FIKL and TWYZ, and 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.5 sets AFK, LQV, PTX and DIN with a +5 step.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.