SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 24 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 23 of 99

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.

Which of the following letter-clusters will replace the question mark (?) in the given series to make it logically complete? JAL, MDO, PGR, SJU, ?

(a)WNX
(b)WMX
(c)VMY
(d)VMX

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Write the alphabetical positions under the letters.

J A L is 10, 1, 12
M D O is 13, 4, 15
P G R is 16, 7, 18
S J U is 19, 10, 21

Rule: every letter of a cluster moves +3 to make the next cluster.

19 + 3 = 22 = V, 10 + 3 = 13 = M, 21 + 3 = 24 = X, giving VMX → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
WNX — W is 23, a step of +4 from S, and N is 14, also +4. Only the last letter is right; the step is +3 throughout.
(b)
WMX — M and X are correct, but W is one place too far. S is 19 and 19 + 3 = 22, which is V.
(c)
VMY — V and M are correct, but Y is 25. U is 21 and 21 + 3 = 24, which is X — this option takes a +4 step on the last letter alone.

Concept

Letter-cluster series are position arithmetic. Convert the letters to numbers, difference them, convert back. Guessing at the letters directly is slower and far easier to get wrong past R.

Two structures sit in the same series and either one identifies the answer. The step between clusters is +3 on every letter. The shape inside a cluster is fixed too: 10, 1, 12 falls 9 then climbs 11, and every cluster repeats it.

Use the second as a check on the first: VMX is 22, 13, 24, which falls 9 and climbs 11.

Three of the four options differ from the answer by a single letter, so the arithmetic has to be exact at every position rather than right in spirit.

Key facts

A = 1 and Z = 26, so J = 10, S = 19, V = 22 and X = 24.
Each cluster adds 3 to every letter of the cluster before it: JAL, MDO, PGR, SJU, VMX.
Inside every cluster the second letter is 9 places below the first and the third is 11 above the second.

Study next

Letter positions counted from both ends, A = 1 with Z = 26 and A = 26 with Z = 1Clusters whose three letters move by different steps in the same seriesSeries that decrease, taking one place off every letter

Common traps

Checking the first letter only, when an option changes just the third
Counting forward on your fingers past S and landing on W instead of V

The distractors are placed one letter either side of the answer, so a rough step will not do.

The same item runs at 10 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.1 (ICT, FES, CGR, ZIQ, ?), at 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.15 (NUT, RYX, VCB, ZGF, ?) and at 18 Sep 2024, 09:00, Reasoning Q.6 (WIX, VHW, UGV, TFU, ?).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.