SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 23 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.

Which of the following terms will replace the question mark (?) in the given series? QGMW, VCPU, AYSS, ? , KQYO

(a)FUVQ
(b)FTUO
(c)FVQO
(d)FUXO

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Split the clusters into four letter columns and read each column on its own.

Column 1: Q, V, A, ?, K — +5 a step. V + 5 wraps past Z to A, and A + 5 = F, F + 5 = K.
Column 2: G, C, Y, ?, Q — −4 a step. C − 4 wraps below A to Y, and Y − 4 = U, U − 4 = Q.

Column 3: M, P, S, ?, Y — +3 a step, so the missing letter is V.
Column 4: W, U, S, ?, O — −2 a step, so the missing letter is Q.

Reading the four columns down the missing term gives FUVQ → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
FTUO — F is right, but T falls short of the U that Y − 4 gives, and the final O is the fifth term's last letter copied across rather than the Q the −2 column needs.
(c)
FVQO — Only the leading F survives. Column 2 needs U and this offers V, column 3 needs V and this offers Q, and the O again belongs to the fifth term.
(d)
FUXO — F and U are both right, but column 3 runs M, P, S, V at +3, and X overshoots V by two letters. The trailing O repeats the fifth term as well.

Concept

A four-letter cluster series is four independent one-letter series stacked in a column. Write the terms one under another and the four patterns appear side by side.

Positions are easier to handle than letters. Q = 17 and V = 22, and when a step runs past Z you keep counting: 22 + 5 = 27, which is A at position 1.

The same holds downwards. C = 3, and 3 − 4 = −1, which is Y at position 25. Wrapping in either direction is arithmetic modulo 26, nothing more.

The fifth term KQYO is printed, so every column can be checked in both directions. Working backwards from KQYO is often quicker than working forwards from AYSS.

Key facts

Alphabet positions: Q=17, V=22, A=1, F=6, K=11 — a +5 step that wraps past Z.
Alphabet positions: G=7, C=3, Y=25, U=21, Q=17 — a −4 step that wraps below A.
Column 3 runs M, P, S, V, Y at a constant +3.
Column 4 runs W, U, S, Q, O at a constant −2.

Study next

Letter-cluster series where one column moves at a rate that itself changesWrapping past Z and below A using arithmetic modulo 26Working a series backwards from a later term that the question already gives you

Common traps

Restarting the count at A after Z, which breaks the +5 column
Copying the final term's last letter, which is how three of the four options end in O
Solving the first column, seeing every option begin with F, and stopping there

Letter series come in both shapes on 26 Sep 2024, 12:30: Reasoning Q.1 sets a single running series with blanks, and Q.21 sets clusters that carry a number alongside the letters.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.