SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 26 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 18 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.

In a certain code language, ‘VTPM’ is coded as ‘37’ and ‘CGNK’ is coded as ‘73’. How will ‘MVLC’ be coded in the same language?

(a)64
(b)81
(c)72
(d)58

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Test both given codes against both counting systems before applying anything.

Rule: the code is the sum of each letter's position counted backwards from Z, which is 27 minus its forward position.

VTPM: 5 + 7 + 11 + 14 = 37, matching the given code.
CGNK: 24 + 20 + 13 + 16 = 73, matching the given code.

Now MVLC. M = 14, V = 5, L = 15, C = 24.

14 + 5 + 15 + 24 = 58 → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
64 — 64 would need the four values to total 64, but the backward positions of M, V, L and C are fixed at 14, 5, 15 and 24, which come to 58. Neither given code supplies a further six.
(b)
81 — 81 is above every total MVLC can produce. Counting forward gives 13 + 22 + 12 + 3 = 50, counting backwards gives 58, and no consistent reading of the four letters reaches 81.
(c)
72 — Forward counting dies on the first example — VTPM's forward positions total 71 while its printed code is 37. Since the system is backward counting, MVLC yields 58, not 72.

Concept

A letter-to-number code turns on which of two counting systems it uses, and the two worked examples exist to fix which one.

Forward position counts A = 1 up to Z = 26. Backward position counts Z = 1 up to A = 26, and equals 27 minus the forward position.

Forward sums here are 71 and 35, neither of which is the printed code. Backward sums are 37 and 73, both exact, so the rule is locked by two confirmations rather than one.

Shortcut for a four-letter cluster: the backward sum is 108 minus the forward sum, because 4 × 27 = 108.

Both given clusters have four letters and so does the cluster asked about, which is what makes the 108-minus-forward-sum shortcut safe here. On a three-letter cluster the constant would be 81.

Key facts

A letter's backward position is 27 minus its forward position.
VTPM has backward positions 5, 7, 11 and 14, totalling 37.
CGNK has backward positions 24, 20, 13 and 16, totalling 73.
MVLC has backward positions 14, 5, 15 and 24, totalling 58.

Study next

Codes built on the sum of forward alphabet positionsCodes that replace each letter with its own number instead of a totalThe opposite-letter map, where a letter is swapped for the one 27 minus its position

Common traps

Checking the rule against one given code and applying it without testing the second.
Mixing systems, using forward positions for some letters and backward for others.
Using 26 minus the forward position instead of 27 minus it.

The identical rule runs at 9 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.25, where SET = 37 and MIX = 35 give WAR = 39.

The same 27-minus-position idea drives Reasoning Q.11 of this 26 Sep 2024, 16:00 paper, where WEL maps to DVO. The forward version appears at 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, Reasoning Q.3, where VAT = 43 and AWW = 47 are plain forward sums.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.