Which of the following terms will replace the question mark (?) in the given series? MFT, NIS, PLQ, SON, WRJ, ?

Correct — C. Split the clusters into three columns and track each column on its own.

First letters: M(13), N(14), P(16), S(19), W(23)
Rule: +1, +2, +3, +4, +5. Next is 23 + 5 = 28, which wraps past Z to 2 = B.

Second letters: F(6), I(9), L(12), O(15), R(18)
Rule: +3 every time. Next is 18 + 3 = 21 = U.

Third letters: T(20), S(19), Q(17), N(14), J(10)
Rule: −1, −2, −3, −4, −5. Next is 10 − 5 = 5 = E.

The three columns give BUE, which is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  BUP — BUP has the first two columns right and the third wrong. That column falls by a growing step — T(20), S(19), Q(17), N(14), J(10) — so the sixth term is 10 − 5 = 5 = E. The column never takes the value 16.
• (b)
  BVD — BVD moves the middle column by +4, R to V, where the first five terms move by a constant +3. Its last letter drops 6 from J instead of 5.
• (d)
  RUE — RUE keeps the correct middle and last letters but subtracts 5 from W in the first column instead of adding it. That column has climbed at every step, so the sixth term lies past W and wraps to B.

A three-letter series is three independent series stacked on top of each other. Split it into columns, convert to positions, and read the step pattern down each column separately.

Two step patterns cover most SSC items: a constant step, like the +3 in the middle column here, and a growing step, like +1, +2, +3 or −1, −2, −3.

When a rising column runs past Z, keep counting from A again: 28 becomes 2, which is B, because the alphabet behaves as a 26-place cycle.

Key facts

• A three-letter series is solved column by column, never cluster by cluster.
• Alphabet positions wrap around: 27 is A, 28 is B, and so on.
• W is the 23rd letter, so W plus 5 places lands on B.

Common traps

• Losing the wrap at Z and picking a letter before W instead of after it.
• Working the three columns together instead of separately, when they follow three different rules.
• Deciding the middle column from two terms, before checking that +3 holds across all five.

No directly related past PYQ was found.