SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 12 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 13 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

In each of the following questions, a group of three numbers/symbols is given in each option. Identify the group that does NOT follow the same pattern as the others.

(a)Z1# : Y2@ : X3$
(b)W4% : V5^ : U6&
(c)T7* : S8( : R9)
(d)Q10_ : P9@ : O8$

Answer

Why

Correct — D.
Rule: letters fall by one while numbers rise by one.

(a) Z, Y, X with 1, 2, 3.
(b) W, V, U with 4, 5, 6.
(c) T, S, R with 7, 8, 9.

Q10_ : P9@ : O8$ keeps the falling letters, but its numbers run 10, 9, 8, downwards → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Z1# : Y2@ : X3$ — Z, Y, X fall by one while 1, 2, 3 rise by one, the shared pattern. The group fits.
(b)
W4% : V5^ : U6& — W, V, U fall by one and 4, 5, 6 rise by one, exactly as in (a) and (c). The group fits.
(c)
T7* : S8( : R9) — T, S, R fall by one and 7, 8, 9 rise by one. Its symbols, an asterisk and two brackets, look different but do not decide anything.

Concept

Each term here has three strands: a letter, a number and a symbol. Test each strand on its own and keep the one that splits the options three to one.

Letters: every group falls by one, so they cannot decide. Symbols: every group carries three different ones, so they cannot decide either. Numbers: (a), (b) and (c) rise by one, and (d) falls.

Read across the options and the letters run Z to O without a break, while the numbers run 1 to 9 and then 10. Option (d) starts where the count should continue, then turns back.

Key facts

The letters of the four groups form one descending chain, Z down to O.
Numbers rise 1 to 3, 4 to 6 and 7 to 9 in (a), (b) and (c), and fall 10, 9, 8 in (d).
Every group carries three different symbols.

Study next

Odd-one-out on letter-number clusters where the number is the letter's positionOdd-one-out on letter clusters decided by step size

Common traps

Stopping at the letters, which fall by one in all four groups
Accepting Q10 because 10 continues the count from 9, without checking the next two numbers

12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.21 prints the same instruction with the same kind of symbols, but there each number is its letter's position (A1, B2, C3) and a repeated @ in option (d) decides.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Symbolic/Number Classification — all 45 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.