SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 20 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)A1 : D5 : G9
(b)B2 : E6 : H10
(c)C3 : F7 : I11
(d)D4 : G8 : K13

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Read the letters and the numbers as two separate strands.

Rule: letters move +3, numbers move +4.

A1 : D5 : G9 → A, D, G (+3) and 1, 5, 9 (+4)
B2 : E6 : H10 and C3 : F7 : I11 take the same steps.

D4 : G8 : K13 → D to G is +3, but G to K is +4, and 8 to 13 is +5. Option (d) breaks both strands.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
A1 : D5 : G9 — A1 : D5 : G9 moves A → D → G by 3 each time and 1 → 5 → 9 by 4 each time. It follows the rule.
(b)
B2 : E6 : H10 — B2 : E6 : H10 steps B → E → H by 3 and 2 → 6 → 10 by 4, exactly as (a) does.
(c)
C3 : F7 : I11 — C3 : F7 : I11 steps C → F → I by 3 and 3 → 7 → 11 by 4, so it belongs to the group.

Concept

When each term pairs a letter with a number, first test whether the number is the letter's position. Here it is not: D5 carries 5 though D = 4, and G9 carries 9 though G = 7.

So treat the strands independently. Letters: A = 1, D = 4, G = 7, a step of 3. Numbers: 1, 5, 9, a step of 4.

In (d), G = 7 to K = 11 is a step of 4, and the numbers grow by 4 and then 5.

The first term of every group matches its letter's position (A1, B2, C3, D4), so (d) looks regular at first glance. The break comes at the second step, G to K.

Key facts

Alphabet positions: A = 1, D = 4, G = 7, K = 11.
In (a), (b) and (c) the letters rise by 3 and the numbers by 4.
D4 : G8 : K13 has letter steps of 3 and 4, and number steps of 4 and 5.

Study next

Letter-number clusters where each number equals its letter's positionOdd-one-out clusters with a symbol added to each termLetter-number series where the two strands move in opposite directions

Common traps

Assuming each number is its letter's position, which fails from the second term in every group here.
Checking only the first step of (d): D to G is +3 and 4 to 8 is +4, both regular.

The same instruction is set at 14 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.21, whose option (d) carries the same strand D4 : G8 : K13 with a symbol added to each term.

At 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.20 the step size decides: N14 : K11 : H8 falls by 3 where the rest fall by 2.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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