SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 6 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.

Select the letter-cluster from among the given options that can replace the question mark (?) in the following series: TDGJ, TGMS, TJSB, TMYK, ?

(a)TEFY
(b)TESD
(c)TESO
(d)TPET

Answer

Why

Correct — D.
Rule: T stays, then +3, +6 and +9 in positions two, three and four.

Second: D, G, J, M → M(13) + 3 = P(16).
Third: G, M, S, Y → Y(25) + 6 = 31, and 31 − 26 = E(5).
Fourth: J, S, B, K → K(11) + 9 = T(20).

That gives TPET → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
TEFY — TEFY puts E second, but the second letters climb D, G, J, M by 3, so M goes to P. E belongs in the third position.
(b)
TESD — TESD fails at the second letter: M + 3 is P, not E. Its S and D also miss the E and T the last two columns need.
(c)
TESO — TESO has E second where the +3 column needs P. Its last letter O also misses the T that K + 9 gives.

Concept

Read each column as its own series. The first column stays T. The other three climb by 3, 6 and 9, a step that grows by 3 from one column to the next.

Two columns wrap past Z. Third column: Y(25) + 6 = 31 → E(5). Fourth column: S(19) + 9 = 28 → B(2), already printed in TJSB, and B + 9 = K.

Every option starts with T, so the first column decides nothing. The second column settles it: TPET is the one option with P in second place.

Key facts

A step past Z wraps: Y(25) + 6 = 31, and 31 − 26 = 5 = E.
S(19) + 9 = 28 wraps to B(2).
The column steps in this series are 0, +3, +6 and +9.

Study next

Four-letter clusters with a fixed first letter and growing column stepsLetter arithmetic that wraps past Z more than once in a seriesClusters whose columns step backwards, such as WZWT, WVOH, WRGV

Common traps

Stopping at Y + 6 = 31 instead of wrapping to E
Using +3 in every column, which turns K into N instead of T

15 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.6 builds the same frame with steps 0, +4, +8, +12: PCHJ, PGPV, PKXH, POFT, ? is keyed PSNF.

14 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.7 keeps a fixed first letter but steps +3, +5, +7 (keyed DMZJ).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Semantic Series — all 87 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.