SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 7 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: D A F H, D D K O, D G P V, D J U C, ?

(a)DMKA
(b)DJSH
(c)DMNS
(d)DMZJ

Answer

Why

Correct — D.
Rule: D stays, then +3, +5 and +7 in positions two, three and four.

Second: A, D, G, J → J(10) + 3 = M(13).
Third: F, K, P, U → U(21) + 5 = Z(26).
Fourth: H, O, V, C → C(3) + 7 = J(10).

That gives DMZJ → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
DMKA — DMKA gets D and M right, then fails: U + 5 is Z, not K, and C + 7 is J, not A.
(b)
DJSH — DJSH repeats J in second place, but the second letters climb A, D, G, J in threes, so the next is M.
(c)
DMNS — DMNS has D and M right, then drops to N. The third letters climb F, K, P, U by 5, which lands on Z.

Concept

Split the clusters into columns. The first stays D. The other three climb by 3, 5 and 7, odd steps that grow by 2 from column to column.

The fourth column wraps: V(22) + 7 = 29, and 29 − 26 = 3 = C, which is already printed in D J U C. From C the next step is plain arithmetic: C + 7 = J.

Three options begin DM, so the second column narrows the field without deciding it. The third column does: DMZJ is the one option with Z.

Key facts

V(22) + 7 = 29, and 29 − 26 = 3 = C.
U(21) + 5 = 26 = Z, the last letter, with no wrap needed.
The column steps in this series are 0, +3, +5 and +7.

Study next

Four-letter clusters with a different step in each columnLetter arithmetic that wraps past ZFinding the wrong term in a letter-cluster series

Common traps

Choosing DMNS or DMKA after checking only the first two columns
Reading the C in D J U C as a break in the pattern instead of V + 7 wrapped

12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.7 steps +1, +2, +5 and +7 across its four columns: MCFI, NEKP, OGPW, PIUD, ? is keyed QKZK, and its third column runs F, K, P, U to Z exactly as here.

14 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.6 keeps a fixed first letter with steps +3, +6, +9 (keyed TPET).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

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