SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 14 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 23 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 the following questions, the symbols @, #, $, © and % are used with the following meaning as illustrated below: P @ Q ⇒ P ≥ Q P # Q ⇒ P ≤ Q P $ Q ⇒ P < Q P © Q ⇒ P > Q P % Q ⇒ P = Q Statements: M © N N # O Conclusions: I. M © O II. M @ O

(a)If only conclusion I is true.
(b)If only conclusion II is true.
(c)If only conclusion III is true.
(d)Neither I nor II is true

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Decode the symbols, join the statements, then test each conclusion.

Rule: when the signs between two letters face opposite ways, no definite relation follows.

M © N means M > N
N # O means N ≤ O
Together: M > N ≤ O

The signs between M and O face opposite ways. With M = 5, N = 1, O = 10 both statements hold and M is below O.

So I (M > O) and II (M ≥ O) are both uncertain: neither is true, option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
If only conclusion I is true. — Only I needs M > O for certain. M = 5, N = 1, O = 10 satisfies both statements with M below O, so I is not definite.
(b)
If only conclusion II is true. — Only II, M ≥ O, fails on the same numbers: M = 5 is below O = 10. The ≤ in N # O lets O rise above M.
(c)
If only conclusion III is true. — Conclusion III does not exist: the question prints conclusions I and II and nothing more. This option describes nothing in the item.

Concept

A coded inequality item first asks you to translate: here @ is ≥, # is ≤, $ is <, © is > and % is =. After that it is an ordinary chain.

Join the statements at the shared letter, N: M > N ≤ O. N is below M and no higher than O, but nothing compares M with O. When the signs between two letters face opposite ways, no relation between them is certain: M can sit above O, below it or level with it.

Option (c) refers to a 'conclusion III' that the question never states; the paper prints it that way. It changes nothing: I and II both fail, and (d) is the option that says so.

Key facts

In this item @ is ≥, # is ≤, $ is <, © is > and % is =.
M > N and N ≤ O give no definite relation between M and O.
M = 5, N = 1, O = 10 fits both statements and puts M below O.

Study next

Either-or cases, where two uncertain conclusions such as M > O and M ≤ O cover every possibilityChains with = in the middle, which carry a relation through unchangedCoded inequalities with three or more statements

Common traps

Mixing up # and @: N @ O would mean N ≥ O, and M > N ≥ O would then make both conclusions true.
Testing one set of numbers where M happens to be above O, instead of looking for a case where it is not.

Neither also answers 17 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.7, for a different reason: there O = S > T fixes O above T, so T = O and T > O are both definitely false.

At 19 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.7, the chain Q < S ≤ T = R never changes direction, so Q < R follows.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Drawing inferences — all 51 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.