SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 3 of 99

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 13 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. DAC, GWH, JSM, MOR, ?

(a)PKW
(b)QKV
(c)PWK
(d)PJV

Answer

Why

Correct — A.
Rule: first letter +3, second letter −4, third letter +5.

First: D, G, J, M → M(13) + 3 = P(16).
Second: A, W, S, O → O(15) − 4 = K(11).
Third: C, H, M, R → R(18) + 5 = W(23).

That gives PKW → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
QKV — QKV starts with Q, but the first letters rise by 3: M(13) + 3 = P. Its V is also one short, since R(18) + 5 = 23 = W.
(c)
PWK — PWK has the right letters in the wrong order. The −4 column gives K in second place, and the +5 column gives W last.
(d)
PJV — PJV is one step off twice: O − 4 is K, not J, and R + 5 is W, not V.

Concept

Read a letter-cluster series one column at a time. Turn each letter into its position (A = 1 … Z = 26) and find the step in each column separately.

The middle column falls by 4 and wraps at the start: A(1) − 4 goes back past A to W(23), because 1 − 4 + 26 = 23. After that it runs W, S, O and K with no wrap.

The second column is where the series looks broken: A to W seems a jump of +22. Counted backwards through Z, it is the same −4 as every later step.

Key facts

Below 1, add 26: A(1) − 4 = −3, and −3 + 26 = 23 = W.
PKW is P = 16, K = 11, W = 23.
E = 5, J = 10, O = 15, T = 20, Y = 25 are quick anchors for letter positions.

Study next

Letter-cluster series that wrap forwards past ZFour-letter cluster series with a different step in each positionSpotting the one wrong cluster in a letter series

Common traps

Reading A → W as a jump of +22 and missing the −4 wrap
Putting the columns in the wrong order, which gives PWK

10 Sep 2024, 12:30, Reasoning Q.1 wraps backwards the same way: its first column runs I, F, C and then Z, because C(3) − 3 wraps to Z(26) (keyed WKP).

12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.5 wraps forwards instead, X + 3 = A in its second column (keyed NDN).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Semantic Series — all 125 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.