SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 14 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.

Find the option that best completes the analogy. DP : XZ :: EN : ?

(a)YZ
(b)YB
(c)ZB
(d)YX

Answer

Why

Correct — D.
Rule: first letter +20, second letter +10.

D(4) + 20 = X(24)
P(16) + 10 = Z(26)

E(5) + 20 = Y(25)
N(14) + 10 = X(24)

So EN becomes YX → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
YZ — YZ gets the first letter right, but Z is N + 12. In DP → XZ the second letter moves +10, and N(14) + 10 is X.
(b)
YB — YB puts B second, which is N + 14 after wrapping past Z. The given pair moves the second letter +10, landing N on X.
(c)
ZB — ZB moves E by +21 and N by +14. Both overshoot: DP → XZ fixes the shifts at +20 and +10, which give Y and X.

Concept

Turn each letter into its alphabet position (A = 1 … Z = 26) and measure how far each one moves from the first pair to the second.

Work one position at a time. Here the first letter moves +20 and the second +10, so the two shifts differ. Apply each shift to the letter in the same position of the second pair: E takes +20, N takes +10.

Counting backwards gives the same letters: first letter −6 (D → X and E → Y, wrapping past A), second letter −16 (P → Z and N → X). Either direction lands on YX.

Key facts

D = 4, E = 5, N = 14, P = 16, X = 24, Y = 25, Z = 26.
On a 26-letter wheel, a shift of +20 is the same as −6.
Each letter of a pair can move by its own amount, so measure both.

Study next

Letter-pair analogies where both letters move by the same stepLetter analogies built on opposite letters (A ↔ Z, B ↔ Y)Letter shifts that wrap past Z back to A

Common traps

Applying the first letter's +20 to both letters: N + 20 wraps to H, which is in no option
Checking the first letter alone: YZ, YB and YX all start with Y, so the second letter decides

12 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.12 uses the same frame, AG : IO :: CM : ?, with both letters moving +8 (keyed KU).

17 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.13 does the same with AB : IJ :: EF : ?, keyed MN.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Symbolic/Number Analogy — all 169 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.