SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 21 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.

What comes next in the series? D, I, N, S, ?

(a)Z
(b)W
(c)Y
(d)X

Answer

Why

Correct — D.
Rule: +5 at each step.

D(4) → I(9) → N(14) → S(19)
Next: 19 + 5 = 24 = X → option (d).

Check by skipped letters: D to I skips E, F, G, H, so each step moves five places.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Z — Z is position 26, a jump of 7 from S(19). Every step so far is 5, so the next letter sits at 24.
(b)
W — W is position 23, only 4 past S. The series moves 5 at each step: D to I to N to S.
(c)
Y — Y is position 25, a step of 6 from S. S(19) + 5 lands one letter earlier, on X.

Concept

For a single-letter series, turn letters into positions (A = 1 … Z = 26) and read the gaps. Here the gaps are all 5: 4, 9, 14, 19.

The E-J-O-T-Y anchors speed this up. Positions 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 are E, J, O, T, Y, and each term here sits one before an anchor: D, I, N, S, X.

Key facts

E, J, O, T, Y sit at positions 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.
This series is D, I, N, S, X at positions 4, 9, 14, 19, 24.

Study next

Letter series with growing gaps (+2, +3, +4 …)Letter-cluster series with a different step at each positionLetter series that run past Z and wrap to A

Common traps

Miscounting S as 18 or 20, which moves the answer to W or Y.

21 Sep 2025, 16:00, Reasoning Q.1 (this shift) uses growing gaps instead: A, C, F, J (+2, +3, +4), so the 5th letter is O (+5).

19 Sep 2025, 09:00, Reasoning Q.1 steps +5 at every position of a cluster: CFJ, HKO, MPT, keyed RUY.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Number Series — all 112 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.