Seating arrangement and puzzles practice is free on Banker Anisha, with hand-written linear, circular, floor, box and scheduling sets, each solved step by step. These sets often make up 15 or more of the 35 Reasoning questions in SBI Clerk Prelims, and a clear, repeatable method matters more than any trick.
The puzzle types bank exams use
| Type | What you arrange | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Linear seating | People in one or two rows | Facing north or south flips left and right |
| Circular seating | People around a table | Facing the centre or outside changes directions |
| Square or rectangular | People at corners and sides | Corner and middle positions behave differently |
| Floor puzzles | People or items on floors of a building | "Above" means any floor higher, "immediately above" means the next |
| Box puzzles | Boxes in a stack | Same logic as floors |
| Scheduling | Events across days or months | Months have different numbers of days |
| Comparison | People by height, weight or marks | Often only partial order can be fixed |
A five-step method for any set
- Read every clue once before drawing anything. Note how many people or items there are.
- Draw the frame. A line with numbered positions, a circle with seats, or a column of floors.
- Place definite clues first. "A sits at an extreme end" or "the person on floor 3 likes red".
- Branch when a clue has two options. Draw both cases side by side. Do not hold one in your head.
- Use negative clues to eliminate. "D does not sit next to C" often kills one case.
Then answer the questions from your final diagram. If more than one arrangement survives, check whether the question can still be answered from both.
A worked linear example
Five people, A, B, C, D and E, sit in a row facing north.
- C sits at one of the extreme ends.
- B sits second to the right of C.
- A sits immediately to the right of B.
- D does not sit next to C.
Solution. Number seats 1 to 5 from left to right. Facing north, "right" means a higher number. If C were at seat 5, nobody could sit to C's right, so C is at seat 1. B is second to the right, at seat 3. A is immediately right of B, at seat 4. D is not next to C, so D cannot be at seat 2 and must be at seat 5. E takes seat 2.
Final: C, E, B, A, D. Who sits in the middle? B. Who sits between C and B? E.
How long a set should take
A five-question set in Prelims should take about five to seven minutes in total once you are practised, including drawing and answering. Early on it may take fifteen. That is fine; the speed comes from volume.
In the exam, glance at all the sets before starting one. Pick the set with the most definite clues first. A set where every clue is conditional ("if A is not at the end then...") can wait.
A practice ladder from easy to Mains level
- Linear seating with five people, one row, all facing the same way.
- Circular seating with eight people, all facing the centre.
- Floor and box puzzles with one attribute each.
- Mixed facing directions, two rows, or two attributes per person.
- Mains-level sets with more people and more conditions, inside Reasoning sectional mocks.
Do two sets a day, every day. Five sets on Sunday and none in the week does not build the same skill.
Questions people ask
How many puzzle questions come in SBI Clerk Prelims?
It varies, but puzzles and seating together often account for 15 or more of the 35 Reasoning questions. The exact split changes from shift to shift.
Should I attempt puzzles first or last?
Many candidates clear the short singles first, then move to puzzles. Test both orders in sectional mocks and keep whichever gives you a better score.
What if two arrangements fit all the clues?
Keep both and check whether the question can be answered from either. If it can, answer it. If not, re-read the clues, since you have probably missed a condition that removes one case.
Are the puzzle sets generated?
No. Puzzles and seating sets are written by hand so that clues are clean and every set has one clear answer.
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