Linear seating

Left and right are taken from each seated person’s own perspective, not from the reader looking at the page. In a single row facing North, left is West and right is East. In a row facing South, left is East and right is West. When two parallel rows face each other, the two rows have opposite facing, so left-right orientations reverse across the aisle. Fix facing before placing any neighbour.

Circular seating

Facing the centre and facing outward reverse left and right along the circumference. Immediate neighbour means one seat away; second to the left (or right) skips one person. In a circle with an even number of seats, the person opposite X is n/2 seats away in either direction. Opposite is a distance rule; left and right remain facing-dependent. Never change the facing convention halfway through a puzzle.

Blood-relation basics

Draw older generations above and younger ones below. Keep maternal and paternal lines distinct. Brother and sister place two people in the same generation. The word only reduces counts: only son of the paternal grandfather is the speaker’s father when that grandfather has exactly one son. Mother’s only brother is the maternal uncle; his son is a maternal cousin. Do not invent gender when the stem does not fix it.

Coded relations

Codes map symbols to relations such as father, mother, brother or sister. Decode one link at a time and build a small tree. If A + B means A is father of B and A × B means A is sister of B, then in P + Q × R, P is father of Q and Q is sister of R, so P is parent of both Q and R. Gender of a person is known only when a code or a later clue states it.

Exam method

• Seating: write facing first, then place given immediate or second neighbours, then use opposite for even circles.
• Blood: convert each phrase into a tree node before combining phrases.
• Coded: expand every symbol into words, then draw; avoid jumping to the final label.

Key points to remember

Practice: 10 MCQs

Attempt all ten questions, then press Submit. The correct answer and a short explanation appear under every question, followed by your score analysis.