Pariksha SaathiComparison Puzzle Questions with Solutions
These puzzles give relative comparisons (taller than, shorter than, heavier than) instead of exact positions — the method is to convert every clue into one ordered chain, from the most extreme to the least. Here’s the approach, one shared puzzle with four fully worked questions, and a few more to try yourself.
The approach, quickly
- Convert every comparison clue into a "greater than" chain using one consistent symbol as you read: "X is taller than Y" becomes X > Y.
- Combine chains that share a common person: if you know C > A and A > B, you can merge them into C > A > B without needing a separate clue connecting C and B directly.
- A clue giving an extreme ("D is the tallest") anchors one end of the whole chain — place it first, the same way an exact position anchors a Seating Arrangement.
- Once every person appears in one single merged chain, answering "who is taller than X" or "how many people are shorter than Y" is just reading positions off that chain.
Worked examples
1. Five friends — A, B, C, D and E — have different heights. A is taller than B. C is taller than A. D is taller than C. E is shorter than B. Who is the tallest among the five?
Solution
- Convert each clue into a chain: D > C (D taller than C), C > A (C taller than A), A > B (A taller than B), B > E (E shorter than B).
- Merging all of these into one chain: D > C > A > B > E.
Answer: D
2. Using the same puzzle and clues, who is the shortest among the five?
Solution
- From the full chain D > C > A > B > E, the last (shortest) person is E.
Answer: E
3. Using the same puzzle and clues, how many people are taller than B?
Solution
- From the chain D > C > A > B > E, the people before B are D, C and A — three people.
Answer: 3
4. Using the same puzzle and clues, who is taller than A but shorter than D?
Solution
- From the chain D > C > A > B > E, the person directly between D and A is C.
Answer: C
Try these yourself
Using the same puzzle and clues above, answer these, then check against the answer.
1. Using the same puzzle and clues, who is the second tallest among the five?
Answer: C
2. Using the same puzzle and clues, how many people are shorter than C?
Answer: 3
3. Using the same puzzle and clues, who is immediately shorter than A?
Answer: B
Where this comes up
Comparison Puzzles are a regular topic in the Reasoning/General Intelligence section of every exam Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk.
Practice more Comparison Puzzle questions
This page covers the approach and a worked puzzle. Pariksha Saathi has full topic-wise practice sets for Comparison Puzzles (and every other Reasoning/Quant/English topic) with instant scoring and explanations — free, no account required.
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