UPSC Prelims 2016·CSAT·Logical Reasoning·Arrangement and Puzzles

When three friends A, B and C met, it was found that each of them wore an outer garment of a different colour. In random order, the garments are: jacket, sweater and tie; and the colours are: blue, white and black. Their surnames in random order Kumar and Singh. Further, we know that: 1. neither B nor Ribeiro wore a white sweater 2. C wore a tie 3. Singh's garment was not white 4. Kumar does not wear a jacket 5. Ribeiro does not like to wear the black colour 6. Each of the friends wore only one outer garment of only one colour Who wore the sweater?

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Last updated 23 May 2026, 3:31 pm IST
  1. AACorrect
  2. BB
  3. CC
  4. DCannot be determined

Explanation

Here's a step-by-step deduction: 1. **C wore a tie.** (Statement 2) This immediately tells us that C is not the person who wore the sweater or the jacket. 2. **Analyze "Neither B nor Ribeiro wore a white sweater."** (Statement 1) In logic puzzles of this type, a phrase like "X did not wear a Y Z" can sometimes be interpreted as "X did not wear a Y (of any color)". If we interpret this statement as "B did not wear a sweater" and "Ribeiro did not wear a sweater": * Since C wore a tie, and B did not wear a sweater, the only remaining garment for B is the jacket. So, B wore a jacket. * With C wearing a tie and B wearing a jacket, the only remaining garment for A is the sweater. Therefore, A wore the sweater. 3. **Verify the interpretation for Ribeiro:** * We deduced that A wore the sweater. If Ribeiro did not wear a sweater (as per our interpretation of statement 1), then A cannot be Ribeiro. * This means Ribeiro must be either B or C. * If Ribeiro is B, B wore a jacket, which is consistent with "Ribeiro did not wear a sweater". * If Ribeiro is C, C wore a tie, which is consistent with "Ribeiro did not wear a sweater". * Since this interpretation is consistent with the rest of the puzzle and leads to a unique answer, it is the intended interpretation. Therefore, A wore the sweater. The final answer is A
Logical Reasoning: When three friends A, B and C met, it was found that each of them wore an outer garment of a different colour. In random

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