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CAT DILRhardCircular Arrangement

Eight Friends at a Round Table

Updated 22 October 2026

Eight friends — Aarav, Bhavya, Chirag, Dev, Esha, Farhan, Gauri and Harsh — sit around a circular table at equal distances from one another. Each faces either towards the centre or away from it, and each has a different profession: Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Architect, Banker, Professor, Scientist and Entrepreneur.

Conditions

  • Exactly four people face the centre and four face away from it.
  • Left and right are determined by the direction in which a person faces.
  • Two people sitting immediately next to each other are called immediate neighbours.
  • No two people whose names are consecutive in the given list sit next to each other.

Clues

  1. Aarav faces the centre and sits second to the left of Dev.
  2. Exactly two people sit between Aarav and Farhan when counted clockwise from Aarav to Farhan.
  3. Bhavya sits immediately to the right of Farhan, and the two face opposite directions.
  4. Harsh sits second to the left of Bhavya.
  5. Chirag sits immediately to the left of Harsh.
  6. Esha and Gauri face the same direction, but neither faces the same direction as Aarav.
  7. Dev and Farhan face the same direction.
  8. The Doctor sits directly opposite the Banker.
  9. Aarav is neither the Doctor nor the Banker.
  10. The Engineer sits immediately clockwise from the Scientist.
  11. The Lawyer sits second to the right of the Architect.
  12. The Professor sits next to both the Entrepreneur and the Banker.
  13. Farhan is the Entrepreneur.
Question 1 · Multiple choice (+3 / −1)

Who sits directly opposite Chirag?

Show the solution

Answer: D. Farhan

  1. Chirag is in seat 8. The seat four places away is seat 4, which is Farhan.
Question 2 · Multiple choice (+3 / −1)

How many people sit between Gauri and Bhavya when counted clockwise from Gauri?

Show the solution

Answer: B. Two

  1. Going clockwise from Gauri (seat 2): Dev (3), Farhan (4), then Bhavya (5).
  2. Two people, Dev and Farhan, sit between them.
Question 3 · Multiple choice (+3 / −1)

Which profession does Harsh belong to?

Show the solution

Answer: B. Architect

  1. The Professor must sit next to Farhan, the Entrepreneur. Only Dev (seat 3) works, so Gauri (2) is the Banker and Esha (6), opposite Gauri, is the Doctor.
  2. The Lawyer sits two places to the Architect's right. Of the free seats (1, 5, 7, 8), only Harsh in seat 7 works: Harsh faces the centre, so Harsh's right is anticlockwise, and seat 5 (Bhavya) becomes the Lawyer.
  3. Harsh is the Architect.
Question 4 · Multiple choice (+3 / −1)

Who sits second to the right of Esha?

Show the solution

Answer: C. Chirag

  1. Esha (seat 6) faces away from the centre, so Esha's right is clockwise.
  2. Two seats clockwise from seat 6 is seat 8: Chirag.
Question 5 · Multiple choice (+3 / −1)

Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

Show the solution

Answer: D. Farhan sits opposite Chirag

  1. A is false: Aarav faces the centre and Esha faces away.
  2. B is false: Bhavya and Harsh both face the centre.
  3. C is false: Dev (3) and Bhavya (5) have Farhan between them.
  4. D is true: Farhan (4) and Chirag (8) are four seats apart.

Full worked solution

  1. Number the seats 1–8 clockwise and put Aarav in seat 1, facing the centre. For someone facing the centre, left is clockwise and right is anticlockwise; for someone facing away, it is the other way round.
  2. Two people sit between Aarav and Farhan going clockwise, so Farhan is in seat 4. Aarav faces the centre, so second to Aarav's left is seat 3: Dev.
  3. Try Farhan facing the centre. Farhan's right would then be anticlockwise, so Bhavya would need seat 3 — but Dev is already there.
  4. So Farhan faces away and Farhan's right is clockwise: Bhavya is in seat 5, facing the centre (opposite to Farhan). Dev faces the same way as Farhan: away.
  5. Bhavya faces the centre, so second to Bhavya's left is two seats clockwise: Harsh is in seat 7.
  6. Esha and Gauri face away from the centre. With Dev and Farhan that already makes four people facing away, so Harsh and Chirag face the centre. Harsh's left is then clockwise, putting Chirag in seat 8.
  7. Esha and Gauri take the two free seats, 2 and 6. Try Gauri in seat 6: Gauri would sit next to Harsh, and G and H are consecutive names.
  8. So Gauri is in seat 2 and Esha in seat 6. The seating is now complete — check that no two consecutive names are neighbours and that exactly four people face the centre.
  9. Now the professions. Farhan is the Entrepreneur, so the Professor sits next to Farhan (seat 3 or 5) with the Banker on the Professor's other side: Professor 3 + Banker 2, or Professor 5 + Banker 6.
  10. Try Professor 5 + Banker 6: the Doctor sits opposite the Banker, in seat 2. Seats 1, 3, 7 and 8 are left. Dev, Harsh or Chirag as the Architect would need the Lawyer in seat 5, 5 or 6 — all taken. Aarav as the Architect makes Harsh the Lawyer, leaving seats 3 and 8 for the Scientist and Engineer, who must be neighbours.
  11. So Dev (3) is the Professor and Gauri (2) the Banker. The Doctor sits opposite Gauri: Esha in seat 6.
  12. Seats 1, 5, 7 and 8 remain. Try Aarav as the Architect: Aarav faces the centre, so the Lawyer is two seats anticlockwise, Harsh in seat 7. That leaves seats 5 and 8 for the Scientist and Engineer, but they must be neighbours.
  13. Bhavya or Chirag as the Architect would need the Lawyer in seat 3 or 6, both taken. So Harsh (7) is the Architect: Harsh faces the centre, so second to Harsh's right is seat 5, making Bhavya the Lawyer.
  14. Seats 8 and 1 are left. The Engineer sits immediately clockwise from the Scientist, so Chirag is the Scientist and Aarav the Engineer — which also fits Aarav being neither Doctor nor Banker. Everything is placed.