Directions for the following 5 (five) items: Consider the following information and answer the five items that follow:
There are five persons in a group — P, Q, R, S and T. The group has one doctor, one lawyer and one artist. P and S are unmarried students. T is a man married to one of the group members. Q is the brother of P and is neither doctor nor artist. R is not doctor.
Who is the artist?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) R
The professions belong to Q, R and T, since P and S are students. Q must be the lawyer, and R, who is not the doctor, must be the artist.
- P and S are students, so the doctor, lawyer and artist are among Q, R and T.
- Q is neither doctor nor artist, so Q is the lawyer.
- R is not the doctor, so R is the artist and T is the doctor.
Remember · Strike out people who can hold no role first, then fill roles from the most restricted person; one 'is not' often fixes two others.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·