Directions for the following 2 (two) items: Read the following information and answer the two items that follow.
The plan of an office block for six officers A, B, C, D, E and F is as follows: Both B and C occupy offices to the right of the corridor (as one enters the office block) and A occupies on the left of the corridor. E and F occupy offices on opposite sides of the corridor but their offices do not face each other. The offices of C and D face each other. E does not have a corner office. F’s office is further down the corridor than A’s, but on the same side.
If E sits in his office and faces the corridor, whose office is to his left?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) C
The offices, from the entrance, are D, A, F on the left and C, E, B on the right. Sitting in the middle office on the right and facing the corridor, E has the entrance end on his left — and C's office is there.
- Sides: B and C are on the right, A on the left. D faces C, so D is on the left; F is on A's side, so F is on the left, and E is on the right.
- Each side has three offices. E has no corner office, so E is in the middle office on the right.
- F does not face E, so F is not in the middle; F is further down than A, so F has the far-end office on the left.
- D must face C; the middle office on the right is E's, so C and D take the offices nearest the entrance. A is left-middle and B right far-end.
- Layout from the entrance — left side: D, A, F; right side: C, E, B.
- E sits on the right side facing the corridor, i.e. facing across towards the left side; his left hand then points back towards the entrance, where C's office is.
Remember · In corridor puzzles, fix each person's side first, then use 'corner', 'faces' and 'further down'; finally turn the map to the person's own facing.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·