CAT 2022 Slot 3 · DILR · Question 16

CAT 2022 Slot 3 previous year question on Caselet DI, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Caselet DIData InterpretationMultiple choiceHard

Set 4: Betting Tournament of Four Players — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 5 questions →

Pulak, Qasim, Ritesh, and Suresh participated in a tournament comprising of eight rounds. In each round, they formed two pairs, with each of them being in exactly one pair. The only restriction in the pairing was that the pairs would change in successive rounds. For example, if Pulak formed a pair with Qasim in the first round, then he would have to form a pair with Ritesh or Suresh in the second round. He would be free to pair with Qasim again in the third round. In each round, each pair decided whether to play the game in that round or not. If they decided not to play, then no money was exchanged between them. If they decided to play, they had to bet either ₹1 or ₹2 in that round. For example, if they chose to bet ₹2, then the player winning the game got ₹2 from the one losing the game.

At the beginning of the tournament, the players had ₹10 each. The following table shows partial information about the amounts that the players had at the end of each of the eight rounds. It shows every time a player had ₹10 at the end of a round, as well as every time, at the end of a round, a player had either the minimum or the maximum amount that he would have had across the eight rounds. For example, Suresh had ₹10 at the end of Rounds 1, 3 and 8 and not after any of the other rounds. The maximum amount that he had at the end of any round was ₹13 (at the end of Round 5), and the minimum amount he had at the end of any round was ₹8 (at the end of Round 2). At the end of all other rounds, he must have had either ₹9, ₹11, or ₹12.

Pulak

Qasim

Ritesh

Suresh

Round 1

₹8

₹10

₹10

Round 2

₹13

₹10

₹8

Round 3

₹10

Round 4

Round 5

₹10

₹10

₹13

Round 6

Round 7

₹12

₹4

Round 8

₹13

₹10

It was also known that Pulak and Qasim had the same amount of money with them at the end of Round 4.

What BEST can be said about the amount of money that Ritesh had with him at the end of Round 8?
  1. A
    ₹4 or ₹5
  2. B
    Exactly ₹5
  3. C
    ₹5 or ₹6
  4. D
    Exactly ₹6
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Solving the set

Step 1 – Read the table. Every ₹10 is shown, and every minimum or maximum is shown, so a blank cell must hold a value strictly between that player's minimum and maximum and not equal to 10.

Player

Shown values

Minimum

Maximum

Allowed in blank cells

Pulak

13, 10, 13

10

13

11 or 12

Qasim

8, 10, 10, 12

8

12

9 or 11

Ritesh

10, 4

4

10

5 to 9

Suresh

10, 8, 10, 13, 10

8

13

9, 11 or 12

Step 2 – Pairings change every round: the three possible pairings are (P–Q, R–S), (P–R, Q–S) and (P–S, Q–R). In each pair the money moves by 0, 1 or 2.

Step 3 – Work round by round (also using Pulak = Qasim after Round 4). Round 1: Qasim falls to 8 and Ritesh, Suresh stay at 10, so Pulak won ₹2 from Qasim (P–Q, R–S with no game). Round 2: Pulak 13, Suresh 8, Qasim 10 – only (P–R, Q–S) works: P +1 from R, Q +2 from S. Continuing in the same way, every round has only one possibility:

Round

Pairs

Result (bet)

Pulak

Qasim

Ritesh

Suresh

Start

10

10

10

10

1

P–Q, R–S

P wins ₹2 from Q; R–S no game

12

8

10

10

2

P–R, Q–S

P wins ₹1 from R; Q wins ₹2 from S

13

10

9

8

3

P–S, Q–R

S wins ₹2 from P; Q wins ₹1 from R

11

11

8

10

4

P–Q, R–S

P–Q no game; S wins ₹2 from R

11

11

6

12

5

P–S, Q–R

S wins ₹1 from P; R wins ₹1 from Q

10

10

7

13

6

P–R, Q–S

P wins ₹2 from R; Q wins ₹1 from S

12

11

5

12

7

P–S, Q–R

P–S no game; Q wins ₹1 from R

12

12

4

12

8

P–Q, R–S

P wins ₹1 from Q; R wins ₹2 from S

13

11

6

10

This question

From the round table, Ritesh had ₹6 at the end of Round 8 (he won ₹2 from Suresh after being at ₹4).

Hence, the answer is option 4.

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