CAT 2025 Slot 1 · DILR · Question 21

CAT 2025 Slot 1 previous year question on Sports and Scores Based Sets, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Sports and Scores Based SetsLOGICAL REASONING - High LevelMultiple choiceMedium

Set 5: Five Friends, Five Questions, Forty Taps — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 4 questions →

Alia, Badal, Clive, Dilshan, and Ehsaan played a game in which each asks a unique question to all the others and they respond by tapping their feet, either once or twice or thrice. One tap means "Yes", two taps mean "No", and three taps mean "Maybe".

A total of 40 taps were heard across the five questions. Each question received at least one "Yes", one "No", and one "Maybe."

The following information is known.

Alia tapped a total of 6 times and received 9 taps to her question. She responded "Yes" to the questions asked by both Clive and Dilshan.

Dilshan and Ehsaan tapped a total of 11 and 9 times respectively. Dilshan responded "No" to Badal.

Badal, Dilshan, and Ehsaan received equal number of taps to their respective questions.

No one responded "Yes" more than twice.

No one's answer to Alia's question matched the answer that Alia gave to that person's question. This was also true for Ehsaan.

Clive tapped more times in total than Badal.

What was Clive's response to Ehsaan's question?
  1. A
    Yes
  2. B
    Maybe
  3. C
    Cannot be determined
  4. D
    No
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Ehsaan's question drew 8 taps, so its four answers are 1, 2, 3 and 2.

Alia answered 2, as established from her total of 6 and the cap on her "Yes" responses.

Dilshan answered 3, since his only non-3 answer went to Badal.

That leaves Badal and Clive to supply the remaining 1 and 2.

Clue 5 says nobody's answer to Ehsaan's question matched Ehsaan's answer to that person's question.

Ehsaan answered 1 to Clive's question, so Clive's answer to Ehsaan cannot be 1.

Clive therefore answered 2, and Badal answered 1.

Two taps mean "No", so Clive's response was "No" — the fourth option.

Shortcut. Clue 5 is a mismatch rule, so it eliminates rather than confirms. With only two values left to place and one of them blocked for Clive, the answer drops out immediately.

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