Is reasoning really about memorising anything?

Mostly it is about method, not memory — but a small set of anchors removes the slow, error-prone counting that eats time. Knowing that Y is the 25th letter, that reverse position is 27 minus the forward position, and the ranking formula, saves seconds on questions where seconds decide whether you finish the section. This sheet is those anchors, not a substitute for learning each topic properly.

Which reasoning topics carry the most marks?

In banking prelims and mains, puzzles and seating arrangement dominate — often half the section — so they repay the most practice, and everything else is comparatively quick marks. In SSC and railway papers the spread is wider and more even, with analogy, classification, series, coding and figure-based questions each carrying a few marks, so breadth matters more there than depth on any one type.

How do I get faster at puzzles?

Not by learning a formula, because there is not one. Speed on puzzles comes from choosing the right starting clue — a fixed, definite statement rather than a conditional one — and from recognising the arrangement type quickly. That is a trained skill; the method and a lot of worked sets are in the puzzles and seating article, and the only way to build it is volume.

Reasoning shortcuts cheat sheet: the anchors and rules worth memorising

Reasoning rewards method far more than memory, but a small set of anchors removes the slow counting and second-guessing that costs time. This page is those anchors — the facts and rules worth having on instant recall — in one place for revision. The method behind each topic, with worked examples, is in the linked article; learn there, revise here.

There is no shortcut for the topics that are really trained skills, above all puzzles and seating arrangement, and this page does not pretend otherwise. What it does is make sure the mechanical parts — positions, turns, priorities — never slow you down.

The alphabet, forwards and backwards

The single most useful thing to memorise, because it turns counting into recall.

Anchor letters (EJOTY)	Position
A	1
E	5
J	10
O	15
T	20
Y	25
Z	26

Reverse position of any letter = 27 − its forward position. So the reverse position of D (4th) is 23rd, which is W.
The opposite letter in the reversed alphabet pairs A–Z, B–Y, C–X, D–W, E–V … each pair adding to 27.
For the “which letter is midway between” questions, average the two positions.

Coding-decoding, alphanumeric series and letter-based analogies all rest on this. The full method is in coding, decoding and series.

Order and ranking

Situation	Rule
Total people in a row	(rank from left) + (rank from right) − 1
Position from the other end	(total + 1) − position from this end
After interchanging two positions	draw it; positions swap, the total does not change

The −1 is where almost every mistake happens: a person is counted once from each end, so the overlap has to be removed. Worked through in order and ranking.

Coded inequality

The order of strength, and what combines into a definite conclusion:

Symbols in the chain	Conclusion
A > B > C	A > C (definite)
A ≥ B ≥ C	A ≥ C (definite)
A > B ≥ C	A > C (definite)
A > B < C	no relation between A and C
A ≥ B = C	A ≥ C

A conclusion is only definite when the whole chain points the same way with no reversal in the middle.
The either–or case applies only when two conclusions share the same pair of variables and are jointly exhaustive — typically one with a strict sign and one with equality, such as “A > C” and “A = C”. If neither is individually true but together they cover every possibility, the either–or is the answer.
The full method, including this either–or trap, is worked through in coded inequality.

Syllogism, in one screen

Use Venn diagrams; these are the reliable rules behind them.

Premise pattern	What follows
All A are B	Some B are A (conversion); some A are B
Some A are B	Some B are A
No A is B	No B is A; some B are not A
All A are B + All B are C	All A are C
All A are B + No B is C	No A is C
Some A are B + All B are C	Some A are C

Two particular premises (both “some”) give no definite conclusion.
Two negative premises give no definite conclusion.
Possibility conclusions are true unless the premises make them impossible — the reverse test to definite conclusions. Method and diagrams in syllogism: the Venn method.

Blood relations

A clean notation removes the confusion:

Mark each person + for male, − for female, and draw generations on levels — parents above, children below, same generation on one line.
Solve “pointing” puzzles from the speaker outwards: the last-named person is the subject, and you work back to who they are to the speaker.
The trap is gender assumptions — “the engineer”, “the doctor” carry no gender, and questions exploit it. Full method with family trees in blood relations and direction sense.

Direction sense

Turn	Effect
Right turn	clockwise (N → E → S → W)
Left turn	anticlockwise (N → W → S → E)
Facing south, your left is	east
Shortest distance	Pythagoras on net east–west and north–south displacement

Net displacement is a right-angled triangle: √(x² + y²) where x is total east−west and y total north−south. The common Pythagorean triples — 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 8-15-17 — are worth recognising so you avoid the square root.

Clocks

Quantity	Formula
Angle between the hands	\| 30H − 5.5M \| degrees (H = hour, M = minutes)
The minute hand gains on the hour hand	5.5° per minute
Hands coincide	11 times in 12 hours
Hands are exactly opposite	11 times in 12 hours
Hands at a right angle	22 times in 12 hours

If the angle formula gives more than 180°, subtract from 360° for the smaller angle.

Calendars and odd days

The whole topic reduces to counting odd days (days left over after complete weeks).

Period	Odd days
Ordinary year	1
Leap year	2
100 years	5
200 years	3
300 years	1
400 years	0

A century year is a leap year only if divisible by 400 (2000 was; 1900 was not).
The same calendar repeats after intervals governed by odd days — usually 6, 11 or 28 years depending on leap-year placement.
Method and worked examples for both clocks and calendars in clock and calendar problems.

How to use this sheet

Memorise the alphabet anchors and the ranking formula first. They are used in the most questions and remove the slowest counting.
Reproduce each table from the topic name in the final weeks; the ones you cannot are your revision list.
Spend the freed-up time on puzzles, because that is where the marks and the time pressure both concentrate, and it is the one thing on this page a table cannot shortcut. Practise against the reasoning practice sets and then a timed mock to see which topics you are still slow on.