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SSC CGL Reasoning · Non-Verbal Series and Analogy

Moving Round the Box

Figure series where small parts step from place to place inside a box: one corner at a time, round the border, or all together along a fixed path, often changing colour as they go.

All Non-Verbal Series and Analogy notes

Why this matters

Thirty-four questions in the bank, 13 from the 2023 shifts and 21 from the 2024 shifts, with 6 EASY, 24 MODERATE and 4 HARD. The moves are simple, but several parts often move at once in different directions, so marks go to the student who follows each part on its own.

Concept 1 of 2: One part stepping round the corners or the border

Follow a single part, such as a dot, a star or a black square, from figure to figure and name its place each time. The places form a path round the box, and the next figure puts the part one step further along it.

Definition

  • Corners clockwise: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left, then top-left again. Anticlockwise is the reverse.
  • Border of a 3 by 3 grid: eight cells, not four. Clockwise from the top-left: top-left, top-middle, top-right, middle-right, bottom-right, bottom-middle, bottom-left, middle-left.
  • A part may move two places a step instead of one. Count the places it skips.
  • Colour often alternates as it moves: black, white, black. Read the colour as a separate rule.
  • When two parts move, follow each one; they can go in opposite directions.
  • Fast route: name the next place of the part that moves most clearly, strike the options that do not have it there, then check the colour or a second part on what is left.

Worked example

In a series, a dot sits at the top-left corner, then the top-right, then the bottom-right. It is black, then white, then black. Where is it in the fourth figure, and what colour is it?
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2024 · Tier I, 9 Sep 2024, Shift 3 · Q24Easy

Example 1 · Non-Verbal Series and Analogy · Moving Round the Box

Identify the figure given in the options which when put in place of the question mark (?) will logically complete the series?

Counting four border places in a grid

A 3 by 3 grid has eight border cells, so a part moving one cell a step takes eight steps to go round, not four. Count the middle cells of each side as places.

Following only one of two moving parts

When a square moves clockwise and a triangle moves anticlockwise, an option with the square right and the triangle wrong is the setter's trap. Find the next place of every moving part.
Drill 15 more on one part stepping round the corners or the border

Concept 2 of 2: Several parts moving together along one path

In many series every symbol in the box moves at once, each one stepping to the next place along the same path. Learn the path from one symbol, check it on a second, and every symbol's next place follows.

Definition

1. Name the places in the box: the four corners and the centre, or the cells of a grid. 2. Follow one symbol through the figures and write its path: centre, top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left. 3. Check that a second symbol follows the same path, one place behind or ahead. 4. Move every symbol one step along the path to get the next figure.

  • A path of n places repeats after n steps, so the figure after n steps matches the first one.
  • Sometimes a new symbol enters at the start of the path and the oldest one leaves at the end.
  • Fast route: after finding the path, predict where just two symbols will be; usually only one option has both in the right places.

Worked example

In a box, A is at the top-left, B at the top-right, C at the bottom-right and D at the bottom-left. At each step every letter moves one corner clockwise. Which letter is at the top-left after two steps?
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2024 · Tier I, 26 Sep 2024, Shift 3 · Q2Easy

Example 2 · Non-Verbal Series and Analogy · Moving Round the Box

Identify the figure given in the options which when put in place of the question mark (?) will logically complete the series?

Reading the path from one symbol only

One symbol can seem to jump straight across the box when it is really one step along a path that passes through the centre. Check the path on a second symbol before you use it.

Losing the new symbol at the start of the path

When a new symbol enters each time, the oldest leaves. An option that keeps every old symbol and adds a new one has one symbol too many.
Drill 17 more on several parts moving together along one path

Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance

A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.

Watch out for (4)

Test yourself on Non-Verbal Series and Analogy

20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.

Take the Non-Verbal Series and Analogy chapter testDrill all 34 questions