Reasoning in the SBI PO mains: 40 questions in 50 minutes

In the prelims, reasoning is a speed test. In the mains it becomes a judgement test. The puzzles are longer, several question types appear that the prelims rarely uses, and computer aptitude shares the same 50-minute timer. Most candidates who struggle here are not weak at reasoning. They simply spend too long on one set and never reach the questions they could have answered.

This guide covers what the section looks like, how to split the 50 minutes, and how to crack a mains-length puzzle without losing your place.

What a mark is worth here

Sixty marks over 40 questions means 1.5 marks a question. A wrong answer costs a quarter of that, 0.375 marks. You have 50 minutes, so the average is 75 seconds a question. That average hides a lot: a coded inequality takes 30 seconds, while one puzzle set of five questions can take eight minutes.

Two consequences follow.

• Every correct answer here is worth three mains English questions (0.5 marks each). Practice time should reflect that.
• Accuracy matters more than reach. Suppose an aspirant attempts 28 questions and gets 24 right: 24 × 1.5 − 4 × 0.375 = 36 − 1.5 = 34.5. Attempting 34 with 26 right gives 26 × 1.5 − 8 × 0.375 = 39 − 3 = 36. The six extra attempts added only 1.5 marks, because four of them were wrong. Extra attempts help only when most of them are right.

How it differs from the prelims

The mix changes from year to year, so read the last few papers' analyses rather than trusting any fixed count. What stays constant is that the mains rewards method over memory.

A 50-minute plan

Some candidates prefer puzzles first while they are fresh. That is fine. What matters is deciding the order before the timer starts and choosing puzzles by how many clues are direct, not by the order they appear in.

A method for large puzzles

1. Draw one grid with a row per position (floor, day, seat) and a column per variable.
2. Place definite clues first, whatever variable they belong to.
3. Join clues into blocks. "T is immediately after P" and "Q is immediately after T" make one block of three. Blocks cut the number of cases sharply.
4. Branch only when you must. Write Case 1, Case 2 and Case 3 side by side and fill every case with each new clue.
5. Kill a case the moment one clue breaks it, and cross it out visibly.
6. Tick each clue as you use it. Before answering, check the unticked ones.
7. Five-minute rule: if three cases are still alive after five minutes, move on and come back if time allows.

Worked example: a seven-person scheduling puzzle

Seven people, P, Q, R, S, T, U and V, attend a training programme on seven different days of one week, Monday to Sunday, one person a day. Each is from a different city: Agra, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Indore, Jaipur and Kochi.

1. Only two people attend between P and the person from Indore, and P attends before the person from Indore.
2. S attends on Sunday.
3. T is from Jaipur and attends immediately after P.
4. Q attends immediately after T, and U attends immediately after Q.
5. The person from Kochi attends immediately before the person from Delhi, and both attend before P.
6. R attends before V.
7. The person from Agra attends before the person from Chennai, who attends before the person from Bhopal.

Step 1: build the block. Clues 3 and 4 give four consecutive days: P, T, Q, U. Clue 1 puts Indore three days after P, which is exactly U's day. So U is from Indore, and T is from Jaipur.

Step 2: list the cases. S takes Sunday, so the block must end by Saturday. It can start on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Step 3: apply clue 5. Kochi and Delhi need two consecutive days, both before P. Case 1 has no day before P. Case 2 has only Monday. Both die. Case 3 survives, with Kochi on Monday and Delhi on Tuesday.

Step 4: apply clue 6. R comes before V, so R is on Monday (Kochi) and V on Tuesday (Delhi).

Step 5: apply clue 7. Agra, Chennai and Bhopal remain for Wednesday (P), Friday (Q) and Sunday (S). They must be in that order, so P is from Agra, Q from Chennai and S from Bhopal.

Check every clue once more. All seven hold, and we checked separately that no other arrangement satisfies them.

Questions

Q1. Who is from Chennai?
(a) Q (b) P (c) S (d) U (e) V

Q2. How many people attend between V and U?
(a) None (b) One (c) Two (d) Three (e) Four

Q3. Who attends immediately before the person from Jaipur?
(a) R (b) V (c) P (d) Q (e) U

Q4. Which pairing is correct?
(a) R – Delhi (b) V – Kochi (c) U – Chennai (d) S – Bhopal (e) T – Agra

Q5. On which day does the person from Delhi attend?
(a) Monday (b) Tuesday (c) Wednesday (d) Friday (e) Saturday

Answers

1. (a) Q. Q is on Friday, the middle of the Agra–Chennai–Bhopal order.
2. (d) Three. V is on Tuesday and U on Saturday; P, T and Q sit between them.
3. (c) P. Jaipur is T on Thursday, and P is on Wednesday.
4. (d) S – Bhopal. R is from Kochi, U from Indore, V from Delhi and T from Jaipur, so the others are wrong.
5. (b) Tuesday. V attends on Tuesday.

Common mistakes

• Staying with one puzzle because it is "almost done". An unfinished puzzle at minute 12 often stays unfinished at minute 18.
• Leaving computer questions to the end. They take seconds each and are easy to lose to the timer.
• Drawing a new grid for each case instead of side-by-side columns. You lose track of which clue you applied where.
• Answering critical reasoning from general knowledge. The answer must come from the argument given.
• Guessing blind at 0.375 a miss. Guess only after you have eliminated at least one option.

A practice routine for the last two months

• Two mains-length puzzles a day, timed, with every case written out.
• Twice a week, a full 50-minute Reasoning & Computer Aptitude sectional.
• After each set, note which clue you should have used first. That habit is what makes puzzles faster.
• Revise one computer topic a day from our computer aptitude guide.
• Rotate puzzle types: scheduling puzzles one day, floors or boxes the next, then seating.
• In the final week, switch to the reasoning revision sheet and full mocks.