Linear Seating Arrangement
Solving a single row and two rows facing each other: the grid method, fixing the strongest clue first, the difference between 'immediate' and 'somewhere', and the left-right flip when people face opposite ways.
What you will be able to do
- Set up a fixed grid of seats before placing anyone.
- Rank clues by strength and apply the most binding one first.
- Distinguish 'immediately' from 'somewhere' to the left or right.
- Handle the left-right reversal between two rows that face each other.
What is inside this lesson
- 1Two layouts
- 2The grid method
- 3Fix the strongest clue first
- 4Immediate versus somewhere, and whose left
- 5Worked example: single row
- 6Worked example: two rows
- 7Common mistakes
- 8Quick revision
- 9Practice
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Two layouts
A linear puzzle seats people along a straight line. Two layouts cover almost every question:
- Single row: everyone faces the same way, usually north. There is a left end and a right end.
- Two rows: an equal number of people in each row, the rows facing each other, so each person in one row directly faces one person in the other.
You are given a set of clues and asked to fix every seat, then answer questions about who sits where. The clues together always allow exactly one seating; if you reach two, a clue has been misread.
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