1)
The Bannerjees, the Sharmas, and the Pattabhiramans each have a tradition of eating Sunday lunch as a family. Each family serves a special meal at a certain time of day. Each family has a particular set of chinaware used for this meal. Use the clues below to answer the following question.
. The Sharma family eats at noon.
. The family that serves fried brinjal uses blue chinaware.
. The Bannerjee family eats at 2 o’clock.
. The family that serves sambar does not use red chinaware.
. The family that eats at 1 o’clock serves fried brinjal.
. The Pattabhiraman family does not use white chinaware.
. The family that eats last likes makkai-ki-roti.
Which one of the following statements is true?
[CAT 2001]
(1) The Bannerjees eat makkai-ki-roti at 2 o’clock, the Sharmas eat fried brinjal at 12 o’clock and the Pattabhiramans eat sambar from red chinaware
(2) The Sharmas eat sambar served in white chinaware, the Pattabhiramans eat fried brinjal at 1 o’clock, and the Bannerjees eat makkai-ki-roti served in blue chinaware
(3) The Sharmas eat sambar at noon, the Pattabhiramans eat fried brinjal served in blue chinaware, and the Bannerjees eat makkai-ki-roti served in red chinaware
(4) The Bannerjees eat makkai-ki-roti served in white chinaware, the Sharmas eat fried brinjal at 12 o’clock and the Pattabhiramans eat sambar from red chinaware
Solution
Let us form a table with the three families in different columns and then match the Meal, Time and Chinaware with them.
Start with the direct clues in statement 1) and 3).

Statement 5) says that the family that eats at 1 O’ clock serves fried brinjal. As the time for the two other families were filled, we can conclude that Pattabhiramans family is the one that eats at 1 O’ clock and serves fried brinjal.
Statement 2) says that the family serves fried brinjal uses blue chinaware. As Pattabhiramans family is serving fried brinjal, we can conclude that they use blue chinaware.
Statement 7) says that the family that eats last likes makkai-ki-roti. As Bannerjees family is eating last, we can conclude that they like makkai-ki-roti.
Statement 4) says that the family that serves sambar does not use red chinaware. As the blue china is already used, the only colour left is white. So we can conclude that the family serving sambar uses white chinaware. And as the meal for families other than the Sharmas were filled, the only place left to fill sambar is Sharma. As the Sharma family is serving sambar, they use white chinaware.
Red is remaining. So we can conclude that the Bannerjee family is the one that uses red chinaware.
Answer: (3) The Sharmas eat sambar at noon, the Pattabhiramans eat fried brinjal served in blue chinaware, and the Bannerjees eat makkai-ki-roti served in red chinaware