Square and rectangular arrangement problems are a staple in IBPS PO Prelims, typically appearing as a set of 3–5 questions worth easy-to-moderate marks. These puzzles extend the logic of circular arrangements but add complexity through **corners, middles, and variable facing directions**.
In these puzzles, 4–8 persons sit around a square or rectangular table. The key challenge is managing two variables simultaneously: **position** (corner vs. middle) and **facing direction** (centre vs. outside). IBPS PO often combines these arrangements with secondary conditions like age, profession, or colour preferences, making systematic notation essential.
Mastering this topic requires you to visualize the seating structure accurately, apply given clues methodically, and avoid the common trap of misplacing corner and middle positions. With practice, these become reliable scoring questions.
---
Key Concepts
**Square table**: 8 persons — 4 at corners, 4 at middles. Corners and middles alternate around the table.
**Rectangular table**: 8 persons — 4 at corners (one at each corner), 4 at middles (2 on longer sides, 2 on shorter sides). Some variations use only 6 persons.
**Facing centre**: The person looks toward the centre of the table (standard default unless stated otherwise).
**Facing outside**: The person looks away from the centre — their left-right orientation reverses compared to facing-centre persons.
**Immediate neighbours**: The two persons sitting adjacent (one on each side). At corners, neighbours are always middle-seated persons and vice versa.
**Opposite position**: The person sitting directly across the table. In a square, corner is opposite to corner; middle is opposite to middle.
**Diagonally opposite**: Relevant only for corners — the corner across the diagonal (not the same as "opposite" in rectangular setups).
**Mixed facing**: When some face centre and others face outside, carefully track each person's left and right independently.
**Problem**: Four persons P, Q, R, S sit at corners of a square. P and R face the centre; Q and S face outside.
Q sits opposite to P.
R is to the immediate right of P.
**Who is to the immediate left of Q?**
**Solution**:
Step 1: Place P at corner 1 (facing centre). Immediate right of P (clockwise) = corner 3 = R.
Step 2: Q sits opposite to P. Opposite of corner 1 = corner 3. But R is at 3. So opposite must mean diagonal.
In a 4-person square (only corners), opposite = diagonally across.
Position 1's diagonal opposite in a square = position 3? No, diagonal of corner 1 would be corner 3 if numbered 1,2,3,4 for four corners.
Let's number corners as 1, 2, 3, 4 clockwise:
P at 1, R at 2 (immediate right).
Q opposite to P = position 3.
S at position 4.
Step 3: Q faces outside. For someone facing outside, clockwise = their left.
Immediate left of Q (facing outside) = clockwise from Q = position 4 = S.
**Answer**: S is to the immediate left of Q.
---
Common Mistakes
**Ignoring facing direction when finding left/right** → Always check if the person faces centre or outside before determining clockwise/anticlockwise as right/left.
**Confusing corner-opposite and middle-opposite** → In an 8-person square, corner is opposite to corner (not middle). Position 1 opposite = Position 5, not Position 4.
**Placing wrong number of persons at corners** → A square has exactly 4 corners. Don't overcrowd or leave corners empty unless the puzzle specifies.
**Assuming all face the same direction** → Read the stem carefully. "Some face outside" changes the entire left-right logic for those persons.
**Not re-verifying after placing all persons** → Always cross-check each original clue against your final arrangement before answering.