19September 2026
Today’s poster
What to note today
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Study Material
Reasoning
Reasoning is the section where preparation shows up fastest. Nothing here has to be memorised the way formulas do — every topic is a method, and a method you have drilled ten times is a method you can execute under a sectional timer.
Read them in the order below. Coding-Decoding and Series come first because both reduce to knowing the alphabet as numbers, and Blood Relations introduces the habit of drawing rather than reasoning in your head. Syllogism, Seating Arrangement and Puzzles come last: they carry the most marks in a banking paper and they all depend on the same discipline of branching on paper instead of guessing.
Current affairs · 19 September 2026
Today’s current affairs, checked at the source
Every item is dated, read on the conducting body’s or ministry’s own site, and written with the question it becomes. Read today’s items, take the quiz, or download the month as a PDF.
6 topics written
Read these in order
Each topic is a complete lesson — concepts, formula tables, worked examples and practice questions with explanations.
01Coding-Decoding8 sections · 16 practice questions · 18 min read02Series8 sections · 16 practice questions · 18 min read03Blood Relations7 sections · 16 practice questions · 17 min read04Syllogism8 sections · 16 practice questions · 19 min read05Seating Arrangement8 sections · 16 practice questions · 21 min read06Puzzles8 sections · 16 practice questions · 20 min read
Weighting
Where Reasoning marks actually sit
A syllabus lists topics with equal visual weight, and no paper treats them that way. The table below collects what each Reasoning lesson records about the exams that examine it, so the reading order on this page can be checked against the exams you are actually sitting.
Counts are ranges observed across cycles rather than promises. The notification for your cycle is what fixes the paper, and a topic can move.
| Topic | Examined most in | Typical volume | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding-Decoding | SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1; Banking Prelims (IBPS / SBI); RRB NTPC / Group D | 2–4 questions | 18 min · 16 questions |
| Series | SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1; Banking Prelims (IBPS / SBI); Banking Mains | 2–5 questions | 18 min · 16 questions |
| Blood Relations | SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1; Banking Prelims & Mains; RRB NTPC / Group D | 1–2 questions | 17 min · 16 questions |
| Syllogism | Banking Prelims (IBPS / SBI); Banking & Insurance Mains; SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1 | 3–5 questions | 19 min · 16 questions |
| Seating Arrangement | Banking Prelims (IBPS / SBI); Banking & Insurance Mains; SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1 | 5–10 questions | 21 min · 16 questions |
| Puzzles | Banking Prelims (IBPS / SBI); Banking & Insurance Mains; SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1 | 10–15 questions | 20 min · 16 questions |
How to use the table rather than read it
Find the rows naming the exam you are preparing for, and study those first regardless of where they sit in the reading order above — the order on this page is pedagogical, built so each lesson can rest on the one before it, and it is not a priority list. Where a topic you are weak at also carries the highest volume in your paper, that row is the whole of your next fortnight.
Method
How to study reasoning
Reasoning is the section where preparation shows fastest, because nothing here needs memorising. Every topic is a method, and methods respond to repetition rather than to study.
A daily routine that builds it
- Two or three puzzles a day, timed, every day. Volume over months is what builds the pattern recognition. A hundred puzzles in one week teaches far less than the same hundred over two months.
- Always draw the diagram. Reasoning solved in your head is slow and error-prone. The representation is the solution; drawing it fluently is the skill.
- Catalogue puzzle families as you meet them. Linear rows facing two directions, circular arrangements, floor-and-flat, scheduling, comparison. Recognising the family in ten seconds is the largest speed gain available.
- Practise non-verbal reasoning specifically. It is heavily weighted in SSC, railway and defence papers and almost absent from banking preparation.
The abandonment rule
Set a hard time limit per puzzle set and obey it. In a sectionally timed paper, a puzzle that resists you for four minutes has cost you two other sets you could have solved. The discipline to leave a half-worked puzzle is what most candidates lack, and it is trainable.
Questions
Reasoning — FAQs
How is reasoning different from quantitative aptitude to prepare?
Nothing in reasoning has to be memorised, which means progress is faster and depends almost entirely on volume. Every topic is a method — a way of representing information on paper — and methods respond to daily repetition rather than to study. Two or three puzzles a day over two months teaches far more than the same number of puzzles crammed into a fortnight, because what is being built is pattern recognition and that accumulates rather than being learned.
Why do I understand puzzles in the solution but not in the exam?
Because reading a solution tests comprehension and the exam tests construction. The gap is almost always the diagram: candidates who solve well draw the arrangement immediately and fluently, and candidates who struggle try to hold it in their heads. Draw every puzzle, even easy ones, until drawing is automatic — the representation is the solution, and building it quickly is the whole skill.
How much time should I spend on one puzzle set before moving on?
Set a hard limit before you start and obey it. In a sectionally timed paper, a set that resists you for four minutes has cost you two other sets you could have solved, and the discipline to abandon a half-worked puzzle is what most candidates lack. Practise abandonment deliberately in mocks: it is trainable, and it is worth more marks than another method.
Is non-verbal reasoning worth preparing?
It depends entirely on your paper. Non-verbal reasoning — figure series, mirror images, paper folding, embedded figures — is weighted in SSC, railway and defence papers and largely absent from banking preparation, so candidates who move between exam families frequently arrive under-prepared for it. Check your syllabus and past papers rather than assuming: it is a small, closed, very drillable body of question forms and it is cheap marks when it appears.
What order should I read the topics in?
The order on this page. Coding-decoding and series come first because both rest on knowing the alphabet as numbers, and blood relations introduces the habit of drawing rather than reasoning in your head. Syllogism, seating arrangement and puzzles come last because they carry the most marks in a banking paper and all depend on the discipline of branching on paper that the earlier topics build.
Read the concept, then test it the same day
Every topic ends with practice questions, and a full mock is the fastest way to find out which ones actually stuck.
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